The Crown Supercoach is a bus that was constructed and marketed by Crown Coach Corporation from 1948 to 1991. While most examples were sold as yellow school buses, the Supercoach formed the basis for motorcoaches and other specialty vehicles using the same body and chassis. While technically available outside of the West Coast, nearly all Crown school buses were sold in Washington state, Oregon and California.
From 1948 to 1984, the Supercoach was constructed at the Crown Coach facilities in Los Angeles, California; from 1984 to the 1991 closure of the company, the Supercoach was constructed in Chino, California.
Design history
1932–1948
In 1932, Crown Motor Carriage Company built its first complete school bus, in a shift from building bus bodies on cowled truck chassis. Externally modeled after Twin Coach body designs, the school bus body used a front-engine layout, with the Waukesha gasoline engine positioned next to the driver. The body was of all-metal construction with an integrated chassis and safety glass; for braking, in addition to the standard hydraulic service brakes, the Crown bus was equipped with a redundant hand-operated system alongside the standard parking/emergency brake.
From 1932 to 1935, Crown Body and Coach Corporation produced additional forward-control school buses. As the original 1932 design proved too expensive to produce on a large scale, Crown shifted to a design based on a Reo commercial truck chassis. Named the Metropolitan, while still a front-engine bus, the new design significantly decreased forward visibility.
In 1935, Crown revisited the 1932 design, introducing a new version as the first Crown Super Coach. With a seating capacity of up to 76 students, it was one of the largest school buses ever produced at the time. As with its 1932 predecessor, the 1935 Crown Super Coach featured an all-steel body with an integrated chassis, safety glass, and a front-engine body. In a big change, the redundant braking system was redesigned, with the Supercoach featuring full air brakes.
In 1936, Crown produced the Super Coach as an intercity motorcoach, featuring onboard sleeper compartments. To maximize interior room, the powertrain layout was changed from front-engine to an underfloor mid-engine configuration. In several variants, the Crown Super Coach would retain an underfloor layout through its 1991 discontinuation. In 1937, Crown would build the first mid-engine school bus, with a Hall-Scott gasoline engine; the change expanded capacity to 79 passengers. To provide proper engine cooling, the bus was fitted with a front-mounted radiator.
In 1940, Crown Coach redesigned the Super Coach bus body and chassis, moving the engine to the rear. Featuring a wider and taller interior, the Supercoach gained additional emergency exits (a rear exit window and right-side emergency door), following the standardization of school bus dimensions and exits in 1939.
During World War II, Crown Coach produced few vehicles, with all production diverted towards military use. In late 1945, Crown resumed production of Super Coach school and coach buses, struggling to meet demand. To better ensure its survival after the war, Crown entered a joint venture with Indiana school bus manufacturer Wayne Works, becoming the West Coast distributor of its product lines.
1948–1960
In 1946, Crown began development on a new generation of vehicles. Starting life as a sightseeing bus for a motorcoach customer, the new-generation Supercoach (renamed as a single word) entered production in 1948, with Crown producing its first school bus example in late 1949.
In a move back to the mid-engine layout, the design of the 1950 Crown Supercoach broke many precedents in school bus construction. Although built on a steel frame, to fight corrosion, the body panels of the Supercoach were of aluminum. In place of the traditional ladder truck-style frame, the Supercoach featured a monocoque-style integrated frame.
In the early 1950s, Crown made several additions to the Supercoach model line. In 1951, the Crown Firecoach fire engine was introduced, heavily based on the mid-engine chassis of the Supercoach bus. At the same time, Crown began to explore other uses for the Supercoach; in 1954, several Crown Cargo Coach "brucks" were produced, combining the front body of a bus with the rear body of a van trailer. Crown Security Coaches came into use as prison buses throughout the West Coast.