Gillig Transit Coach School Bus

Gillig Transit Coach
1977 Gillig 97-passenger Transit Coach Model DT-16, one of the largest school buses ever produced
Overview
Manufacturer	Gillig Brothers (1940–1969) Gillig Corporation (1969–1982)
Production	1940–1982
Assembly	Hayward, California
Body and chassis
Class	Type D (transit-style)
Body style	School Bus
Layout	Body-on-frame rear-engine 4×2 rear-engine 6×4 mid-engine 4×2 mid-engine 6×4
Platform	Gillig
Powertrain
Engine	Gasoline 534 cu in (8.8 L) Ford Super Duty V8 590 cu in (9.7 L) Hall-Scott 590 inline-6 501 cu in (8.2 L) International Harvester Red Diamond inline-6 Diesel 636 cu in (10.4 L) Caterpillar 1160/3208 V8 672 cu in (11.0 L) Cummins NHH inline-6 743 cu in (12.2 L) Cummins NHH inline-6 855 cu in (14.0 L) Cummins NHHTC inline-6 555 cu in (9.1 L) Cummins VTF555 V8 318 cu in (5.2 L) Detroit Diesel 6V53 V6 426 cu in (7.0 L) Detroit Diesel 6N71 inline-6 [1][2]
Capacity	60–97 passengers
Transmission	Spicer 6252 5-speed manual Fuller T905 5-speed manual Fuller RT610 10-speed manual Allison MT643 4-speed automatic Allison MT644 4-speed automatic Allison HT740 4-speed automatic [3]
Dimensions
Length	28–40 feet (8.5–12.2 m)
Width	96 inches (2.4 m)
Chronology
Successor	Gillig Phantom School Bus

The Gillig Transit Coach School Bus is a series of buses that were produced by the American bus manufacturer Gillig from 1940 to 1982. Alongside its namesake usage as a yellow school bus, the Transit Coach also served as the basis of motorcoaches and other commercial-use vehicles. Marketed primarily to operators on or near the West Coast of the United States (California, Washington State, or Oregon), the Transit Coach competed nearly exclusively against the similar Crown Supercoach through much of its production.

The Transit Coach was the first school bus produced with a mid-engine layout and would be among the first to use a diesel-fueled engine. The model line also offered the highest-capacity school bus ever produced, offering up to 97-passenger seating (current design standards restrict maximum capacity to 90).

After 1982, Gillig discontinued the Transit Coach after 42 years of production, concentrating its resources on the Gillig Phantom transit bus. For 1986, the company reentered school bus production, developing a school bus variant of the Phantom that was offered from 1986 through 1993; the high-floor Phantom was manufactured through 2008.

The Transit Coach was manufactured by Gillig in its now-former facility in Hayward, California; while no longer a manufacturer of school buses, Gillig currently exists as the second-largest American manufacturer of transit buses.