 Perley A. Thomas Car Works street car #952 on Market Street in San Francisco, 2010 | |
| Industry | Transportation |
|---|---|
| Founded | High Point, North Carolina, 1916 |
| Founder | Perley A. Thomas |
| Fate | Renamed in 1972 as Thomas Built Buses |
| Successor | Thomas Built Buses, Inc. |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | North America |
| Products | Streetcars School buses |
Perley A. Thomas Car Works, Inc. was an American manufacturer of streetcars based in High Point, North Carolina. Following the liquidation of Southern Car Works, its engineer Perley A. Thomas in 1916 founded the new company named for himself. Along with the manufacture of complete streetcars, Thomas Car Works also renovated and repaired existing cars to supplement its production.
At the beginning of the Great Depression, mass transit in the United States largely transitioned in format from streetcars to automotive-based buses, leading Thomas Car Works to convert to bus production. From the mid-1930s onward, the company dedicated its production towards school buses. Following World War II, the company became one of the primary manufacturers of large school bus bodies in the United States, leading Perley A. Thomas Car Works to be renamed as Thomas Built Buses, Inc. in 1972.
As Thomas Built Buses, the company is still based in High Point, operating as a subsidiary of Freightliner Trucks (of Daimler AG) since 1998.