PD-4501 Scenicruiser

PD-4501 Scenicruiser
Greyhound ad showing a Scenicruiser
Overview
Manufacturer	GMC
Production	1,001 units
Assembly	GMC Truck and Coach Division, Pontiac, Michigan
Body and chassis
Class	Tri-axle coach
Body style	Single-decker (Split level) coach
Doors	1 door, front
Floor type	High-floor
Powertrain
Engine	Two 4.7L (281 ci) GM 4-71 I4 Diesel (1954-1960) 9.3L (568 ci) GM 8V-71 Diesel V8 (after 1961)
Capacity	10 on lower level, 33 on upper level. Total 43 seats
Transmission	One 3-speed manual + 2-speed clutch (1954-1962) 4-speed manual (starting in 1961)
Dimensions
Length	40 feet (12.19 m)
Width	96 inches (2,438 mm)
Height	134 inches (3,404 mm)
Chronology
Predecessor	GX-2
Successor	GM Buffalo bus

The GMC PD-4501 Scenicruiser, manufactured by General Motors (GM) for Greyhound Lines, Inc., was a three-axle monocoque two-level coach that Greyhound used from July 1954 into the mid-1970s. 1001 were made between 1954 and 1956.

The Scenicruiser became an icon of the American way of life due to its presence throughout the United States in cities and along highways and popularity with the traveling public. The name was a portmanteau of the words "scenic" and "cruiser".

The high-level design concept of Scenicruiser resembles some of the rolling stock of the passenger-carrying railroads of the United States and Canada, particularly their popular stainless steel dome cars. This type of two-level motorcoach body was common in the late 1940s in Western Europe, including Great Britain, where it was known as Observation coach.^[1]

The concept of two-level monocoque body had been used earlier in the Spanish Pegaso Z-403 two-axle coach, designed in 1949 and entered production in 1951.^[2]