crown coach corporation
the history of crown coach corporation is not just a story about any automotive company .
crown coach, crown body & coach corp. , crown carriage co. , crown motor carriage co. , crown coach international, crown coach inc. , crown coach by carpenter, crown - ikarus, crown aircraft, - urltoken
this section is a collection of a variety of information about crown coach corporation and the products they manufactured between 1904 and 1991 .
in 1979, the brockway family sold crown coach corporation to a local truck distributor; this began a sequence of ownership changes .
crown coach corporation was a manufacturer of school buses and fire trucks located in southern california. crown closed in march 1991 due to declining demand for school buses at the time .
this time line is intended to reflect milestones in firecoach production which spans 34 years. it is not intended to reflect that of the entire crown coach corporation .
aerocoach • amtran • canadian car and foundry • carpenter body company • crown coach corporation • dina s. a. (mexican) • electric transit • fageol • fifth avenue bus company • fitzjohn • flxible • general motors corporation (buses) / general motors diesel division • j. g. brill • kenworth • les enterprises michel corbeil / corbeil • mack trucks • marmon - herrington • mid bus • neoplan usa • pullman company • ramirez (mexican) • reo • studebaker • superior coach company • thomas dennis company llc • tmc • twin coach • u. s. bus corporation • ward • wayne corporation • white motor company • yellow coach
crown coach corporation was founded by d. brockway in 1904 as the
crown carriage company
in los angeles, california, eventually moving factory operations to chino, california. crown went out of business in 1991 .
crown coach needs your assistance finding its place in california and automotive history. please help me make this the ultimate portal for crown coach and brockway family information .
crown carriage co. , 1903 - 1927; crown motor carriage co. , 1927 - 1933; crown body & coach corp. , 1933 - 1980; crown coach international, 1980 - 1984; los angeles, california; crown coach international, 1984 - 1987; crown coach inc. division of ge railcar services, 1987 - 1991; chino, california
if you grew up in california, oregon, or washington between 1950 and 1990, chances are pretty good that you rode to school in a school bus made by the crown coach corporation of los angeles, california. and chances are also pretty good that if there was a fire, medical emergency, or auto accident in your neighborhood, the fire engine that responded to that emergency was also made by the crown coach corporation .
, to tow a 1943 american la france aerial trailer for santa monica. 1961 crown forms a partnership with the snorkel corporation and builds the first snorkel ,
remarkably crown’s super coach met most of the 1974 nhtsa safety standards when it was introduced in 1950 .
sandi brockway (september 8, 2010 )
school bus maker crown coach to close next march ,
george white. october 12, 1990. crown coach historical society. retrieved 2014 - 03 - 20
to millions of california children, going to school means riding in a crown supercoach, and to a substantial number of western firefighters, doing their jobs involves the use of a crown firecoach. beginning on page 12, jim valentine unfolds the story of crown coach corporation, the builder of unique lines of these specialty vehicles. crown coach finally closed in 1991, but its recent acquisition by another school bus firm may mean a longer life for its products .
on november 10, 1997, i conducted a telephone interview i had pre - arranged with bob brockway, the 75 - year - old former president of the crown coach corporation. he graciously told me the story behind the crown corporation, for a book i was writing about that company, and gave me the names of other former crown employees, whose story were also told, along with bob’s story, when i published the 200 - page, hard - cover crown firecoach history (isbn 0 - 9611166 - 4 - 1) .
crown coach played a pivotal role in los angeles' early growth. its activities contributed to the in ...
the remaining inventory of spare parts for crown buses and firecoach fire engines was sold in 1991 to west coach, a bus dealer and service agency, founded by former crown employees. until the supply of spare parts runs out, they are the best source of parts and repair service to keep aging crown buses and fire engines running, and the last remaining link at all to the once - proud crown corporation .
crown coach corporation was founded by d. brockway in 1904 as the
crown carriage company
in los angeles, california, eventually moving factory operations to chino, california in san bernardino county. both factories have since been razed. the property in los angeles is now a manufacturing center and the office and paint shed of the chino property stood for a while longer and were eventually torn down as well. general electric supposedly owns the site. since a large number of 30 - plus year old crown school buses are still in service, replacement parts are supplied by west coach, a company started by a group of former crown coach employees .
a few dedicated freight - carrying vehicles marketed as the crown cargo coach were also produced using a trailmobile dry freight body mated to a crown super coach driver’s compartment. similar vehicles were manufactured starting in 1955 under contract for the us postal service for use as mobile mail sorting stations .
the super coach was the second iteration of crown’s integral all - steel construction which debuted in 1932. the air - brake - equipped super coach’s 11 rows of forward facing seats could carry 67 adults or 78 children students in total comfort and safety .
as of 2004, west coach continues to supply crown owners with oem parts and service at 13790 redwood st. , chino, california facility .
crown went through various name changes until the brockway family sold crown coach corporation to the newly - formed crown coach international in 1980. the new firm purchased a factory thirty miles to the east in chino, california, in 1984, moving most assembly work there. the lost angeles plant was used as well, until it was sold at the end of 1986. the firm was passed into receivership, and the plant, equipment, and stock were sold at auction, on april 23, 1987, to ge railcar services, a unit of the general electric company. a new subsidiary, crown coach, incorporated, was formed, and the plant reopened in july .
kinner airplane was recapitalized in 1930 by holley carburetor of detroit, temporarily saving crown’s airplane division. in 1933, kinner became security - national aircraft corporation, with a new factory in downey, ca. the licensing agreement with crown was canceled, and after 8 years, crown was out of the airplane business forever .
founded in 1995 by raymond and margaret beebe, crown coach is one of the longest operating motor coach companies in the mid south. as a locally owned family business, crown attributes, much of its success to doing business the old fashioned way with great quality, dependability, and friendly service .
when bob and merle brockway returned from his army dentist duty in france in 1953, bob’s dad gave him a choice: either establish his own dental practice, or go back to work at crown. so in 1954, bob became executive vice president of crown coach corporation. crown already was top - heavy with vice presidents of engineering, marketing, sales, etc. , but bob was the top vice president over all of them .
from 1951 to 1985, crown coach corporation was also a manufacturer of fire apparatus under the firecoach brand, it was a 1965 open cab crown firecoach that was used to portray engine 51, during the first two seasons of the nbc / universal television series emergency! , the coach actually belonged to los angeles fire department engine company 60, which was located on the universal studios lot. in 1974, emergency! executive producer jack webb was able to purchase a fire engine, thereby allowing the crown to return to the use for which it was intended .
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the new super coach was such a hit that demand soon outstripped the production capacity of the san julian street factory .
crown coach by carpenter, 1991 - 1999; richmond, indiana, also built crown - ikarus coaches, 1981 - 1986. satellite branches in oakland, california and mercer island, washington (also owned crown aircraft corp. 1929 - 1940s )
in 1979, the brockway family sold crown coach corporation to a local truck distributor; this began a sequence of ownership changes. [ 1 ] during 1984, crown moved from los angeles to chino, california in san bernardino county. to diversify beyond school buses, crown entered into a joint venture with the hungarian firm ikarus to produce articulated mass - transit buses. the crown - ikarus 286 was bodied in hungary, with final assembly by crown in california, with the fitments of american - sourced powertrains and interiors. in 1986, the partnership ended, with 243 buses produced .
that crown coach, is the very most of the host, on the coast, to getting the job well done. as the call, for schooling to bild ,
multiple body posts protected both ends of the coach and the roof of the 35’ model was made up of 22 roll bars spaced 17 ½” apart. the 40’ super coach used 26 roll bars, all constructed of the firm’s 90k psi 12 gauge steel. crown offered an unprecedented 20 - year / 100, 000 warranty on all of their sturdy coach bodies which was later increased to 20 - years / 150, 000 miles .
during world war ii, the production of crown coach was diverted towards military use; most bodies produced by the company were fire engine bodies for four - wheel drive truck chassis .
crown’s spare parts were purchased by west coach corp. , a chino - based international bus dealer and maintenance facility owned by former crown employee jerry hillenbrand. carpenter industries, a large mid - west school bus manufacturer based in mitchell, indiana, purchased the rights to the crown name. according to a news item in the winter 1991 - 92 issue of bus world magazine, carpenter intended to produce an updated crown coach with all - new carpenter designed bodywork .
in 1932, murillo m. brockway, known as “brock” to the firm’s employees, took control of all of the firm’s day - to - day activities, although his father remained president until his death in 1945. one year later (1933) the firm was reorganized as the crown body and coach corporation and in 1936 murrillo acquired the outstanding 100 shares of the firm’s stock, giving the brockway family complete control over the firm for the first time .
another crown specialty was the 42 to 64 passenger security coach which was available in 35’ or 40’ versions, all equipped with barred windows and a secure screened - in prisoner / passenger compartments .
in 1949, roy hardy, an executive at the mack tucks plant in los angeles was growing increasingly unhappy with working for mack, and he negotiated with “brock” brockway to join the crown coach team .
in 1932 crown had introduced their first cab - forward school bus. similar in design to current model twin coaches, the rectangular coach gave their customers significantly greater passenger - carrying capacity and improved driver’s vision .
the new coaches’ integral body and chassis was adapted for use as a school bus and the all - new super coach school bus debuted in late 1949 .
in august, 1979, bob brockway was 57, and he was ready to retire and sell the business his family had run for 75 years. three years earlier, a peterbilt truck dealership had opened across the street from the crown factory. owner and manager of that dealership was jack courtemanche, a former mack tucks dealer who had served as campaign finance manager for governor ronald reagan. in a separate interview with courtemanche, also in 1997, jack told me that he had always been impressed with the quality of crown buses and fire engines, and he negotiated with bob brockway to buy the crown coach corporation .
the primary product line of crown coach, several configurations of buses were sold by the company. in 1949, crown introduced a redesigned supercoach; initially designed to replace its motorcoach line, the supercoach became one of the most popular school buses of the west coast .
in january, 1983, jack courtemanche’s old fiend governor ronald reagan­now president ronald regan­invited jack to washington, d. c. , as an assistant to the president, and later as first lady nancy reagan’s chief of staff. before he left for d. c. , courtemanche found a corporate buyer for the crown corporation, and bob brockway approved of the buyer .
[ … ] as the brockway house, this was home to a family of local historical note. the brockway family owned and operated crown coach, manufacturer of school buses and fire engines for los angeles [ … ]
crown produced an open - air super coach for atlantic richfield that was used for touring the firm’s signal hill oil field in los angeles. although their products were popular in california they were rarely sold outside of the state .
from the 1950s to the 1970s, the crown supercoach and the similar gillig transit coach became two of the most common school buses on the west coast of the united states. although conventional - type school buses remained in demand, the development costs did not justify starting an all - new model line. to supplement its income, crown served as the west coast distributor for other manufacturers, including wayne, blue bird, and thomas built buses; crown also marketed prevost motorcoaches alongside its own coach buses .
as regulations changed, the coach evolved into one of the safest, most reliable school buses. they were so well built that one of the factors that forced crown to shut down was their product' s extremely long life .
beginning as a motorized truck builder, crown expanded into passenger vehicles and quit building trucks. crown coach was the creator of the original large, flat nose (transit style or
type d
), high capacity school bus. their first example appeared in 1932. working with tanner grey line of los angeles, crown designed the well - known art deco coach that eventually led to a school coach utilizing unibody construction, mid - ship underfloor mounted commercial truck engines (often by hall - scott, detroit diesel or cummins; a handful of them had caterpillar engines) and off - the - shelf class 8 truck parts, which made them economical to operate. starting with steel skins, crown later switched to rust - resistant aluminum panels .
this may not have been the last gasp of the crown coach, for carpenter body works, inc. , of mitchell, indiana, purchased most of the assets, including the machine tools and the crown name. carpenter, also a school bus manufacturer, was, according to a report in the winter 1991 - 92 bus world magazine, intending to produce crown' s rear - engine chassis with their own bodies. apparently, reintroduction of crown' s large integral - body school bus was under consideration, as was work on a new supercoach, a fiberglass - fronted design on which crown coach was working when operations ceased .
crown coach was the creator of the original large, flat nose (transit style or
type d
), high capacity school bus. their first example appeared in 1932. that vehicle still exists today. beginning as a motorized truck builder, crown expanded into passenger vehicles and quit building trucks. working with tanner grey line of los angeles, crown designed the well - known art deco coach that eventually led to a school coach utilizing unibody construction, mid - ship underfloor mounted commercial truck engines (often by detroit diesel or cummins; a handful of them had caterpillar engines) and off - the - shelf class 8 truck parts, which made them economical to operate. starting with steel skins, crown later switched to rust - resistant aluminum panels .
after a 2 full years of development crown introduced the all - new 1948 super coach. the new sightseeing bus included transit - style horizontal sliding side windows and was available in 32’ and 35’ single axle and 40’ double axle varieties .
the super coach’s double - walled steel body structure was both bolted and welded to outriggers on the main chassis which was built using nested channel frame rails and cross - members .
during the post - war period crown built ford transit buses. crown built the coachette city bus from 1961 to 1962 .
in 1984 werner built a new modern factory thirty miles to the east in chino, california at 13799 monte vista ave. werner sold off the firm’s e. 12th st. plant in 1986 and reorganized the firm as crown coach international .
there aren’t a lot of those early horse - drawn crown business wagons surviving today. one of the oldest is a crown stage coach that’s now on display at the henry ford museum in dearborn, michigan. bob brockway saw it there, and proudly pointed out to museum officials that his grandfather’s company built it .
crown was also building highway post office trucks for use by postal contractors. single - and tandem - axle versions, in 35 - and 40 - foot lengths, respectively, were built. these had the usual crown front grafted onto a rectangular body. another odd truck was a crown cargo coach, with the bus front on a trailmobile trailer body using a 6x4 crown chassis. during the 1960s and 1970s crown provided an assortment of studio, library, and medical trucks, and even heavy - duty wreckers .
in the early 1900s, transportation and automotive companies were rare in los angeles. crown coach castes a history of how the west became industrialized and, from many humble and turbulent beginnings, california emerged as one of the leading economies of the world. crown played a pivotal role in the early growth and development of los angeles .
1937 improvements to the super coach school bus included using a midship - mounted hall - scott engine carried under the school - bus floor, and an increase in capacity to an unprecedented 79 students .
in 1939, crown acquired moreland motor truck company; as part of the acquisition, crown moved to a larger factory in los angeles .
a built - in crush zone, both front and rear combined with a full width 10 - guage steel apron below the seat rail offered passengers greater strength and protection than any coach on the road .
on april 23, 1987 the firm’s assets and real estate were sold at auction to ge railcar services, a subsidiary of general electric. ge elected to continue bus building operations as crown coach, inc. and in july of 1987 the chino plant started production once again .
in 1949, engineer roy hardy left a job with mack truck’s los angeles plant to take a similar position with crown. of particular interest to hardy was american - lafrance’s recently introduced cab - forward 700 series of fire apparatus, which he reasoned could be easily improved upon using crown’s similar - appearing super coach chassis. murillo m. brockway agreed to fund a prototype and the first crown firecoach was completed in 1951 .
during world war ii, bob brockway­grandson of crown founder and president don brockway­attended dental school, graduating about the time the war ended. before bob could establish his dental practice, grandpa don died in 1945, and bob’s father, “brock” brockway took over as president of crown coach. bob soon found himself working in the engineering department of his father’s company .
based on their experience with the overnight sleeper coaches crown re - engineered the super coach in 1937 by placing a hall - scott engine amidships underneath the passenger compartment thereby increased its passenger carrying capacity. additional improvements included new teardrop headlamps apparently sourced from the 1937 - 1939 ford parts bin .
following the end of the production of the gm and flxible
new look
buses at the end of the 1970s, in order to enter the mass - transit segment, crown entered a partnership with hungarian bus manufacturer ikarus. one of the first articulated buses to come into use into the united states, the crown - ikarus 286 was a modified version of the ikarus 280; crown coach fitted the ikarus bodyshells with american interiors and powertrains .
in fact use of the methanol - fueled detroit 6v92 required a redesigned rear endcap as the tall v - 6 engine wouldn’t fit underneath the rear floor of the super coach. a slightly re - designed front end was used on buses so - equipped, creating the first noticeable styling change to the super coach since 1950 and were designated as series ii crown super coaches. in the ensuing years most of the series ii super coaches originally built with methanol - burning detroit diesel 6v92 engines were converted to burn diesel fuel .
the new crown coach never materialized and in 1995 carpenter closed down their antiquated mitchell, indiana factory and moved into the former 550, 000 sq. ft. wayne plant in richmond, indiana where they produced school buses and walk - in vans under the crown by carpenter brand into 1999. the crown name was dropped when carpenter introduced the classic 2000 model late in the year. the classic’s production was very short - lived as the carpenter shut down the richmond plant in 2000 and permanently retired the crown and carpenter trade names .
crown started offering a bi - level coach similar in appearance to the famous greyhound scenic cruiser that offered increased baggage carrying capacity and also produced short runs of special use vehicles. an articulated two compartment 3 - axle prototype was built long before the joint venture with ikarus, although it never entered production .
after world war i, crown built its first body for school bus use .
as the state of california does not place restrictions on the service life of school buses, owing to their aluminum body construction, many crown coach supercoach school buses remain in active service well into the second decade of the 2000' s, with all of those buses being at least 26 years old and many significantly older .
crown attempted to compete against gerstenslager in the lucrative bookmobile and mobile television studio field in the 1960s and 70s. red skelton used 3 crown coaches for mobile production of his television program and gene autry toured the west coast in a specially outfitted super coach. they also produced a handful of mobile x - ray and health department trucks and even produced a heavy - duty wrecker using a firecoach cab and chassis .
more improvements to the crown super coach were made in 1940. based on the long experience of moreland in the truck chassis business, many improvements were made to the crown school bus chassis. in addition, the engine moved to the rear, an escape window was added at the rear, and an emergency exit door on the right. the headroom at the seats and in the center aisle was increased .
immediately after the war raw materials were hard to procure and in order to fulfill existing orders crown became wayne works west coast distributor and issued their own co - branded crown coach - wayne works bus catalog. a 1 - acre parcel located at the corner of 75th ave. & snell st. in oakland, california was purchased in december of 1945 for use as crown’s northern california sales office and parts and service depot. in the 1950s a second satellite was established in mercer island, washington .
crown closed in march 1991 due to declining demand for school buses at the time .
equipped with a waukesha engine the vehicle included three independent braking systems: the first a four - wheel pedal - operated hydraulic, the second a four - wheel hand - operated vacuum, and the third an emergency brake that worked directly on the drive line. the new bus was well - received and by the time crown introduced their super coach in 1935 almost all of crown’s buses incorporated a cab - forward layout .
crown also did a fair amount of coach restoration and was able to turn a decades - old school bus into a vehicle that was indistinguishable from new. consequently it wasn’t unusual to see a 20 or 30 - year - old crown in daily service. many other used crowns were sold to bus operators in mexico and central and south america and as of this writing were still in use as intercity coaches and transit buses .
coinciding with the move to crown’s new factory, the super coach received a number of new improvements. the hall - scott power plant moved to the back of the chassis giving the passenger compartment more headroom and providing space for two emergency exits, one at the side and another a top - hinged rear escape hatch / window at the rear .
the capacity of the new plant was 15 coaches per week, however crown’s sales rarely met that goal and the plant augmented bus production by building rear - engined pusher chassis for mitchell coach mfg. , the builder of vogue luxury motorhomes and custom coaches. a small number of chassis were also produced for use by a small transit bus manufacturer .
despite the fact that the super coach was decades old, a handful of customers continued to fork over the $ 90, 000 - $ 130, 000 required to purchase one through march 31st, 1991 when general electric pulled the plug on the now unprofitable subsidiary and on may 21, 1991 crown coaches’ assets and intellectual property were sold at auction .
crown did not build integral transit buses until recently. in 1979 an agreement was struck between crown and ikarus coach and vehicle works, of budapest, hungary, for crown to build and market articulated transit buses in the us. hungarian technology and bodies were used with local interiors and running gear. crown did find customers for these units, and 243 crown - ikarus 286 buses were assembled between 1981 and 1986. they were 102 inches wide and 60 feet long, the largest crowns ever built. they had three well - spaced axle positions, with the flexible body joint behind the second axle. several cummins underfloor diesels were available, and seating arrangements ranged from 61 to 76 passengers, plus 37 standees .
is the first diesel powered firecoach completed by crown and delivered to the vernon fire department .
in the mass transit segment, crown served largely as a partner to other manufacturers in place of developing its own designs. following world war ii, crown sold and marketed the ford transit bus. from 1961 to 1962, the coachette city bus was built by crown .
the first crown firecoach prototype was completed in 1951, after two years of design work .
also in 1935, crown introduced its “super coach” school bus, with integral body and chassis, all - steel construction, air brakes on all wheels, and forward cab. their 11 rows of forward - facing seats could carry 67 high - school or 78 elementary - school students. the first of these went to california’s el monte union high school .
the crown - ikarus articulated transit coach was built using hungarian technology and american drive - trains and interiors. powered by an underfloor cummins dieselmated to an allison automatic transmission, the 60’ long three axle coaches included a flexible body joint behind the second axle and was available with seating for between 61 to 76 adults with extra - side aisles that could easily accommodate another 37 standing passengers. between 1981 and 1986 243 crown - ikarus articulated buses found buyers .
in 1962 murillo m “brock” brockway passed away and his son bob, became president of crown .
courtemanch also discontinued production of crown’s firecoaches in 1981. records tabulated by firecoach enthusiast bill friedrich indicate that between 1951 and 1981 875 crown firecoaches were built, 95% for california fire departments .
two years after building its first school bus, crown built the first factory - designed forward - control school bus. redesigned in 1948 after world war ii, the crown supercoach was the only school bus in north america built with monoque construction in place of a separate frame. along with the gillig transit coach, the crown supercoach is the only school bus built with a mid - engine layout; it is also among the heaviest school buses ever built. from 1948 to 1991, the supercoach was produced in nearly the same body style, with several minor updates .
crown closed in march 1991 due to declining demand for school buses at the time. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] at the time of its closure, crown was a subsidiary of ge railcar .
crown built its first complete bus in 1932, an integrally - constructed, all - metal bodied bus with safety glass side windows. it was rectangular in appearance, its style resembling the early twin coach buses. the cost of such units was high for the depression era, so in 1935 crown again brought out some school bus bodies on commercial truck chassis. these were called metropolitans, or metros, and had simple envelope bodies on a commercial chassis, probably provided by moreland .
after the 1950 structural changes, crown offered a variety of intercity and sightseeing coaches using modern slanted side windows. some had a raised main deck to allow greater baggage capacity underneath. there were available in 32 -, 35 -, or 40 - foot lengths, some with tandem rear axles, carrying from 33 to 57 passengers. most had underfloor engines, but rear engine placement was available on the longest units. crown' s last intercity coach order was filled in 1980 .
world war ii­1941 to 1945­were very slow years for crown. government regulations restricted vehicle manufacturers like crown from making vehicles for most non - government customers. unlike better - known vehicle manufacturers such as ford, dodge, and gmc, government orders at crown were scarce. for example, the army asked crown to build a few fire engines, which were mounted on ford / marmon - herrington chassis .
while crown was developing its new fire engine division, things weren’t exactly stagnant in the bus business, either. in 1950, crown rounded the front, rear, and sides of its popular super coach school bus. the new design looked better and was safer. the high - crowned roof provided an impressive 76 inches of center - aisle head room­not many elementary and high school students are 7’4” tall …in 1950, or today! downey, california, bought the first of thousands upon thousands of these rounded - front crown school buses, which would be built over the next 40 years .
is the first of three water tenders to be built by crown. built for the city of huntington beach, this is also the first piece built that was not a regular pumper and also the first piece of three axle apparatus to be built by crown. 1956 crown builds a two axle tractor ,
1991 crown supercoach ii departing from the yard, with the roar of a detroit 6v92 ...
the production of crown’s “twinkie” style coaches averaged 100 examples per year between 1950 and 1991, however a period of increased sales commenced in the early 1970s that lasted until the move to chino in 1984. during that period production was often double or triple the norm and at it peak may have reached 500 coaches in a single year. consequently total crown super coach production is estimated at 6, 000 coaches, a figure approximately 8 times greater than the 800 firecoaches built between 1953 and 1984 .
the crown / general electric bus operation hobbled along in chino for another 4 years, until the last crown bus rolled off the line on april 5, 1991. rival school - bus manufacturer carpenter bought the rights to the once - revered crown name, and introduced a line of school buses with the crown - carpenter name. there were two models: one could seat 84 students, the other seated 90. but the damage to the crown name seemed irreversible, and sales of the crown - carpenter line were bleak. i witnessed delivery of two of the last crown - carpenter school buses to monterey, ca, in 1998. in 1999 carpenter announced it was dropping the crown name. after 95 years, there was no remaining direct corporate descendant of former buffalo - hunter don brockway’s 1904 carriage works .
in 1919, another event occurred in los angeles that would later prove important in crown’s story. in that year, the kinner airplane and motor corporation was founded, with its factory at tweedy and long beach blvd. in los angeles. in 1920, kinner introduced its airster biplane, with a 28 - foot wingspan, 21’4” length, and a 60 - horsepower engine (which was increased in 1927 to 100 horsepower). the airster could carry a load up to 450 pounds, and had a 420 - mile flight range. the prototype airster biplane crashed, but the second kinner airster, named the canary, was sold for $ 2, 500 to amelia earhart .
while most of crown’s competitors used 45, 000 psi steel, crown’s floorpan and framework was constructed of 90, 000 psi ultra high tensile steel sheathed with heat treated aluminum bodywork affixed by heavy duty button rivets .
it’s remarkable, but save for slightly more advanced suspension, drivetrain, modern instrument panel and optional allison automatic transmission, the crown super coaches offered in 1990 were little changed from the super coach that debuted in 1950. rear and amidships - engined coaches were available although the latter outsold the rear - engined version 3 to 1. most customers opted for diesel powerplants although gasoline and methanol - fueled coaches were available .
in 1979 jack l. courtemanche, a los angeles - based peterbilt truck distributor, purchased crown coach corp. from the brockway family. courtemanche was well connected within the industry and from 1970 - 1975 he was a mack truck’s vice president in charge of the western united states. from 1961 - 1970 he headed automotive equipment co. a portland, oregon based a distributor of heavy - duty trucks and related equipment .
it has been suggested that this article be merged into crown firecoach. (discuss) proposed since september 2015 .
crown employees assigned to the motor bus division found the first name of their new boss, murillo brockway, difficult to remember and pronounce, so they nicknamed him “brock. ” the second - generation brockway at crown would be fondly known as “brock” to his dying day, and retired crown employees i spoke with still call him “brock” today .
the first crown cab - forward school bus, built in 1932 and still surviving today. (couretsy bob brockway )
in 1947, crown once more ventured into the fire engine business, with a pumper on international harvester (ih) chassis for monterey, ca. but unlike buses, fire engines were still an insignificant factor in crown’s bottom line .
the prototype crown firecoach fire engine, completed in 1951 and designated serial number f - 1001 (f for firecoach) remained at the crown factory for another two years, before it was finally sold to west covina, california. today, this historic first crown firecoach is privately owned by a collector of antique fire engines in oregon city, oregon .
is the first rear - mount aerial ladder truck built by crown for the city of mountain view, california. 1970
while sold primarily across the west coast, the crown firecoach would be purchased by fire departments across the united states .
in 1955 crown introduced their first 6 - wheeled school bus, which had a seating capacity of 91 children, 10” brakes became optional in 1956 and by 1958 were standard on all crown - badged vehicles. in 1957 they produced a short - wheelbase 33 - passenger crown firecoach bus for the city of los angeles fire dept. that still exists today .
in 1939, crown acquired the chassis department of moreland, which had been building trucks in burbank, ca, since 1911. moreland had supplied a few chassis on some of crown’s early buses, but by 1939 the financial strain of the great depression had sent moreland, like many small manufacturers, into oblivion. the combined crown and moreland operation now moved into a new factory at 2500 macpherson street, later renamed east 12th street. this factory would be crown’s home until 1984 .
after the 1965 watts riots, most new crown firecoach fire engines were ordered with fully - enclosed cabs to better protect the firefighters from violence, and add - on cab roofs were retrofitted to many open - cab crown firecoaches already in use .
in 1936, crown made its first - ever fire engine, mounted on a white trucks chassis, for the los angeles national forest. it would be another 15 years before fire engines would become a significant part of the crown product line .
also in 1953, freedom, ca, bought a crown fire engine on ih chassis, the last crown fire engine that was not part of the firecoach product line. it, too, still survives in the hands of a private collector .
soon afterwards crown introduced a bus / truck hybrid or bruck that combined passenger and freight - carrying capability in a single vehicle. popular with small railroads, the vehicle was built using their 40’ tandem rear axle chassis. the coach half of the vehicle carried 20 - passengers who sat ahead of 20’ deep windowless rear freight compartment that was loaded through a pair of doors at the rear. a handful of shorter 35’ brucks were built using a single rear axle and seating for 12 .
in 1936 crown produced two overnight intercity sleeper coaches for the all american bus lines of new york for use on their chicago to new york run. the buses featured underfloor engines manufactured by hall - scott in berkeley, california, and included four sleeping compartments per side, with each one seating or sleeping three persons and containing a lavatory. the vehicles were amongst the first in the country to be built with air conditioning which was provided by the dry - ice appliance corp. of mount vernon, ill. the initial order was divided between crown and another los angeles - based coachbuilder, the columbia coach works .
although they’re entirely forgotten about by today’s crown enthusiasts, crown produced a full line of commercial bodies during the teens, twenties and thirties. the earliest examples were built on model t and tt chassis and included delivery trucks and municipal ambulances and funeral cars .
a major selling point of the super coach was its built - in safety. for almost 40 years crown emphasized the fact that the passengers rode above the point of impact in a 90k psi ultra high tensile steel integrated superstructure. the super coaches’ rear seat was located well above the crash level and in the event of a rear end collision, the main force of the impact was absorbed by the all - steel, reinforced, rear baggage compartment — effectively protecting the occupants of the rear seat .
in an interview with ed haas, bob brockway recalled that werner made a switch from using a 5 / 8” marine - grade plywood sub - floor to less expensive particle board. the new material couldn’t stand up to the daily washings they were subjected to in the field and consequently failed in large numbers. other similar measures were implemented by werner and after a couple of year’s his cost - cutting measures had only succeeded in ruining the firm’s reputation and in late 1986 crown coach international entered into receivership .
1929 saw a big change in the aircraft division at crown. for the first time, the kinner airster biplanes sported the crown brand name, and were designated crown model b - 3. but then the stock market crashed on october 29, 1929, hurling the nation into the great depression, where one - third of all americans became unemployed. the stock - market crash sent kinner airplanes into a tail - spin, jeopardizing crown’s licensing agreement with kinner. you can’t license from a company that no longer exists !
a. b. watson, owner of crown stage lines, 117 e fifth st. , los angeles, used crown carriage co. equipment exclusively, and named his company after the firm who first supplied him with motorized reo - chassised coaches in 1920. watson soon became one of southern california’s largest private bus operators, and continued to use crown - built coaches into the late 1920s .
crown formed an aircraft division in 1925, building as many as three biplanes per week, which were called the crown model b - 3, but which were actually a kinner airster built under license. the aircraft division was discontinued with the onset of the depression .
was the only three axle tractor built by crown. commissioned by the los angeles city fire dept to pull a dozer transport. 1963
along with introducing the transit - style school bus in 1932, crown introduced diesel engines (cummins) to school buses in 1955 .
in 1946 crown started development on an all - new sightseeing bus for tanner - gray line. the pasadena - based tour operator was an outgrowth of a horse and buggy livery service inaugurated in 1906 by c. c. tanner. in 1912 tanner entered the automobile age and reorganized as c. c. tanner auto service. by 1928 the tanner coach service had branched out into one of the regions largest intercity passenger carriers and after the second world war tanner motor tours ltd. had became a gray line franchisee .
during the 1960s the demand for crown’s school buses eventually outstripped the factory’s production capacity, and crown relocated its firecoach operations to a new addition located at 2428 east 12th st. , giving their bus - building operations the use of the entire 2500 east 12th st facility .
as this new site grows, i invite all other crown coach enthusiasts to participate in its development. over the next months i will be sharing lots of photos from the family archives. though i am very experienced in running websites, i am only learning how to use wordpress, so if anyone of you out there knows their way around wordpress your help will be greatly appreciated. i have several addons and new themes for which i will be experimenting. google picasa has proven to be the best stage to store and present photos .
all through the 1960s and 1970s, crown school bus capacity ranged from 78 to 91 students. but in the 1970s, crown began to receive more and more requests for smaller - capacity school buses, in the 40 - passenger range. not wanting to have to expand to make a new product line, crown decided instead to become southern california distributors for smaller - capacity school buses built by other manufacturers, on ford and ih chassis. crown’s first distributor arrangement was with wayne buses, then with blue bird, and finally with thomas - built buses .
. to diversify beyond school buses, crown entered into a joint venture with the hungarian firm ikarus to produce articulated mass - transit buses. the
in 1925, kinner airplane began making monoplanes (single - wing aircraft), and crown obtained exclusive rights to manufacture and sell kinner airster biplanes .
bob brockway misses his days at crown, and he regrets that he has lost touch with many of his former colleagues and employees. one of his friends and closest associates was not directly a crown employee: he was a professional photographer named warren bowen. for many years, bowen had photographed every new school bus and fire engine that crown made, but by the time i interviewed bob brockway in 1997, bowen had long since passed away .
later that year crown constructed a brush fire fighting body for a white light truck chassis for use by the us parks service in the angeles national forest. at the time it was just considered a one - off special order as plans for production of crown’s famous fire coaches was still many years away .
for 1937, to increase seating capacity to 79 passengers, crown produced its first mid - engine supercoach; the bus came with a hall - scott gasoline engine. [ 2 ] in 1939, crown acquired moreland motor truck company; as part of the acquisition, crown moved to a larger factory in los angeles. [ 1 ] additionally, the supercoach was changed from a mid - engine to a rear - engine configuration for 1940. [ 2 ]
cuz i am the that on that bus that people cant ajust why i live in a bus, get it right a crown is must, i teach, how to smile, with with my crown in deninl, but in thouse years, i have let it been know, as the crown we lost, but the teaching i try to get across what we lost in the world is brothers and sisters, and unite, is the simiplest the that we can bring back, much love from the man above, & busman, and dave lessen as pic man much love dave & crown. junkies peace
period advertisements touted crown’s “integral” all - steel design whereby the body and chassis were both bolted and welded together providing for greater strength and improved passenger safety .
also in 1927, crown carriage company became crown motor carriage company, inc. this new name was more reflective of its product line, which now included “auto trucks, commercial deliveries, auto truck cabs and bodies, paint shop, commercial designing and lettering, auto blacksmithing, forgings, and repair. ”
alongside the initial pumper design, crown produced the firecoach in several configurations, including water tenders, tiller and ladder trucks, and quints (telesquirts) .
the brockways realized that there was money to be made in both the manufacturing and maintenance of buses and in february 1922 they formed the coach maintenance inc. to take care of the latter opportunity. the directors were the same as crown carriage and were as follows: d. m. brockway, m. m. brockway, charles f. koors and r. v. davidson. lewis walker was hired to manage the concern and he was eventually made vice - president of the firm which specialized in fleet maintenance. the firm eventually relocated to long beach and remained in business at least into the 1950s .
the new fire engine line, dubbed crown firecoach, would be in production for 34 years. in addition to sales all over california, oregon, washington, idaho, arizona, and nevada, crown firecoach fire engines would see service in new jersey, illinois, hawaii, mexico, and even kuwait! after retirement, crown firecoaches would find new homes with private collectors in nearly every u. s. state, and even as far away as scotland and new zealand.
the crown coach corporation ( founded as the crown carriage company ) is a defunct american bus manufacturer . established in 1904 , crown was headquartered in los angeles , california until the mid-1980s , moving to chino , california until its closure . best known for its supercoach school buses , the company also produced motorcoaches and various fire apparatus . crown closed in march 1991 due to declining demand for school buses at the time . at the time of its closure , crown coach was a subsidiary of ge railcar . 
the crown coach corporation (founded as the crown carriage company) is a defunct american bus manufacturer. established in 1904, crown was headquartered in los angeles, california until the mid-1980s, moving to chino, california until its closure. best known for its supercoach school buses, the company also produced motorcoaches and various fire apparatus. crown closed in march 1991 due to declining demand for school buses at the time. at the time of its closure, crown coach was a subsidiary of ge railcar.
the crown coach corporation (founded as the crown carriage company) is a defunct american bus manufacturer. established in 1904, crown was headquartered in los angeles, california until the mid-1980s, moving to chino, california until its closure. best known for its supercoach school buses, the company also produced motorcoaches and various fire apparatus. crown closed in march 1991 due to declining demand for school buses at the time. at the time of its closure, crown coach was a subsidiary of ge railcar.