SO SO glad this beauty didn't end up as an RV. In my home city we had about two dozen of these but they were 1956 & 1957 models (no difference) and they had automatic transmissions. They were retrofitted with air conditioners around 1961 (we're talking 100+ degree summers in Phoenix, AZ) They remained in service until 1980 as the city kept growing and they had to hold onto them longer than expected. I miss them a lot.
Always use the clutch when changing gears double clutch method. Don’t care how many tricks you were taught. When that part wears out. It is very hard to find. So always drive it like it was intended to be driven no tricks
the first year for a 6v71 detroit diesel is 1957 ,some one screwed up with the flyer .its most likely a inline 6, 6-71 Detroit diesel . please check the adjustment on the shifter linkage ,and save the transmission
I am surprised to see this one with a manual transmission. I think that most transit buses were built with the two speed Allison automatic transmission. This one appears to be the suburban version which had no center door.
@@1575murray correct... You can see the tag says TDM-4512 (transit diesel manual). A few years later they would have SDM (suburban diesel manual) nomenclature. I used to drive a few different 1961 SDM-5301 New Look (fishbowl) coaches. They had the 8V-71 and would really move down the highway.
In 1983 I drove a 1958 gmc 4512 from Knoxville TN, to Augusta GA. We had purchased it thru an auction and needed it for our bus contract on fort Gordon. Good old bus. We called it the “popcorn wagon”
I got to drive one of these for some friends who bought an ex-Seattle METRO unit. They were kind of a bare bones operation and didn't really know how to maintain it. Scared the shit out of me, and I refused to haul any passengers in it for fear of killing someone.
The inline six-cylinder 71 series engine was introduced as the initial flagship product of the Detroit diesel engine division of General motors in 1938. The v-type first appeared in 1957.
@@ericdee6802.... Charles Seaton's answer to you, is correct. It IS an inline, 6-71N. How do I know?... I worked with Detroit Diesel on a consulting basis on a new scavenging & turbo/supercharging system back in the early 1970's. The "V" block Series 71 engines were Not released for production until mid 1957... three years after the coach in this video was built. The V6-71 engines were Not utilized in GM transit coaches, until the "new look" Model TDH-5301 "fishbowl" bodies were put into production in 1960 (through 1968).
It does have power steering. It's call armstrong steering. I think this actually is an SDM, because it doesn't have a rear exit door. It also has taller windows and the seats are raised off the floor to allow for all forward facing seats. On a transit model the seats over the wheel wells would be facing sideways. The S means Suburban.
I am an old guy, so I remember when Detroit introduced the V series. And I believe it was in the early 60s. I do know that GM didn’t make the V series in 1954. This bus either has a 6-71 (inline 6 cylinder)or it has been repowered.
You can see the bus still has the inline 6-71, and probably is the original one. The 6V-71 is about half as short, but being wider it will simply not fit in the bay of an old-look bus.
The V-block 71 series Detroits were introduced in 1957. It has to have an inline 6-71 or this is not an original resto. Interesting the guy commented "4V-92?". Detroit never made a 4 cylinder 92, plus the 92 series didn't come out until 1974.
The headphones I have make this sound so good and oh my gosh the three dementional sound out of this is so good it actually puts a tear in my eye. A tear of emotion. I am so crazy about buses I do get tears in my eyes listening to these kinds of videos old bus like this is pretty amazing. It is so emotional just listening to this working and knowing that this use to bee a transit bus. I am pretty sure that there are people that feel the same way I do about buses. I am so crazy for them. And it is sooo emotional just hearing this old thing run and the music behind this all. Even the bus when it is idling seems to sing its song from yesteryear. This is history and it will never bee forgotten. Just listening to this is so emotional and the emotional part of this is just hearing everything behind this bus. Sounds like it would bee extremely hard to drive. Definitely the bus….
B-E-A-utiful. I love those 2 stroke Detroits. I live in the UK. The only simple way to get hold of a Detroit over here would be to buy an Oshkosh M1070 with a 8V-92 TA. 500bhp. - They replaced the British Army's Scammell Commanders, which ran 625bhp Perkins/Rolls Royce V12 turbodiesels, a detuned version of the same engine used in the Challenger 1 MBT. Problems are I don't have room for an Oshkosh, or £78,000 to buy one, ex-NATO, here.
I am totally blind a business owner. I am a working pianist but I love buses. I take buses every day pretty much hahahaha. I am a bus nut. I always have had fassanations with buses. Loved them ever sense. This old bus wow!! Sounds soooo good. It sounds like it is a work horse and very hard to drive. Modern buses sound pretty big too but the old ones they sound so beefy. And they are big!! So emotional listening to this and the music that was in the background the 1960’s really matched in with it although it is a 1954 bus. It was pretty cool. Interesting to know that that was a transit bus. I can only imagine how that would ride.
I remember when this model first came out. The ride was better, the engine was quieter, and it just felt like a much better bus all over. My uncle was a driver for a while and I got to know a bunch of the other drivers as well. I'd sit right behind the driver and steal discarded transferr packets. I wanted to be a driver when I got older. Not today though.
Such a cool looking bus. Talk about driving. Having to steer/muscle and shift must have left you wiped out after a days work. Great music in the background.
We some type in montreal and this type was good on flat terrain but on hill on downtown is was dog.they have mack bus yup big dog no power.when was winter this type bus was real freezer yup no heat very much and summer was blast furnance yes hot like hell.thank video😊
To the person that commented about Ralph Kramden. I can remember some promotional photos taken for the honeymooners that indeed showed Jackie Gleason at the wheel of a bus just like this. He drove for the fictitious Gotham bus lines. In NYC a statue of Gleason as Ralph Kramden is on the sidewalk outside the Port Authority bus terminal.
I thought these busses ( Old Look )just came with a 6 or 4 71 not V engines. I used to work on New Look Fishbowels that were either 6 or 8V71's back in the 80's.
This bus reminds me of the movie A Bronx Tale with Robert De Niro where he is a City Bus Driver. The bus he drives is simular to this bus in looks. Watch this fantastic movie on you tube.
Nice Old Look GM Coach. I drove buses like this and newer (up to mid 80s MCI and Prevost coaches) in college in the mid 80s, most Detroits with manual transmissions. This driver is ok, but with other online videos there is way too much grinding of gears going on, you need to match the engine rpms to the transmission both when upshifting and downshifting. Wind it out in each gear, double clutch, nice and smooth. 😊
Buenos 👍 guaguas 1948 años hasta 1968 años guaguas hay todavías motor buenos siquines , tiempos recuerdos acabos 😔 buenos Puerto Rico , gobiernos malos bunados junker
This is the suburban version with larger windows (no standee windows) and no center door. A TDM-4512 it seems. Most suburbans had manual transmissions, most (all?) city versions had 2-speed automatics.
No matter if it’s an in-line or a v type 2 cycle Detroit the secret to smooth up shifts is to wind it right up to the governor and hen it will fall right into the next gear without grinding And you may just need the clutch to get it out of gear
Also better for the two-stroke engine. Even the MC9 Operators Manual up into the 80's said not to short shift and "remain in each gear until engine reaches it's full governed rpm."
@@SlightlyLessFat Ralph Kramden is the character Jackie Gleason played in The Honeymooners TV series. His occupation was a city bus driver and considering the time the show aired he would have likely driven this model bus.
@@clarkerobertson2764 ah ok! I know the show and actor. Just have never watched an episode. That show is a tad before my time. I do enjoy the older sitcoms. Used to watch them with my old man.