Model AA Buses produced?? Surviving??

Jerry Kzoo

Jerry Kzoo

Senior Member
Ken Ehrenhofer and his crew are making huge strides on the Adult Passenger Bus that will eventually give rides to visitors around the Gilmore car Museum campus in Hickory Corners, MI.

We are trying to get info on how many buses are still out there and how many were made. Please pass along info as a replay to this thread or PM me with any info you have on ones that are out there.

Thanks, Jerry
 
I have the engine and 4 speed transmission out of the 1930 Bus that served Mount Hope Cemetery, Chicago, IL (115th & Fairfield) in the 1940s. The bus itself is long gone....
 
I’m guessing you will never get an answer to “how many were made”. You could contact Thomas Built Buses and Bluebird Corp, to see what records they might have. Most of the manufacturers are no longer in business, Wayne, Ward(now IC), Superior, Oneida, Carpenter and many, many more are long gone.
 
My Dad drove a 1929 Ford Model A school bus back in the '30s in Monrovia, California. There was one on valley Blvd. in Rosemead or El Monte about 20 years ago. It seems like I saw another one since then but don't recall where.
Wayno
 
Keith True said:
Seems I remember Roger Kaufman found one,and kind of preserved it.Maybe about 25 years ago or so?
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I think I remember that. He wrote at length (over several magazine installments) about their trials in the restoration.'

IIRC, there were several "liberties" taken with the bus, not only due to the dearth of parts but availability of modern scrap yard parts. Mostly the interior appointments (i.e. seat, rails, etc.)

Not sure Restorer or Model A News.

The Restorer Index includes at least seven references to bus restorations. https://www.mafca.com/downloads/Indexes/RINDEX1-67.pdf

I may have this mixed up but here is a place to do some research.


Joe K
 
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If I remember right that was the name painted on the sides of Rogers bus.He died 12?? 15?? years ago,where he was heavily involved in the hobby you can be sure that bus went somewhere,not to a scrapyard.
 
My father, uncle and grandfather got an AA bus (what was left of it anyways) from a scrapyard that used it for hauling cars around in the scrapyard. We still have the chassis from it. I would have to measure it, but I think the chassis is depper than a typical AA.

Red
 
Are you only looking for buses in the US, or ones overseas as well.......like this one in China:

531273



....or this one transporting the pilgrims in Lourdes, France:
531274


....or this one in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (formerly Yugoslavia):

531276


Brad in Germany
 

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truth be told, they would have all been wood framed and extinct at this point.


I would be surprised if there are 50 left in the world. Like pickup trucks, they were used till their last. Also, if not used for commercial use, where to park the behemoths?
 
The Beller Museum, Romeoville, IL just completed a total restoration/rebuild of a 1932 School bus. It took several old bodies to get enough panels to rebuild to use/make the new bus. This bus has no wood in the body panels. It is no longer powered by the 1932 motor, but has a Cadillac V-8 motor powering it. It is now part of the Beller collection of more tan 75 Model A and B vehicles.
 
Jerry Kzoo said:
Ken Ehrenhofer and his crew are making huge strides on the Adult Passenger Bus that will eventually give rides to visitors around the Gilmore car Museum campus in Hickory Corners, MI.

We are trying to get info on how many buses are still out there and how many were made. Please pass along info as a replay to this thread or PM me with any info you have on ones that are out there.

Thanks, Jerry
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I have been told that there are only three know adult AA passenger buses left. The one at Greenfield, Ken Ehrenhofer's project, and a third in a private collection.
 
The Ehrenhofer bus was built by Union City buses in Indiana. It is also an adult bus as there was a difference between a city bus (like Ken's) and a school bus.

There were 48 Union City adult buses built between Nov of 31 and Feb of 32. I believe this is the third rarest bodystyle of AA trucks. https://aafords.com/closed-bodies/

Many other independent body makers would have built their own bus bodies on a Ford chassis. Greenfield Village has a Union City Adult bus. The other buses I know of (huff n puff, one out of New Jersey) were not Union City.

Fun fact. The Union City adult bus came from the factory with two batteries and the low speed "police" generator.

If you're only looking to see how many Union City Adult buses remain thats a very low number. If you're looking to see how many AA buses of any type exist that number will be much higher and could include some Frankenstein or more modern creations.
-Tim
 
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I really enjoyed riding in the Greenfield Village Model A Bus while visiting back in 2019.

Found the seats comfortable enough and at the slow pace with the cackle of the A engine and ****** noises along with the ambiance of the Village, quite a relaxing experience. :)


Thanks for enlarging the photos mercman.
 
In the late 1970’s my Dad and I went on a trip driving around western Nebraska to go to junk yards and look for cool stuff. One stop was a farm that had a Model A bus in a barn. I remember sitting in it thinking—this would suck to ride in—I laugh now as I wish we had gone for a ride. No idea whose farm it was, where it was, or what became of the bus. It was in pretty good shape for a unrestored Model A, after reading these posts, especially for a bus. Dad wanted it for his collection, but we didn’t have a garage that could accommodate something that big.
 
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