Blog
Goodguys
We took the bus over to the Goodguys show at the Alameda County Fairgrounds here in Pleasanton last weekend. As always, the Flxible is at the center of the crowd all day any day at a car show. This time, a happy fellow walked up to share that his father had once owned a Flxible Visicoach just like ours, only it was in much poorer condition. It was teal green with white. It had stainless panels down the sides, trimmed with spruce.
Jim Craig’s 1952 Flxible
Jim Craig owned our ‘52 Flxible for a while down in Southern California. I’m happy to say that after his son found out that our bus and Jim’s bus were one and the same, he called his dad on Facetime for a full tour of everything we’ve done. Hopefully Jim will be able to come up and visit sometime soon.
Vintage Motor Coach Feature
Very pleased to share that the 1952 Flxible is on the cover of issue #4 of Vintage Motor Coach Magazine. You can find a copy at www.vintagemotorcoach.com
The Powertrain
Back in 2013, when I first purchased the bus, it was powered by a 50s-designed Ford 534 Super Duty truck motor connected to a Spicer 5 speed manual transmission. The 534 probably originally spec’d out at 266 horsepower and 490 lb/ft of torque, while achieving something like 8mpg in use.
Our repower consists of a 1999 Cummins ISB, sourced from a Freightliner XC motorhome chassis. The ISB, a 5.9L motor, delivers 275 horsepower and 660 lb/ft of torque, so once the turbo spools up it pulls pretty well. Others have put the larger 8.3L cummins into Visicoaches. Ours will do 11mpg on the highway, but climbs slowly on steeper grades. The Allison 6-speed automatic makes driving much simpler as well. An integrated exhaust brake does effectively preserve the service brakes on long downhills.
The Flxible catches cooling air for the motor through a scoop on the top-rear of the bus. The air is driven down through the radiator, over the powerplant, and out the bottom of the bus. The original engine (and the 534) had a cowl over it, and used the stock belt-driven fan on the rear to pull air down and over the block before exiting the bus. The factory also installed a set of metal fins, or dams, underneath the block to deflect oncoming air as the bus went down the road.
But there isn’t sufficient room with the longer ISB to keep that cowl in place, so instead we have a top-mounted, belt and gear-driven fan. The gear drive is from a grain harvester, and it works exceptionally well at keeping airflow moving. We also have a full-width mud flap behind the rear axle, which acts as an air dam as the bus is in motion.
I certainly hope that somewhere down the line, options for an electric or hydrogen powertrain come available.
Little Things
It all begins with an idea.
The primary thesis for the bus was the fusion of an old Pullman coach with a streamline bus. At its root, the vehicle is about imagination and fantasy. While it certainly is a fully functioning and running motor coach, it isn’t entirely ‘real.’ There are elements throughout that we put in place as reminders of another time, knit together with brand new pieces to ensure things function perfectly even when they appear to be…old.
As an example, Flxible ’52 has a modern mobile audio system, including components from Alpine, Kenwood, and Polk Audio. But the speakers are enclosed with vintage cloth and include real badges from an early RCA Victor Orthophonic hi-fi system. The first aid kit, housed in a rear cabinet, is an authentic 1940s metal box. The steering wheel, in antique white, includes a Flxible logo but it sits on a modern column.
We also included pieces of the original interior where we could. Fluted aluminum panels at the seat bases are the same ones that passengers might have kicked up against in 1952. The edge of the newly fabricated overhead luggage racks includes original metal trim. The dashboard surround, which now houses all modern Freightliner instruments, is factory as well.
And there are other bits of whimsy that are more personal and yet still fully integrated into the design. Destination signs for New Mexico, Maine, and Massachusetts have sentimental connections. Signs for Ferness and Gallifrey are perhaps a bit more obscure. Inside, the sliding blue doors to the bedroom may remind some folks of a London Police Box.
Through it all, we looked for ways to make sure we were designing the bus as a complete experience, a unit from bumper to bumper. I hope we’ve accomplished that goal.
Flxible ’52
Why this one?
Why this one?
In 2013, we set about looking for an older vintage trailer to restore. I was inspired by Spartans, Airstreams…even the astounding Holiday House that the team at Flyte Camp put together. For me, there is something magical about vehicles that move us in space and in time. Before spot welding and metal adhesives, there was aluminum curving and slicing around a frame, held in place by perfect lines of hand-bucked rivets. I also love trains, from the modern 200mph+ coaches (that seem standard everywhere but here) to the wood paneled Pullman cars of the gilded age. I could ride for days on a train, drunk on the rhythm of the tracks and the landscape unfurling outside.
And then one day I discovered the Flxible bus. It was all of the above and it had a functional air scoop on top. Even the windows along the sides lean forward as if to say, “let’s go.” It was as though a grade schooler had drawn the ultimate streamline, hot-rod, space age bus of the future. Only it was real. And for sale.
Our Flxible was originally delivered to Parrish Stage Lines of Silver City, New Mexico at the end of September, 1952. About 20 years later, the bus was converted into a motorhome. It appeared to be the work of a professional conversion shop, though no records survive with the bus. Flxible ’52 moved to Southern California at that time, and spent the next 40 years in and around Joshua Tree.
