Thomas Saf-T-Liner FS-65

The Thomas Saf-T-Liner FS-65 was a school bus that Thomas Built Buses made from 1997 to 2006, built on a cowled chassis that Freightliner designed for it. It was Freightliner's first cowled school bus chassis, derived from the Business Class medium-duty truck, and served as an indirect successor to the Ford B series chassis that Ford ended in 1998. Thomas built the body at High Point, North Carolina, and the chassis came from the plant in Gaffney, South Carolina, opened in 1995. The prototype appeared in May 1996 and the first bus left the line in January 1997. It was set apart by standard hydraulic anti-lock brakes two years before they were required, a sloped hood and a raised driver's platform, and it was the only school bus in North America offered with a manual transmission. Caterpillar 3126 and Cummins ISB diesels were standard. The Saf-T-Liner C2 replaced it, and the last one was delivered on December 13, 2006.