Thomas Vista

The Thomas Vista was a line of semi-forward-control buses built by Thomas Built Buses from 1989 to 1998, sold almost entirely as school buses with some commercial versions. Following the idea of the Ward Patriot, it set the engine beside the driver under a sloped hood to improve sightlines, and a loading-zone window ahead of the door cut blind spots at stops. From 1989 to 1991 it used a reconfigured Chevrolet and GMC chassis with a Detroit Diesel 8.2 L V8. When General Motors committed its B-Series chassis to Blue Bird, Thomas switched for 1992 to a Navistar International 3600 chassis built specifically for the Vista, offered with inline-six or V8 diesels. A 1994 redesign added a larger single-piece side window and a four-piece wraparound windshield, and smaller versions followed as successors to the Type B Mighty Mite. Freightliner bought Thomas in 1998 and the Vista gave way to the Saf-T-Liner Conventional and the FS-65.