Ford Transit Bus

The Ford Transit Bus was a medium-duty transit bus produced by Ford from 1936 to 1947. Ford built the chassis and Union City Body Company of Union City, Indiana fitted the bodies, while Canadian versions from 1941 to 1943 used chassis made in Windsor and bodies by Brantford Coach and Body. The first Transit Bus was a prototype loaned to Detroit Street Railways in June 1936, which then ordered 500, and the front-engine, forward-control design used an 85 horsepower Ford flathead V8. In 1939 Ford moved the engine to the rear for better weight distribution and fitted a larger 95 horsepower V8, and about 12,500 rear-engine buses were built before production ended in September 1947. After the war the bus was marketed as the Universal Bus.