MIKE'S FIRST GMC TRANSIT BUS PAGE

Photos that were taken by me are denoted by '**'. Other photos were donated from various bus enthusiasts.

**A refurbished San Diego Transit 1967 GMC TDH4519. I was able to ride in this wonderful bus for two days during the October '98 Motor Bus Society Convention in San Diego. This bus is used occasionally for stadium events. Sidenote: refurbish cost= approx $100,000! Photo taken by me October 1998.

**The same 1967 GMC New Look/Fishbowl bus is sitting comfortably next to an original 1980/81 San Diego Transit trolley at the Trolley Maintenance Shop. Sidenote: the 1980/81 model trolleys will all be retired within the next couple years. Photo taken by me Oct. 1998.

An early 1960s GMC Fishbowl in newer white/blue paint scheme operating for New York City Transit Authority. Most of the early 1960s fishbowls I remember riding were painted in dark green or light blue with dark blue stripe.

An early 1960s GMC Fishbowl/New Look for Edmonton Transit (Canada). Beautiful bus!

**An early 1970s 35ft/96"-wide GMC New Look bus at the South Carolina Electric & Gas garage in Columbia, SC. SCE&G is one of the last utility companies owning a bus system in the United States. But more importantly, SCE&G is too "cheap" to update their fleet so Columbia residents get to see 25-30 year old buses on their city streets. Sounds like a cool blessing to me!

**1972 GMC T6H4523 operating for KAT (Knoxville Area Transit) in new color scheme for the Orange Line trolley service. Only bus numbers 830 and 834 were painted in this brown color and used exclusively for the Orange Line. This bus is one of the few remaining GMC New Looks in the KAT fleet. Notice a GMC New Look bus (#837 or #838) is in front of this trolley bus (probably operating on the Blue Line trolley route). Photo taken by me in front of City-County Building on Main Street in downtown Knoxville, TN (Jan '98).

A 35-foot 1970s model New Look/Fishbowl for Sacramento RT. I rode only one of these buses on route #2 in November, 1986. My first and last time on an RT bus.

A Fort Wayne PTC 35-ft GMC New Look bus. Date of photo unkown.

A mid-1960s GMC New Look bus (w/AC) sporting Bus-O-Rama illuminated advertising signs (transit systems in Miami-FL and Richmond-VA had such signs as well) and original NYCTA forest green color scheme. This photo was taken in New York City in April 1969. (photo donated by Philip Hom)

A bright colored 1969 GMC T8H-5305 (w/o AC) for San Francisco MUNI bus system- there are no GMC New Looks in service today operating for MUNI. Photo taken in 1992.

**The tailends of two GMC New Looks for SCE&G(South Carolina Electric & Gas) in Columbia, SC. If I'm not mistaken, the middle bus is a 1968 GMC- as revealed by the '68 style tail lights. Take notice of the unpainted RTS bus. Most of the newer SCE&G vehicles in the fleet [RTS and Gillig equipment] has no paint schemes (stripes/markings)- just plain white buses.

1975 GMC New Look T8H-5307A for the Cleveland RTA system. This bus is not in service today. Photo taken in 1993.

A 1960s GMC New Look bus (w/o AC) resting in New York City in it's newer white/blue-striped color scheme. This bus is also carrying a Bus-O-Rama advertising sign which was very popular on NYCTA buses. NYCTA had it's first delivery of such bus advertising signs in late 1965. Date of photo unknown- probably earl y 1980s.(photo donated by Philip Hom)

1973 GMC T6H-4523 (w/o AC)- ex AC Transit stored in a private lot in southern California. Photo taken in 1992.

**1959/1960 GMC New Look for NYCTransit Authority (Bus #100) in original green color scheme. These buses were used for the MTA until the early 1980s (Queens divisions). This shot was taken by me on Schemerhorn Street in downtown Brooklyn near the Transit Museum during the 1997 Bus Exhibition. This bus is not used for revenue service today.

**A 1963 GMC New Look bus for NYCTransit Authority, also in original green color scheme (most of these buses were painted blue with a dark blue stipe in the 1970s). Photo taken by me during the 1997 Bus Exhibition at the Transit Museum in Brooklyn, NYC. Similarly, this bus is not in revenue service today. The MTA (NYCTransit) today uses a RTS and Orion bus fleet.

Below is a 1960 GMC New Look (NYC Transit Authority) resting in New York City. Notice how NYC ordered their GMC New Look buses (1960s models) without the front top nightlights over the destination signs typically found on other GMCs.

This particular model is my **all-time** favorite transit bus!!!!

If you scroll back up 2 images, you can see what the tailend of a 1960 GMC looked like.

What a beautiful vehicle!!!

Date of photo unknown.

Here is a San Diego Transit GMC New Look in downtown San Diego, CA. This photo was taken in 1993. Unfortunately, in the mid-1990s most GMC fishbowls were retired from the fleet (however, you can still see a couple GMCs combing the streets today but only until 1999).

** Tailend of a retired 35-ft 1973 GMC T6H4523A CARTA bus in Chattanooga, TN. Looks can be deceiving- this bus appears to be in fine shape but the entire front end had been completely cannibalized by CARTA (used for parts). Photo taken by me May '98.

A Staten Island NYCTA bus at St. George Bus/Ferry/SIRT Terminal. Notice how the destination sign reads only "2-to SOUTH BEACH". In the 1960s and 1970s, NYCTA buses on Staten Island usually displayed a letter "R" (for Richmond County) followed by a route number. Not sure why this is not the case for bus #3899 below. This photo must have been taken post-1968 because of the 'M' logo over the driver's side window. The MTA was formed in 1968. The woman boarding the bus has an outfit that looks like it dates no later than 1969 or 1970. Anyone's guess.....(photo donated by Philip Hom)

**Here is a BC Transit Canadian-built GMC New Look parked in downtown Vancouver, Canada. As of 1996, BC Transit had a large number of GMC New Looks (as well as New Flyers, Flyers and MCI Classics) in their bus fleet. Photo taken by me in August 1996.

**Photo of a 1972 GMC New Look (35 foot) at the KAT (Knoxville Area Transit) garage taken by me in 1996. Unfortunately, this bus (#815) was recently scrapped along with many other GMCs in the KAT fleet. Today, KAT has retained 6 of these GMCs predominately used for trolley runs (two of which received brand new paint jobs). Bus #837 and #838 are still in the original paint sch eme whereas #835 was rehabbed a few years ago with new striping and a wheelchair lift. The sixth GMC is painted as a brick schoolhouse used for promotions. KAT has a varied fleet of transit vehicles; 1972 GMC New Looks, 1982 Grumman Flxibles (40 ft.), 1990 Flxible Metros (30 ft), 1996 Novabus RTS (35 ft), and 1982 RTS (35 & 40 footers) recently purchased from various transit systems- these buses have been rehabbed.