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Unusual rear door old look

 
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frankie



Age: 77
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 745
Location: St. Peters, Mo.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:37 pm    Post subject: Unusual rear door old look Reply with quote

Here we see Michigan City (Ind) Municipal Coach Service TDH-3502 #26, one of 8 buses acquired in 1965.

The one unusual feature that catches the eye are the two solid rear doors.

What I'm not sure of is if these came from the factory that way as per company request or were these local replacement panels?

Frankie

Photo courtesy of Bill Luke & Linda Metler for educational purposes.

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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

frankie,

I'm going to take as real wild stab at this;

But first I'll point out another oddity - I've never seen a 3502 with a 'GMC' badge under the windshield instead the traditional 'GM' plastic logo but, then again, there were only 136 built and only between 1968 and 1969 and they were rare (BTW; the Luke/Metler 1965 date is incorrect - only the 3501's were built in that period).

The Yellow Bus Company TDH 3501 # 67-1 that appears at the top of page 88 in the Luke/Metler book also seems to have the glasses missing in the narrow slats of the rear door.

It may be an optical illusion but it looks as though the outer slats on # 26's rear door are just too narrow for glass inserts - who knows? - maybe GM was trying different configurations.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'
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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 12:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Right as usual on the dates Mr.L.
Reading (PA) had gotten six 3501's in 1965. They were basically a cheap copy of an old look design. The trannys could never figure out what gear they wanted to be in. On a hill they'd slam in and out of gear. I think Reading only kept their's for about 2 years.
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roymanning2000



Age: 75
Joined: 01 Aug 2007
Posts: 198

PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I Googled "TDH3501" and "TDH3502". Most of the images showing the curb side show the same kind of rear door. Looks like it was probably standard to have two narrow panels without glass. Perhaps it was to cut costs or give the narrow door panels more strength.

Roy
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frankie



Age: 77
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 745
Location: St. Peters, Mo.

PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just did the same thing Roy, and you're right regarding the rear door. Another interesting note is that most of the images shown have the GMC badge instead of the GM as cited by Mr. L.

Regarding the nameplate: The third generation new looks came out in 1968 sporting the new GMC logo on the front - the same year that the 3502s ended production in November. I'm sure that the overlap of the two buses being manufactured that year was the reason for the last of the old looks using the GMC logo. As most of us know, the 3502s were replaced by the TDH/TGH 3301 baby fishbowls soon after.

Frankie
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