Bustypeoversigt:

Eagle Coach Corp., Brownsville (USA)

Nationalitet:

Koncern: -

Firmaet grundlagt: -

Produktion 19??: -

Internetadresse: www.

Firmaets postadresse: Eagle Coach Corporation, Brownsville, Texas, USA

The "Eagle Bus" is a coach with a long and interesting history. During its production of over four decades, some 8,000 Eagle coaches were built in four different countries on two continents, and they had been the trademark of Continental Trailways for over three decades.

Overview

The first Eagles were the Golden Eagles made by the German Company Kassbohrer. The first 54 Eagle Coaches built of the 200 contracted by Continental Trailways were these "Golden Eagles". Four of those 54 coaches were articulated buses that were longer and bent in the middle. All of these coaches were of the "Setra Design" which meant that they had a chassis less frame called Selbst Tragend (self-carrying). The bus was called "Setra" from the first letters of both words. A slightly less equipped model called "Silver Eagle" with the traditional silver siding was designed and became standardized as the fleet bus for Continental Trailways.

In the late 50's, Kassbohrer announced its decision to concentrate on European Coaches and Continental Trailways formed their own company Bus & Car Co. with a Belgium partner. Kassbohrer built the first Model 01's, then Bus & Car picked up the production. A small amount of other models were built in Belgium for different markets through 1968. In 1968 the Model 5 was introduced and was produced in Belgium. In 1975 the Eagle Coach Corporation started building coaches in Brownsville, TX USA. For one year, Belgium and Texas built the Model 5. Since 1976 - all US bound coaches were built in Brownsville, TX. The Model 10 was introduced with many design changes in 1980. In 1987 the Model 15 was introduced making the standard bus 102 inches wide, then a year later coaches could be ordered 45 feet long. In the 90's, Eagle Coach Corporation declared bankruptcy after Trailways was bought out by Greyhound. Some Eagles were being made, mostly "Entertainer Coaches" for celebrities. In the late 90's the company was split and moved to two distinct places in Mexico. Mexico has a high demand for seated buses and Eagles were built for that market - all with the famous Eagle Ride "Torsilastic Suspension". Once again "Eagle Coaches" are being made in Brownsville,TX USA. Silver Eagle Bus Mfg. has brought together all of the gigs, manufacturing assemblys and blueprints from all the original Eagles to make the classic "Eagle" once again plus they have introduced a newer design all with the original "Eagle Ride".

1970s

In the early 1970s, drivers referred to Old Eagles and New Eagles. The Old Eagles had the tag axle located behind the drive axle, like a MCI. The New Eagles had the tag axle located in front of the drive axle which made them very interesting to drive. The front suspension was very soft with a lot of travel and since the tag axle torsion bar was pushing the front end up also, some drivers said it was like driving a diving board. The front end went up and down at the slightest provocation and occasionally the driver had to hang on tight to the steering wheel to stay in his seat. A few New Eagles had air ride seats and some drivers would take the hydraulic jack from the tool kit and set it under the seat to keep it from moving up and down. They said the front end of the bus moved up and down enough on its own!

(kilde: Wikipedia)