The General Motors Corporation will be remembered as one of the most important industrial organizations of the Twentieth Century. Although primarily known for its automotive products, it was best known in the surface passenger transportation industry for its intercity highway and urban transit buses. After the end of World War II, it improved its products and gained a virtual monopoly in the bus building business. The Truck & Coach Division of General Motors developed many designs that became industry standards. Arguably, the most notable design was the series known as the "New Look" bus for transit and suburban service. It first appeared in 1959, and the design was quite a radical departure from the models GM had produced since 1940. The New Look design continued in production basically unchanged for over 27 years, and didn't receive a face-lift until 1995 (that being the Classic produced in Canada). In many ways, it truly was the first "ADB", Advanced Design Bus. This is the story of how the New Look bus came to be, a discussion of its construction, and the many variations that comprised the New Look series.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Book does the GMC fishbowl "New Look" bus Justice!,
By B.X.L. (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus (Enthusiast's Reference) (Paperback)
I am an avid American bus fan and model bus collector and have almost every book written on American buses from the last 10-15 years (since the 1990s), started off by the Iconografix series of "photo archives" that a great man in the bus industry and bus enthusiast circles, Mr. William "Bill" Luke started.
I want to say that this GMC New Look book is definitely a must have for any transit bus fan. Its is by far the most accurate and complete history of the most famous and prolific American transit bus ever. I believe even today, 2008, when most people think of a transit bus, this funny looking bus, nicknamed the "fishbowl" for its windshield shape, comes to mind. Mr. John McKane did an excellent job chronicling every stage of its development. The written history he gives is just as important as the fabulous picture. I appreciate the Iconografix "Enthusiast's Reference" series of books more than the "Photo archives" series of books for the reason that the former is more indepth and with more written word/history than the latter, which is mostly just pictures w/ small captions. Again, we lost a great bus fan author w/ the passing of Mr. McKane and I am glad if he was able to produce his "Opus" (i.e. this book) and past valuable information to generations of bus fans with this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book on an Overlooked American Icon,
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This review is from: Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus (Enthusiast's Reference) (Paperback)
This book is a highly interesting overview of the New Look "Fishbowl" bus that was so ubiquitous in American cities from the 60's until the early 90'. All four 'Generations' of the New Look bus are documented, along with sub-classes and unusual variations built for specific transit agencies. I never knew there was a steam-powered New Look, or one built with doors on both sides! The extra 25 pages in color are definitely a nice touch! The book also gives the reader a history of the New Look's predecessors, its competition (like the New-Look Mack!) as well as touching upon the RTS which spelled the demise of the American-built New Look version.
If anything, it would have been nice to know if any New Looks were built for export - like the way EMD had foreign versions of its locomotives. The only example documented in the book is demonstrator 001, which was later sold to Mexico. I also remember reading a number of years ago an article about a New Look that was modified and sold to an Israeli operator. And while I'm at it, perhaps there should have been mention of one city leasing New Looks to other cities. Washington's WMATA leased about 100 buses to the NYCTA during the withdrawal of all 800+ Grumman 870 buses in 1980. In any case, this is a great book that will interest any bus fan, especially those interested in those fabulous Fishbowls.
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favorite bus book,
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This review is from: Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus (Enthusiast's Reference) (Paperback)
This has quickly become my favorite bus book. The historical aspects of the development of the New Look bus and its place in North American transit history are fascinating to read, but just as fun are the various notes about spotting differences between each 'generation' during the coach's 27-year production run that appealed to the enthusiast in me. The authors also did a very nice job covering the various oddball New Looks built over the years such as the 30-foot shorties, the 60-foot articulated buses built for several Canadian operators and the single order of trolley buses built for Edmonton. The modernization of the New Look by GM-Canada into the 'Classic' in the 1980's is also covered and a brief history of this successor bus is also provided.
Photo reproduction is excellent throughout this book. It's not just a collection of three-quarter roster shots, either - photos are also included of buses in production, interior views, close-ups of details, etc. The volume concludes with 24 pages of color photos showing every generation of New Look buses from 1959 to 1986 and a few Classics to boot. 'Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus' was long, long overdue. I've read that John McKane originally wanted to do a full history of this bus when he wrote the original 'The General Motors New Look Bus Photo Archive' in 1999 but was unable to get it published at the time. It was clearly a labor of love for Mr. McKane and we are very fortunate that he was able to write this before his passing. I hope that others will be able to pick up where he left off and chronicle other North American bus models in a similar fashion.
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