IC Bus

IC Bus (originally IC Corporation) is an American bus manufacturer. Headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, IC is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Motors. Established in 2002¹ by Navistar through the reorganization of subsidiary manufacturer AmTran, IC currently produces school buses and commercial-use buses for multiple applications. The IC name stands for "Integrated Coach", referring to how the vehicles are nearly completely assembled under a single corporate structure. For all vehicles, the body and chassis are assembled within the same manufacturing facility; the latter is designed by parent company Navistar (prior to 2015, Navistar also supplied the engine). While using a chassis and hood shared with International-brand trucks, IC Bus vehicles have separate badging. IC vehicles are produced at the Navistar Tulsa Bus Plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to 2010, they were also assembled at the former AmTran/Ward facility in Conway, Arkansas.

IC Bus (originally IC Corporation) is an American bus manufacturer. Headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, IC is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Motors. Established in 2002 by Navistar through the reorganization of subsidiary manufacturer AmTran, IC currently produces school buses and commercial-use buses for multiple applications. The IC name stands for "Integrated Coach", referring to how the vehicles are nearly completely assembled under a single corporate structure. For all vehicles, the body and chassis are assembled within the same manufacturing facility; the latter is designed by parent company Navistar (prior to 2015, Navistar also supplied the engine). While using a chassis and hood shared with International-brand trucks, IC Bus vehicles have separate badging. IC vehicles are produced at the Navistar Tulsa Bus Plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to 2010, they were also assembled at the former AmTran/Ward facility in Conway, Arkansas.

History

Through its predecessor company AmTran, IC traces its roots to 1933, founded as Ward Body Works in Conway, Arkansas. Navistar predecessor International Harvester commenced chassis production 11 years earlier, entering production in 1922. Following the exit of several manufacturing firms from school bus production over the previous decade, IC would be the first newly established manufacturer in the 2000s.

School/commercial buses

Model designations Prior to 2010, IC used the following nomenclature (on school buses) to designate the engine type; subsequently, only the model prefix has been used.

Company timeline

Prototype vehicles

Forward Advantage protoype

The IC FE Forward Advantage was a school bus prototype built by IC in 2008 as a testbed of a "flat-floor" design in the stepwell due to the compact design of the Caterpillar C7 engine. It also included some front-end styling modifications influenced by the severe-service line of International trucks. As Caterpillar has withdrawn from producing diesel engines for the school bus market, the Forward Advantage will not see production in its current form since its design was tailored to the Caterpillar engine.

Motorcoach prototypes

At the 2008 American Public Transportation Association Expo trade show, Navistar announced its intention to enter the intercity motorcoach segment by 2010, unveiling two prototypes produced by IC Bus. Using the MaxxForce 13 powerplant, IC Bus produced a 40-foot-long prototype alongside a 45-foot prototype. Using wind-tunnel design, the company predicted similar fuel efficiency gains that were seen with the streamlined International ProStar semitractor. Following the two prototypes, IC Bus abandoned its efforts in the motorcoach segment, concentrating its commercial buses on school bus derivatives and the HC-Series (a cutaway variant of the International DuraStar).

Assembly

All IC Corporation/IC Bus vehicles are produced in the Tulsa Bus Plant opened by AmTran in 2001. Prior to 2008, Type D models were produced in the Ward/AmTran Conway Bus Plant in Conway, Arkansas.

See also

AmTran - corporate predecessor Navistar International - parent company

Notes

References

External links

ICBus.com - official company web site

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1376295115 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.