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 Cummins
diesel engines, long the standard in heavy-duty trucks, developed a series of V8 diesel
engines in the 1960s to compete with Detroit Diesel’s successful 8V71 engine. The
SCRTD, a loyal Flxible and Cummins diesel customer since the mid 1960s, desired an
air-conditioned transit bus with increased performance capable of freeway speeds. New
Cummins 903 V8 engines powered SCRTD’s one hundred new 7100 series 40’ Flxibles
that arrived in 1971. A separate 4 cylinder Perkins diesel engine powered the
air-conditioning unit. They would be the only SCRTD Flxibles built with the 903 V8.
Originally
acquired by the West Coast Motor Coach Society in the late 1980s, in honor of George
Powell, former Superintendent of Maintenance for SCRTD, who was responsible for specifying
Cummins engines in SCRTD’s new look Flxibles, the #7103 became one of the first buses
of the newly formed Pacific Bus Museum in 1989. The bus was cosmetically restored in
Southern California with new paint and reupholstered seats through the efforts of PBM
members Jerry Duncan and the late Stephen Schwarzwald. In 1999 Cummins West Inc. repaired
the #7103’s engine in Bakersfield, CA.
Specifications
Manufacturer: The
Flxible Company Loudonville, OH
Model: 111-CC-C3-1
Serial No. 54895 Built 1971
Powertrain: Cummins
903 V8 diesel engine with Spicer 184, 2 speed automatic transmission in T-drive
configuration
Body: Aluminum body
on a steel frame Seats 51
Current
Status
The interior is in need of repainting. Paint is peeling around the front entrance. Graffiti was removed from several areas in the rear of the bus. These areas have been sanded and primed for painting.
Adopt
This Bus
Support
the PBM’s bus preservation efforts. Join the museum’s Adopt-A-Bus program. Adopt
this bus or any PBM bus of your choice by contributing to a special fund account reserved
for maintenance and or restoration of each bus. All of the PBM’s buses have their own
special accounts and all funds donated to a particular account will be used only for that
bus.
To
donate to the Special Funds account for this bus indicate # SCRTD 7103 on
your contribution.
Click here to contribute with
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