Atlanta Transit System 1953 GM Old Look Bus 253

Atlanta Transit Bus 253 Ride which I enjoy riding the old historical bus before I was born it makes me more appreciative for Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery County Bus System to a White Man during the Segregation times in America mainly in the South!!!!

[@gojoe2833]

Back in the 1960s, the Old Look buses were being retired by our local bus company in Worcester, MA. So what did they do with them? They used them for school buses! So we rode to school on these 1953 Old Look GM buses that seemed to be on their last legs. I knew they were 1953s because the state registration would be posted at the front of the bus. But worse were the old 1946 Macks that we sometimes got. Going up a hill, the driver would smash hit foot to the floor, the engine would make an awful roar, and we'd creep up the hill at the blistering speed of 5 miles per hour. Those Macks were real clunkers, the GMs weren't as bad... By the 1960s the bus company had a fleet of shiny new New Look GM buses...they were the coolest thing compared to the ones we rode to school

[@muffs55mercury61]

Beautiful bus and great sounding motor. Nothing like the beautiful music of a Detroit diesel. We had two dozen of these in Phoenix until 1980.

[@dalemettee1147]

I used to ride this model to school every day. i thought about the transmission a lot. A very special set up. "First gear" was fluid drive and at a certain speed a shift to direct drive. As a hill came in view, the bus would slow down and shift back to fluid drive. When fully loaded, the transmission would not shift back. The engine would finally die.

[@user-hw1cr5uq4z]

Drove some of those old GM TDH-40 buses in Denver in the mid 1970's They had the inline transverse Detroit Diesels and the two speed Allison automatic transmissions with hydraulic and direct drive.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

The GM TDC "old look" buses probably had the greatest impact on eliminating electric streetcar systems in the U.S. and Canada especially in the 1940s and 50s. Nice video of a vintage bus ride and sure brings back memories for me. Thanks for sharing!

[@RetroGaragePhoenix]

I own a 1955 out of Atlanta. Too incomplete to restore but is going to make a cool Motorhome as it was already converted decades ago. Mine is 1955 Bus number #219

[@julioherrera3051]

Ese sonido del motor es un elixir para mis oídos

[@stopagenda2147]

Sweet sounding Detroit!

[@ultraswank]

Any gears on this bus? Sounds like he's driving it in 1st gear all the way, the engine is revving like crazy. Am I missing something?

[@Crosley-1520]

Those buses have a 2-speed automatic: the "first gear" is driven just by the torque converter, and after certain speed has been reached a direct-drive clutch engages as a "second gear". You drive such buses basically by pressing the accelerator pedal all the way down and releasing it all the way up.

[@exxusdrugstore300]

Has a lot to do with the engine too. It's 2-stroke diesel, so it sounds like it's running at twice the rpm it actually is.

[@gojoe2833]

TDH buses were automatic (H=Hydraulic transmission). TDM buses were stick shift (M=Manual), they had a clutch and gear shift. T stands for Transit bus, D stands for Diesel powered.