CTA Bus, Old-Look Flxible Bus, New Look GMC Bus and Flxible Bus, Nova Bus

A CTA vintage bus display on Chicago's Daley Plaza -- an old-look Flxible bus, a new look GMC fishbowl bus, new look Flxible bus and a new Nova bus.
At one time or another, I've ridden all of them, and I'd forgotten how many seats the old ones had. These "kneeling" new ones, with the front wheelwells intruding so far into the interior that it forms a shelf for grocery bags, are NOT progress.
You know you're getting old when objects you remember being new are officially "antiques".

[@u121921]

Thru the 70s the CTA bus packers used to jam 200 kids onto the Addison and Western buses at Lane Tech when school got out in the afternoon . They were loaded thru the front and back doors and those guys collected every fare without fail - don't know how much made it ti the CTA till . The Flxibles were the best riding with that load . The post 73 GMs were wobbly and the AC always died forcing us to hold the fixed windows open after unlocking the emergency release . the buzzers must have been dis connected because the drivers never said a word and just drove like hell to dump the load off . Always a stampede at the Kenedy El Stop .

[@artistmac]

They did the same thing at my high school, Luther South, except the bus would pull up in the parking lot to load us and take us back east. It's gone now, and the land at the northeast corner of 87th and Kedzie is due for -- a shopping center.

[@gethighonlife11]

The "big, green limousine!

[@artistmac]

I'd see that Frankenstein Flxible bus sometimes downtown xx year ago, with the Old Look body and the New Look front end. Nice to know they saved it.

[@2view428]

Thanks for video

[@artistmac]

I was glad I happened to be downtown when these buses were being displayed. Brought back a lot of grammar school, high school and college memories.

[@waynewright2886]

At Least CTA Kept 3 Busses From the Past, I wished They (CTA) Kept A Couple of GM Busses From the 70's, New Flyer & M.A.N (Bread Box Bus), 40 & 60 Foot From the 80's, TMC & Flixible From The 90's! At Least They Kept A 6400 Nova Bus From 2000, That's a Surprise? Hell...They Didn't Give the GMC & The Flixible Delivered in 69 a Full Restoration Job!

[@davidtosh7200]

The 1950s buses are old with smaller windows, and the buses of the 1960s are totally redesigned with bigger windows, 4 headlights, and more boxy shape. I wonder what a 1928-1936 Flxible, Gillig, and GMC buses are like that used as a city buses.

[@MillerMeteor74]

I'm a big fan of the GM New Look, but I like the GM Old Look and the Flxible New Look too. That Flxible Old Look is really cool! What a great thing to have in the fleet.

[@artistmac]

I remember seeing my first CTA GM New Look on the #22 Cermak route in the early 60's. Compared to the Old-Look Flxibles, Macks, trolley buses, Brills and Old-Look GM's the CTA was running back then, the GM New Look looked like a rocket ship.

[@seanmick3093]

I rode on A.C. transit flexibles with the 6V71 Detroit Diesel engines, these were 1974 models 53-102-6-0

[@Jack-sp2ei]

Two corrections: The GMC bus was a 530X model because it had 53 seats. Current 40 foot buses have about 38. The New Looks looked like the GMCs because GMC was forced to license certain patents to avoid antitrust concerns.

[@artistmac]

You've made my point, Jack. I understand the need to comply with ADA, but there has to be a better way than swiping out a quarter of the seats on a typical modern bus compared to the old ones. That's 15 people that have to stand after a long workday of possibly having to stand all day at their jobs. But so much of public transportation policy is conceived by people who never set foot on public transportation.

[@LetticiaRosado]

Those were cool buses!

[@nelsonoliver4708]

I love these buses...I remember i ride these fishbowl bus... They look so beautiful... Now the buses so ugly and to Square... It look like the box of toothpaste with wheels and windows... I rich they can bring these bus back so i ride it again.... I have these 4 fishbowls model toy bus...

[@csept]

Memories...

[@artistmac]

So many. Especially dropping tokens in the farebox and the "cha-ching" back when you didn't need a Ventra card or exact fare and bus drivers used to make change.

[@Firewertyhn6817]

true buses! real steel and glass!

[@artistmac]

It was like reliving my childhood!

[@darinwilkerson7436]

WMATA metro in DC need to Start rebuilding GMC Fishbowls,Flxibles,White motors,GMC old looks,AM Generals,GMC RTS buses,And save money.

[@artistmac]

That would be a great idea. There has to be a way to make them ADA-compliant, and it seems like it would be cheaper than buying all-new buses at $450,000 to $500,000 apiece.

[@carlstclair9920]

@@artistmac Excellent video I remember bus 301 sometimes was on the 91 Austin route I rode it to Belmont and Austin to Steinmetz High School.

[@scottthompson8875]

cool cta bus artist mac

[@SteveCarras]

Someone on another channell who had a baby fishbowl and uploaded mentioned that there were no spedometers, since they were just the typical two speed automatics on the streets (no freeways) thus no spedometers were needed!

[@cfldriven]

CTA's GMC fishbowls had speedometers, they topped out at 45-50 mph on Lake Shore Drive.

[@SteveCarras]

Now all it needs now is a gmc old look. ;)

[@artistmac]

I wish the CTA could buy the one that's at the Illinois Railway Museum and restore it. It's rough, but the Chicago Motor Coach paint job is still decent.

[@oscar.gonzalez]

Bring flxible new looks back!

[@artistmac]

Amen. And New Look GM's!

[@TheDoumaDono]

Sad they didn't keep the other flexible bus or RTS and NABI

[@trainrover]

Charming fondness of yours! The design of that varied fenestration, that interior starburst pattern, plus that railroad gothic are altogether s o staunchly American in their admirable appearance, such that that there Nova(?) l a u g h a b l y sticks out like a *sore* thumb. What peeves me the most about corporateers' prescribed bus seating nowadays is there *no* longer being *any* lovers' seat. (Although halved as of this millenium, at least our metros still have lovers' seats!)

[@artistmac]

Having ridden to school and my early working career on these buses, it always blows my mind that now, they're basically antiques. It can't be! I didn't get any older, did I? Don't answer that. :D

[@dangelohartley5977]

Interesting

[@artistmac]

Someone at the CTA really must really have a passion for these, and I'm really glad they kept the Old-Look Flxible with the New-Look front!

[@alansklenar2848]

What was the idea of keeping the old look body and new look front on 8499

[@trainrover]

I like how artistmac surprised his audience at revealing its front.

[@alexkemnitz3975]

Did you pick up a pin from that event?

[@artistmac]

:0 ! I didn't even know there were pins! Were they on that Nova bus? If so, they were gone by the time I got there, 'cause I was grabbing every brochure and map they had on the tables.

[@TheChicagoL]

GMC and Flxible may have "read each other's mail" according to the comment at 10:49, but GMC had the more attractive "new look" bus design and the smoother-riding air suspension than Flxible hands down.

[@artistmac]

Having ridden them both on the old 22A Wentworth route, they were both bouncy, especially on the section between Roosevelt and Archer.

[@TheChicagoL]

True. But the GMCs took the road bumps and "humps" that you mentioned with a lot less "jolt"; they kinda "floated". The "Flxies" on the other hand felt like you were riding on the back of wild rodeo bull or somethin'. Frequently the rear air suspension would "bottom out" especially if the bus was carrying a "standing room only" load; the GMCs on the other hand, rarely if ever bottomed out. The only good thing that I remember about the ride on the Flxies is that because of their smaller air springs, they didn't sway as much as the GMCs.

[@jason25k]

The big green monster!

[@artistmac]

The "green limousine", we used to call it in high school. Used to pull up in the parking lot of Luther South High School to take all us black kids (and a few whites) back east. :D