Coaches aren’t really my thing, but when you start browsing Google and see nice period pics of this nature, you investigate. And then you find more, and they’re all crazier than the next. This little goldmine comes courtesy of Spanish coachbuilder Ayats, which is still active. In the late ’50s, Ayats went loco on some Pegaso Diesel chassis, taking styling cues from contemporary Detroit. I’m seeing some ’56 Chevy in this one, with some ’57 DeSoto around the eyes. But there’s more…
Juan Ayats is a Catalan coachbuilder established in near Gerona since 1905. By the early ’50s, their long-distance coach designs were getting mildly interesting, but still pretty normal.
Mid-’50s: it’s getting kinda chromey out there. But despite the toothy grille, we’re not in pure Detroit “homage” mode quite yet. Check out the next ones though, amigo.
¿What do you see?
Uno
Dos
Tres
Cuatro (front & back)
Cinco
Seis
Siete
Ocho
Nueve
This worrisome case of acute Chromatoid Detroitis was gradually brought under control in he early 60s. Franco’s Spain wasn’t a fun place to be, so I’m told by folks who lived through it. But at least, there was one coachbuilder who had a gift for impressions and visual comedy.
I like them all actually. They make modern age buses look bland, boring etc.
These public transportation movers all have excellent details.
These are fun! Id love to see a few of these in town. Today’s busses ARE bland. they’re like 60s-70s office buildings, just anonymous square glass boxes….yawn!
Sure, James. I agree. But I would think that the cost of maintenance and repair to keep these wondrous things looking presentable would eventually cause them to be taken out of service. Mass transportation, either in government or private hands, still has to keep an eye on the bottom line to remain viable.
I got (IMO): Early 50s Cadillac dagmars on the Uno; a touch of AMC on Dos; 58 Edsel on the Tres; 58 Oldsmobile eyes on the Cuatro and late Packard on the back (or Studebaker); 57 Dodge eyes on the Cinco; 59 Oldsmobile and (lower) Cadillac with some 60s Rambler face on the Seis; late 50s Mercury with a touch of early 60s Buick on the Siete; I got nothing on Ocho; and early 60s Mercury/Comet on the Nueve.
Great photos. I never knew these existed.
Me, I like ’em all but I can imagine many Americans being horrified .
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There’s nothing quite like wretched excess ! .
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-Nate
Uno – 1957 Cadillac
Dos – Not sure
Tres – 1958 Edsel
Cuatro – Front – 1958 Oldsmobile, Rear – 1957 Chevrolet
Cinco – Not sure
Seis – 1959 Cadillac
Siete – 1958 Pontiac-ish but generic Chrome King
Ocho – Not sure
Nueve – 1961 Oldsmobile
This style of ornate coach decoration has been a source of fascination for me for a very long time. Although this one is neither a Pegaso nor Spanish, I view it as the ultimate expression of the genre. It was the work of Belgian coachbuilder Van Hool done in 1952 on a Dodge truck chassis and is clearly a tribute to that iconic GM concept car, the 1951 LeSabre front, side and rear….
.
WOW that is amazing. Especially the back!
The Le Sabre really rattled a lot of folks back in them days! I know at least one car that emulated it as blatantly as that bus, the 1952 Salmson S4E cabriolet Esclassan.
And postwar German customizer Spohn made a good living selling LeSabre clones to Americam G.I.’s…
Dos = Nash/Hudson (“Hash”)?!??
Yup. I agree.
Dos – reminds me of the König coaches from The Hague, second half of the fifties.
No idea which car model.
Early 50s Buick. (52-54 mostly…)
Agreed !
Bizarre. Way cool. Righteous.
Thank you very much Tatra ! Never heard of this coach builder before.
Coach (as in a more luxurious long distance bus) designs were very extravagant in the fifties, all over Europe. Even in the “cold” northern parts. See 1954 Smit Joure coach on an Austin chassis below. Especially the fronts looked very vibrant, with lots of chrome.
Any idea how many bus/coach builders there were in Europe during that Peak Era ? Say in the fifties and sixties. 100 ? 200 ? More ?
It’s safe to say “dozens”…
Source picture: https://myntransportblog.com/2013/11/01/buses-austin-england-uk/
Dos looks like was heavily influenced by the 57 Nash. Who knew that buses could look so good.
Agree, it’s clearly a 57 Ambassador in bus form.
Right!
Uno looks like a Soviet ZIL 111.
Front end of ZIL is such a copy of the ’56 Packard. These were in production through the ’80s though.
Those ZILs were out of production by the early 60s.
You’re thinking of the Tchaika.
Right. By 1963 or so, ZIL was sort of imitating a 1961 Cadillac.
I could’ve sworn those pseudo-Packards were in production ’til 1981 or so, but I’m far from the final authority on Soviet cars.
la673: you’ve got your Soviet Packards mixed up.
The one that was made for eons was the GAZ Tchaika 13 — not as luxurious as the ZIL, but contemporary.
Some freaky looking coaches. Kind of reminds me of this:
http://pinktentacle.com/images/10/human_faced_dog_3.jpg
Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978.
I LOVE IT!
I’d like to see some of those RV folks with too much money find some of these chassis to rescue and turn into multi-million dollar motor homes. At least there would be some flair that went beyond the paint jobs that pass for exterior customization today.
What a great way to start a Monday morning! These are are so marvelous. Of course, you early birds have identified them all by now. And I agree; they would make the ultimate snob-appeal motorhome. I wish…
Reminds me of the Maltese bred vans: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/the-amazing-maltese-bread-van/
Wow, never seen these pictures before. What is amazing is the sheer number of designs that obviously came in rapid-fire succession. Even in the glory days of automotive styling, US coaches would go several years without an update. Not in Spain, apparently.
Back then European bus- and coach builders were often small, family-owned companies. Operating on a national / local market. A body shop with craftsmen from the region, who often worked for that company their whole life.
A domestic or foreign truckmaker supplied a complete, rolling chassis. The coach builder only took care of the body and interior. The luxurious coaches (not comparable with stripped down and straight-forward public transport buses) were built in relatively small series; custom built or a one-off wouldn’t be any problem.
These are a fantastic find. Had no idea these ’50’s style buses existed. I really like them.
Hermann Spohnn meets Virgil Exner. They try to “out cool ” each other, and here’s the result. These things make the Gaylord look like a Citation. 5 stars !
I am in love with the stylishness of these vehicles. Somehow they put me in mind of the amazing Tatra T603 featured in the movie ‘ Lemony Snickett -A Series Of Unfortunate Event’; a wonderful car from a parallel – but much more interesting and stylish- world
Somehow I think traveling to the office would just be a better trip in one of these buses, attired, of course, in a fashionable wide-lapel suit, and a broad-brim fedora.
And I have to agree with Principaldan that anyone of these would make a wonderful custom RV….
Now about that Tatra
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a6317/video-tatra-603-promo-circa-1962/
I like those.
Cinco looks like Christine’s mother 🙂
These are quite wild and fun to look at.
One can speculate that, because personal cars were much more expensive (and necessarily plain) through the 50’s and early 60’s in Europe, there was clear room for more radical American design and marketing ideas for the bus manufacturers and transportation companies to exploit. And they did. Whether they exploited the best ideas is up for discussion, but they certainly had fun!
Meanwhile, in the US, GM (who also made busses) probably didn’t want to muddy their marketing strategies by confusing aspirational car design with utilitarian bus design in the public mind. They kept the two as far apart as possible.
It’s crucial to set the (public transport) bus apart from the coach (owned by a private tour operator).
Below a public transport bus from the fifties. Not really spectacular is it, it might as well transport prisoners…
Coaches were plush, luxurious, had better seats, were upholstered / carpeted, had better heating and ventilation, had curtains, and a more airy interior. In short: much more comfort for long(er) trips. A coach had to show off !
And those trips were strictly fun-trips. A vacation in a foreign country, school trips, day- or weekend trips, sightseeing, you name it. Note that most people didn’t own a car in that era, way into the sixties. A coach was a limousine -with a chauffeur- you shared with many other people, in a way.
The common name here for a coach is a “touringcar”. That about wraps it up.
(Photo courtesy of Jan Voerman)
Plain Jane but still attractive to me .
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-Nate
Very good point, Johannes.
I like that Coca-Cola sign that looks like an old gas pump
Way cool. My guesses:
1 ) F = 56 Caddy, R = 57 Buick
2) F= 57 Nash
3) F = 58 Edsel
4) F= 58 Olds, R=57 Chev bumper w/ 57 Study tailights
5) F= 58 Dodge
6) F=59 Caddy
7) F=59 Dodge truck (weak – but couldn’t place anything else)
8) F=something from Mars
9) 61 Dodge
Almost exactly my list!
For #7, I see some ’59 DeSoto, personally.
I see #8 is proving more obscure than I thought — it’s just one small detail: the “eyebrows” over the quad lamps have a ’59 Chevy gull-wing fin effect. Maybe I’m the only one who sees it…
# 9 had a bit of the big 1961 Olds for me, coupled with the Dodge (a very weird mix)…
These are more influenced by automotive fashions of the day than any buses I’ve yet seen. Great find!
Rear bumper surround on Cuatro is pure art. Reminds me of a wave about to break.
Considering these were made during the Franco years when very few had access to a private car, it sort of makes sense the extra effort (excess?) was put into these motorcoaches, the upward-aspiring middle class would’ve wanted a bit more panache to their transit, not least of all to separate themselves from the rabble, mass transit in style that indicated you had arrived or were at least heading in that direction
These are fantastic; a wonderful visual kick-start to the week.
Had seen one or two of these before but not all together – thanks for allowing us to see all of them. What a feast for the eyes. Jim.
hehehe superb
This reminds me of Maltese busses which also use 50’s GM design writ large. There was an article about them in R&T back in the late 70s-early 80s.
Of course Pegaso’s resident enigineering genius Don WIlfredo Ricart was quite a character so these sort of fit with the Pegaso cars they made in the 50s.
“… with some ’57 DeSoto around the eyes …” I, too, saw the 56 Chevy in the bottom front but the top looks like 55-56 Mercury to me.
Fabulous pics. I had no idea these existed. Others have probably said it but some of those would make awesome looking motor homes.
Thanks.
Man I would give a left appendage for any one of those. Thanks for the post!
Although city buses then like now are all as cheap as possible boxes, tour buses today can be pretty cool. In the US in the 50’s to 80’s for some reason tour buses were really boring, just like Lowey or later Greyhounds, but that seemed to change. But at the same time in Europe/UK they were often super cool. Just check out any set in the 30’s to 50’s British TV drama.
Then there’s the Magical Mystery Tour bus. I have no idea how the double front wheels worked.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/bus-stop-classic/bus-stop-classics-bedford-val-1963-1973-english-charmer/
Magnificent buses!
Those are just fantastic! Were these one-offs, I wonder, or did each actually go into (presumably short) series production? I also love the huge panoramic windows that many of them have–so perfect for sightseeing! (Though I do imagine it got quite hot if they weren’t equipped with A/C…)
Ocho reminds me of one of these:
Any idea on this Edsel looking guy? The photo is probably from Portugal.