Bus Stop Classic: GMC TDH-4523 “New Look” Transit Bus – One Of GM’s Greatest Hits
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: Two Of GM’s Greatest Hits?
– Posted on December 19, 2022
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Also a 2003-2005 Honda Accord. Ironically not one of Honda’s greatest hits, being marred by a weak 5-speed automatic transmission.
As always with Honda, if you can score one with a manual go for it!
My immediate thought: “Wait, GM didn’t build the Honda Accord.” Second thought: “Wait, there’s a bus there too.”
I rode many a 60s/70s/early 80s New Look in the 1980s, and by the end of production, they were perhaps the last transit bus you’d want to ride. The replacement GMC Classics in Canada, were so much more refined. They weren’t drafty, or prone to water leaks like the New Looks. The classics had better rear exits. The New Looks, were ultra slow, rattly, had hard seats, and weren’t the greatest in snow. By the end, even the diminutive Orion I, was a far better transit experience.
The TTC—the deliberately and chronincally underfunded and mismanaged Toronto Transit Commission, experts by necessity at making rolling stock last reliably long past intended lifespan, were still running New Looks in daily service when I left in late 2011, and I wouldn’t be shocked to learn they still are.
I think OC Transpo in Ottawa, had them running until 2001 or so. The 1982 new looks benefited immensely from double rear doors. And rear doors that opened automatically, when you stepped down. Older models in Ottawa, all required riders to push open the single rear door. Often the doors were hard to open. Older models, all had an overall lack of refinement, the GMC Classics overcame. And none of OC Transpo’s New Looks ever had air conditioning.
By the end, most riders who wanted comfort, were glad to see them go. Sentimentalists were sad, but they probably knew as well, the New Looks were woefully obsolete.
The New Looks, Classics, and later Orions had an advantage in the 1990s, that prolonged their longevity. They had much greater seating capacity, than the early low floor buses. Mid-1990s low floor buses, like the Nova Bus LFS, didn’t have nearly the capacity of the traditional high floor buses. So, the older models still played a valuable role of moving bodies, during rush hours. The proliferation of articulated low floors, eliminated this advantage.
The City of Gatineau, Quebec (across from Ottawa), occasionally put a New Look back into regular service. This was a few years ago. Part of their historical collection.
I spent lots of time in each and both were great vehicles. Definitely two of GM’s greatest hits. Although for the B-body wagons, I preferred the Chevrolet/Pontiac wagons with their shorter noses with less front overhang, lighter weight and peppier engines to this Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser.
I’d vote that the boxy B wagons were one of GM’s greatest hits. They created lots of satisfied customers among the variety of folks who liked that sort of thing. There got to be a lot less of that variety of folks over the very long life of the car, but they did outlive their boxy Pontiac, Olds and Buick sedan brothers by several years. They even got a second act with a new body for six additional years.
CC effect going well I saw a battered B body wagon today just chugging along like its done for many years, kinda rare here too and to see one in beater condition very unusual. most ex US cars get restored to better than new and lead pampered lives, not this one.