This bus may look familiar to you – it may have you probing your memory, like trying to remember the name of an old character actor who seems to be in every TV show or movie, but you just can’t place it. Allow me to help – this is an ACF-Brill Intercity (IC) Model 41 (passenger) coach, built from 1946 to 1954. The reason it may look familiar is, as reflected in the IMCDB database, it has appeared in at least 35 separate movie and television productions. But before reviewing its filmography, let’s take a closer look at this last model from a company with a rich transportation history; providing products for both rails and roads.
American Coach and Foundry (ACF), which produced motor coaches, and Brill which at one time was a major provider of trolleys and interurbans, merged to form ACF-Brill Motors in 1944. Post war, they were one of the many bus manufacturers to prosper as transit operators quickly began replacing their war-weary fleets. The company produced both urban transit (gas and electric trolley) and intercity models.
Greyhound
Trailways
The IC 41 was the company’s most popular post-war intercity coach, coming in second behind the GM Silversides (GM PD 3751/4151 and 4101/4103) in overall sales – and was purchased by both Greyhound and Trailways, along with other smaller operators. It was 35 ft long/96 in wide, and as with all of the company’s coaches, the engine was mid-mounted, under floor. It was also unique in having its front door behind the front axle, with a passenger seat to the right as you enter, directly across from the driver.
1946 Model
1950 Model
There were few changes during its eight year model run – early models had the headlights in pods, then in 1949, they were more cleanly integrated into the front fenders. Later models also featured a full-width grill instead of the earlier smaller version.
But what made this coach a stand-out – and what ultimately led to its downfall, was its engine – the great Hall-Scott Model 190 – an OHC hemi-head 779 cu in horizontal 6 cylinder gas fueled power house making 240 hp and a locomotive-like 600 lb.ft. at 1000 rpm. ACF had purchased Hall-Scott in 1925 and used its engines in all of its models. With this engine, these coaches could reach 80 mph – much faster than the 6-71 diesel-engined GM Silversides models. In fact, stories abound of IC 41’s departing bus terminals after GM’s, and then passing them on the highway – to the delight of passengers. Hall-Scott really deserves its own post as it was an innovative company that made some memorable power plants.
While speed is certainly a virtue, economics rules in the transportation industry and with an average MPG of 2-3 gallons (compared to 6-8 for the diesel 6-71), the writing was on the wall. IC 41 sales dwindled as GM conquered more and more of the market. The nail in the coffin was the introduction of the “game-changing” GM PD 4104 coach – a quantum leap over older buses such as the IC 41. Losing money, Consolidated-Vultee, then ACF-Brill’s parent company, discontinued bus production in 1954.
These Brill’s, however, live on in film as they appear to have been a mainstay in motion picture and television back-lot fleets – here are a few productions they were seen in…
1954 – Carmen Jones with Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte
1955 – Picnic with William Holden and Kim Novak
1956 – Bus Stop with Marilyn Monroe
1958 – Some Came Running with Frank Sinatra
1964 – TV series The Fugitive with David Janssen
1989 – Great Balls of Fire with Dennis Quaid
Examples of ACF Brill C-series and Crown Touring Coach
I unfortunately have never had the opportunity to ride in an IC 41 – but while visiting the island of Kauai in the mid 80’s, did ride in an ACF Brill coach. At that time the company that ran the Fern Grotto boat tour had several small early-1950’s refurbished C-27 Brill coaches that transported passengers back to the entrance after the tour. I wish I had taken a picture of them. Also while in Hawaii, there were several large Crown touring coaches used by tour companies – these all had Hall-Scott engines. They were easily recognizable – a big, deep bass rumble from the under-floor gas engine – if you stood close enough it almost felt like the ground was shaking.
Great post. I’ve always liked the style of these coaches with their forward mounted front axle. Here’s an oddball within the brand. It’s the 1950 ACF ICO-X-001 deck-and-a-half prototype. It’s the only one they ever built and actually saw revenue service for a while with Trailways….
A contemporary picture postcard promoting it….
…and looking a little shabby as it approched the end of it’s days with Penn-Jersey Coachways.
Penn-Jersey, huh? Right in my old neighborhood, Gene! Very cool bus.
I own one of the 1949 AFC BRILL. It slept 10 people and my parents carried us 5 kids to many gospel revivals in it. Those were the best days of my life!
I know the bus you’re talking about. I lived in it for a while. Spent many nights in that old bus when my dad ran revivals at your parents church. Good memories.
John Plant those were the days! Right? You have a lot of memories that are remarkable to me. We had fun and I think when we get to Heaven there’ll be a big Greyhound Bus waiting for us (or a Rambler station wagon) 😝
ACF is still a manufacturer of railway rolling stock ?, owned by Carl Icahn. ACF-Brill was a subsidiary?.
That bus indeed a standout. It caught a child’s eye because of its design. The curved, wrap-around windshield, gave it a progressive look. Unfortunately, I never rode in one but the transit system for which I would one day work, rostered 100 Brill trolley buses and I did drive one. They were sturdy and very quiet.
Great detailed article as always Jim. The ACF-Brill IC 41 appears to have significantly influenced the design of the Western Flyer C-40 coach, as a number of design details are consistent.
As a child of a military father, I recall the Canadian Forces maintaining these Western Flyers well into the 1970s. As my grade school always used Armed Forces Western Flyers for field trips and charters.
I’ve run across a bit on these, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen their raised-roof version. And they call it “Scenic Cruiser Service”. Gee; I wonder why?
From the 1970s, I don’t recall ever seeing the raised roof T36-2L in Eastern Canada. According to Wikipedia, it was only manufactured for one year in 1955. The ‘C-40/T-32’ design on the left was the model I recall riding. And appeared in Canadian Armed Forces livery well into the 1970s. Though it seemed their use by then was as a less than front line general purpose transport.
This is the same bus I was on as a Cadet going from Montreal to Valcartier in 1969 and it was our Transport going to Connaught Ranges.
The ones DND used had wire mesh on the outside of the windows. Was it to keep us from taking off?
They were seen on The Andy Griffith Show too.
I vaguely remember seeing one or two of these on the East Coast int e mid 60s, but they were mostly gone by then. Handsome buses.
And yes, I promise to do a Hall-Scott article this winter. It’s a terrific chapter in American engine building prowess.
The only motor manufacturer with a Spanish Colonial style factory, in Berkeley no less!
I think the office building fronted on Seventh St. Part of the old plant still stands around the corner on Heinz.
Hall-Scott never developed a successful diesel, so their business withered as the market moved to diesels in the 50s. Unable to find a cash buyer, ACF spun H-S off around 55. H-S was then bought by Hercules, which promptly closed the Berkeley plant and moved the specialized H-S equipment to the Hercules plant in Canton, OH. Herc then let the H-S brand run down over the next several years.
Hercules itself went out of business a few years ago and the city of Canton is trying to redevelop the old plant complex.
Is that building still standing? I was so surprised when I saw the ACF-Brill ad listing the Berkeley site for Hall-Scott. As a Berkeley native, born in 1956, and knowing about Hall-Scott engines in adulthood, I never new this company had been part of Berkeley’s industrial past. Fabco (4wd utility and agricultural trucks) from nearby Emeryville, and Fageol then Peterbilt (Oakland, then Newark), GM (also Oakland), and IH and I think Caterpillar in San Leandro, were all parts of Alameda County’s automotive history that I knew about, but not Hall-Scott.
By the way, was the Hercules that bought H-S the same Hercules that formed the eponymous company town just a bit north of Berkeley in Contra Costa County?
It’s still there, at Ashby (I think) and San Pablo. In addition to the companies you mentioned, the Faegol brothers also built trucks and especially busses in Emeryville, or maybe Berkeley, with H-S engines, and I think Doble (steam cars) were built there as well. Don’t know about the town of Hercules – could also be Hercules Powder Co, one of 2 anit-trust spin offs (with Atlas) from DuPont in the 20s.
I forgot about Doble steam cars; in fact Abner Doble was an alumnus of my high school, albeit 60 or so years ahead me. His company, like Fabco, was also in Emeryville.
Please do, and if you want I can send some info about the one-off Invader-engined Kenworth truck…
Appreciate your entries every week; this one made me think of Sullivan’s Travels, but no cigar…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ofxELr5sa4
Nope. I believe that’s a 1933 Pickwick Nitecoach Highway Sleeper with a modified grille. Great movie, BTW.
There is a great multi-clip series here of a 1948 ACF-Brill being saved for restoration:
American car and foundry also made subway cars for new york city transit
In the 1930 s
I’ve seen plenty of images of those buses, but never knew the maker’s name (ACF-Brill)–thanks for the informative article!
Is this the same bus as in your first pic?
Hi Sally – they could in fact be the same bus – the one I used in the first pic is a restored model that may belong to the Greyhound historical fleet. The pic unfortunately didn’t provide any details. Jim.
I found an old industrial film produced by Hall-Scott on youtube..
part 1
Part 2. Hall-Scott engines tended to be overhead cam hemis because H-S was building aircraft engines before WWI and carried those design elements into the truck and marine engines. When Packard and Jessie Vincent were trying to claim all the credit for the Liberty engine, which Vincent co-designed with E J Hall of Hall-Scott, Hall’s reply was that, when they sat down to design the Liberty, he had personally built more aircraft engines than Vincent had even seen. Looking at Vincent’s early attempts at aircraft engines, they bear little in common with the Liberty. On the other hand, the Hall-Scott A6 looks very much like one cylinder bank of a Liberty.
Part 3
Part 4
Thanks for the video series about the construction of the Hall-Scott engine. Now we know why these power plants were so well received by industry. They were built with the highest standards of race engines and military demands. I had no idea a gasoline engine could last for two million miles or more.
I know of a running Hall-Scott powered ACF-Brill Bus for sale. I wish I had the time, space and funds to restore it. It would be well worth the effort to preserve such an engineering masterpiece.
Nice article about simply _beautiful_ coaches .
Air conditioning in Greyhound in 1948 ? sweet .
I have a friend who drove Crown Coaches in the early 1970’s they had two with Hall Scott engines that flew and only the best drivers were ever allowed to drive them .
Fast but THIR$TY ! .
-Nate
Billed as Super Coaches, air conditioning was actually introduced on the pre-war 1937 Yellow Coach 743. This model was also one of the first using monocoque construction and rear mounted diesel power. Needless to say, this quantum leap in passenger comfort caused a sensation in the business.
It sure would have been ‘ sensational ‘ in the 1960’s when I sweated my way around the East Coast in various old coaches none of which had AC or maybe because they were rinky dink third tier bus lines they didn’t bother maintaining it .
-Nate
Crowns had non-synchromesh gearboxes and a lot of them from that era had twin stick transmissions. It took a lot of time to learn how to drive them smoothly. I was good with a five or ten speed crash box but never attempted to drive a twin stick model, though we still had a couple in the fleet.
I drove for Embree Buses in Pasadena California in the 1970s. They had several Hall-Scott powered Crowns. They were very fast. In time, several were repowered to Detroit 6-71s. Those were also fast buses. I think it was the trans and gears. I think the Detroit’s were limited at 2100 rpm, but it’s been a while since I sat in one.
Then you prolly knew my friend Steve who’s exploits in the Hall-Scott powered Crowns remain legendary .
-Nate
Now this is what I meant when I voiced my critic of current US-made coaches: these had style and were world leaders. Some further examples here: http://theoldmotor.com/?p=142146
Fantastic-looking buses–that’s a stylish way to travel. And with 600 lb-ft torque, a stout one also!
Interesting and informative article. One comment, the Crown Coaches you saw in Hawaii may have had a big 14 liter Cummins diesel. Crown made busses and fire trucks with both engines. I drove Crown school busses for LA Unified for a number of years to pay for college and those old Cummins powered Crowns didn’t sound a whole lot different than a Hall Scoot. The tell tale difference was the Hall Scotts misfired on deceleration, big booming backfires and pops. On acceleration and cruise both sounded pretty similar but I would have had to have been there to know. A three axle Crown with a turbocharged 14 liter Cummins and a Fuller ten speed was probably the best school bus ever made. I have been away from that for almost forty years but I still see Crowns and an occasional Gillig I drove in use by LAUSD to this day. That’s some longevity!
Of course ;
The Hall Scott engine ran on _Gasoline_ so on one ever confused the two .
-Nate
Great posts. I was privileged to drive Crown and ACF Brill buses when I worked for Embree Buses in Pasadena in the late 50s and early 60s. Most had Hall Scott engines, but we also had some Cummins diesels They were all great buses to drive and were probably the strongest buses ever built. One disadvantage of the brill when compared to the GMT 4104 (which were also in our fleet) was the lack of convenient storage for luggage. Because of the mid mounted engines, they lacked the storage space under the floor that was a distinct advantage for the 4104.
Bob Lee Sent.
The first over-the-road job I had was driving a Brill from Oakland to Travis Air Force Base in 1959 at the ripe old age of 18. I was employed by Eastshore Lines out of Berkeley, CA (home of Hall Scott motors). I learned quickly that Brills would go like hell, but had lousy brakes. They would backfire mightily when rolling down a long grade in third gear.
Henry Markwart
Wow; driving a bus at 18! You wouldn’t likely see that today.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
they actually had slightly larger brakes than 4104’s. Stopped fine if brakes were in proper condition.
Here is another model ACF-Brill made, the C-31. I used to own this bus; now it is in the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, PA in its original school bus livery.
We bought a 1951 ACF Brill in 1974 and converted it to a motor home that slept 8, drove it all over Colorado, the coast of California and Oregon. In the the 1990’s I took out the insides and the AC channel in the top so that my 6 ft 5 in son-in-law could stand up with out knocking the lights out, at that time I converted it to propane and had intended to redo the couch for just myself and my wife to use. But you know what happens as you get older, you slow down and pretty soon time has past. It is now going to an auction in Sacramento and will hopefully go to some one that will put it to good use again. It was a great ride with the old bus.
A very informative place by the author and readers. The small city I grew up in purchased a fleet of Brill trolleys in 1948. They were fantastic. There were also one or two Brill gas coaches for reserve. My neighborhood had a large number of high school students and the Brill gas bus was used in the mornings. The idea was good, however the bus was very long to travel residential streets. Every driver struggled with the shift from first to second. It never got to third because the stops were close together.
I own a 1949 AFC BRILL. My parents used to take us to amazing places across country to Gospel Camp Meetings. It slept 10 but there were only 7 of us (mom and dad and 5 kids)