NOMADICISTA

Its an oldie, but it looks pretty far gone to me

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1942-fit ... 20b1696a37

FitzJohn was a coach maker that fitted bodies on chassis from at least the 1930's until approximately the mid 1950's. They specialized in smaller "parlor buses" and stretched automobiles (sedans) converted into 11 passenger vehicles for short and less traveled intercity routes. FitzJohns were economical buses that appealed to many small carriers, particularly in the South. They were built in Muskegon, Michigan.

Eventually, GM took over the large bus markets and although FitzJohn attempted to redesign their largest buses with similar styling features, most carriers adopted 41 passenger buses as their standard. Flexible concentrated on smaller buses and soon had that market all to itself.

The bus depicted in the eBay listing is indeed in very poor condition.

The engine in that bus is a Continental M6363, or an overhead valve 6 cylinder gasoline fueled 363 cubic inch displacement. I actually have an updraft Zenith to fit that.
DF

HIS IS A 1942 FITZ JOHN SCHOOL BUS I AM SELLING THIS FOR A FRIEND IT HAS A VERY INTERESTING HISTORY BEHIND IT IT WAS THE VICTORY COWBOYS TOUR BUS BACK IN THE 60S COULD BE FIXED UP OR USED FOR PARTS IF IT DOES NOT SELL IT IS GOING FOR SCRAP IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CALL DAVE AT 563 568 8055 HE IS THE OWNER AND CAN ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS THIS IS A NO RESERVE AUCTION THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR LOOKING AT THIS AUCTION

DF, When I was in the military, we worked on ground power equipment for the airplanes. One of the units was a portable generator set. It was an MD3. It was powered by a 6 cylinder horizontal opposing cylinder air cooled engine. It too, was called a Continental engine. There were a lot of the four cylinder Continental engines used in small Piper Cub type planes as well.
Quite different than the bus engine in the photos. Do you think they were made by the same company?

I like where they put the entry door, that would make it easy to put a passenger seat in the front if you wanted to.

In this photo, I can see that it has already been converted....

She's a beauty all right! Too bad she's so far gone...(except maybe for someone with a hefty bankroll to lavish on her).

http://bend.craigslist.org/cto/1731172743.html
Here's another one to take a look at.

The mug shot on that one is nothing like the other and lacks the charm.
I can't see spending $3500 for something that doesn't run....

William Biffwinkle wrote:The mug shot on that one is nothing like the other and lacks the charm.
I can't see spending $3500 for something that doesn't run....

It is not as charming without the front fenders,but it still is a cool bus.
I like the size better and it might only need a battery to make it run.

Dear Rudy,
Continental did indeed make the "Military Standard" engine for the forces. Its the same company that made this bus engine. They made aircraft engines too. All three engines were made by seperate divisions. Continental also owned Wisconsin Engine, maker of small aircooled engines, most notable of which is the VG45 series, the V-4 aircooled hay baler engines.
One interesting fact about those military standard engines... a normal Briggs and Stratton 3hp engine is designed to have a 400 hr service life. The military standard 3hp engine is designed to have a minimum service life of 1500hrs. Thats why those engines are so advanced for their time.

Continental also made the 12 cylinder horizontally opposed 1700cubic inch twin turbo air cooled diesel engines that power the M88.

Continental made small batches of one off engines. They put a lot of effort into making really good long lasting engines. They never turned down a contract. T

They never had a "common" engine like a Honda or Yanmar. The closest you'll come is the Red Seal line of 150cid industrial engines.
Teledyne bought out Wisconsin, and was in turn bought out. Continental folded but the aircraft division is still out there.
A side note, the industrial division did such a good job and became so ubicquous that a company called Continental Motors is still in business today, rebuilding and reselling the cores. You can still repower that bus with the original engine, and it would come in a new crate.
Does GM sell 216 crate engines? Ford, the model A engine? Its amazing.
DF

Dualfuel wrote:Continental also made the 12 cylinder horizontally opposed 1700cubic inch twin turbo air cooled diesel engines that power the M88.

Mmmmm. Makes me think of this:

M47 Patton Tank V12 engine 1800 cu. inches, naturally aspirated gasoline, 1,000 Hp 1,500 ft/lbs torque, engine was designed to run under water.

Here's what you can do with such an engine after the war:

http://www.blastolene.com/The_Special/index.htm

That is incredible!

Here is a quote from that link:
[NOTE: This entire vehicle was conceived engineered and built in 365 days.]

There was a cat on the Youtube who did that with a 12V71 prolly same guy...Pissed Off Pete was the name of the ride....Man if I think I don't have time to build a house truck, then I really don't have time to build a vintage looking race car out of a truck...still as I lay me down to sleep...
DF