Coachbult.com - Fitzjohn Body Company



Fitzjohn Body Co. - Fitzjohn Mfg. Co. - Fitzjohn-Erwin Mfg Co. - 1919-1958 - Muskegon, Michigan

Fitzjohn Body Company - Fitzjohn Manufacturing Co. - Fitzjohn-Erwin Mfg. Co. - Muskegon, Michigan 1919-1970?.

Fitzjohn-Erwin were early truck cab manufacturers (1919) whose product was sold as the Fitz-Er truck cab. "Built to a Standard" and available in closed, semi-closed and open styles. (July 15 1920 CCJ ad pp 295)

Primarily a bus manufacturers, Fitzjohn also made truck bodies for Chevrolet and airport limousines on Chevrolet Chassis.

Starting in 1935 Fitzjohn offered an 8-door airport limousine, a vehicle they called the model 100 11-passengerSedan-bus. Like their competitor Siebert, Fitzjohn chopped a stock 4-door sedan in half at the B-pillars and stretched the chassis to accomodate the four extra doors in-between the split halves. The major difference was that Siebert used Fords and Fitzjohn used Chevrolets.

In Ford's 1930 Truck Salesman's handbook, Fitzjohn has an ad for a 21-passenger short-haul bus available on 157" wheelbase Ford AA truck chassis. It was constructed of hardwood framework with metal bracing with an oiled duck roof, linoleum flooring and body panels made from sheet steel. Included were 3 dome lights, roof ventilators and a hot air heater for the passengers. The front door was folding and an emergency exit opened on the left side towards the rear. Shatterproof glass was a $112 option as was a $40 roof rack. Base price for the body was $1,750, fob Muskegon.

Fitzjohn took a 1935 - 197? Chevrolet sedan or wagon, cut it in the middle and added 2 extra seats and appropriate springs. In 37, they could be on Standard or Deluxe chassis. The roof rack is a structural part of the vehicle.

George believes this to be a 1942 Chevy "Bus" Sedan, converted 15 passenger 4x2 US Army "BG1503" 6-cyl. 83 HP 3F1R Military conversion by Fitzjohn Coach Company of Muskegon, Michigan. As a means of saving critical rubber and helping to eliminate traffic bottlenecks at the aircraft and other production plants, Fitzjohn developed this 15 passenger Defense Workers Coach from a standard 5 passenger Chevy sedan. The body framework was white ash with exterior panels of tempered Masonite Presswood Seats are full cross type seating 3 passengers each.

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FitzJohn had its origin in 1919 when the FitzJohn Erwin Manufacturing Co. was started in Muskegon by Harry A. FitzJohn to build truck and bus bodies. The earliest production (which seems to have taken place in 1921) included bus bodies that were designed for Reo chassis, as well as wooden cabs and panel truck bodies for Ford chassis. These were known as Fitz-Er cabs and bodies at first; before long the bus bodies were marketed under the FitzJohn name.

In 1924 a new plant was purchased, five times the size of the old one, and it was announced that its principal line of work would be the manufacture of a line of standard bus bodies for Reo chassis. The enterprise survived several changes of name and reorganization, and when demand turned away from body-on-chassis designs in the mid 1930's, FitzJohn was prepared.

Model 300 was modified from a body to a complete bus for city transit service, generally with 27 seats and a Chevrolet truck engine, and models 500 ("Duraliner") and 600 ("Falcon") were introduced for intercity duty, with seating capacities from 24 to 36 and generally with Hercules engines. All were front-engine designs

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FITZJOHN (US) 1938-1958

(1) FitzJohn Body Co., Muskegon, Michigan 1938-1939

(2) FitzJohn Coach Co., Muskegon, Michigan 1939-1958

FitzJohn had its origin in 1919 when the FitzJohn Erwin Manufacturing Co. was started in Muskegon by Harry A. FitzJohn to build truck and bus bodies. In 1924 a new plant was purchased, five times the size of the old one, and it was announced that its principal line of work would be the manufacture of a line of standard bus bodies for Reo chassis. The enterprise survived several changes of name and reorganization, and when demand turned away from body-on-chassis designs in the mid 1930's, FitzJohn was prepared. Model 300 was modified from a body to a complete bus for city transit service, generally with 27 seats and a Chevrolet truck engine, and models 500 ("Duraliner") and 600 ("Falcon") were introduced for intercity duty, with seating capacities from 24 to 36 and generally with Hercules engines. All were front-engine designs.

After a brief hiatus during 1943, bus production picked up with similar models being offered, except that the city bus was redesigned with its front entrance door ahead of the front axle. In 1946, model 500 was replaced by a slightly larger 510. A Canadian factory at Brantford, Onto was opened in 1949 and delivered about 200 "Cityliners" during its existence. By 1950, postwar trends in the transit industry were clear, and rear-engine buses were demanded as well as diesel power. Production of intercity buses fell off except for export sales (to Cuba and Mexico), as that side of the U.S. industry became more concentrated and less able to support small producers. Silversiding, picture windows and air conditioning marked the intercity Roadrunner of 1954, most often supplied with Cummins diesel engine mounted longitudinally at the rear. FitzJohn produced over 2600 complete buses in its history. MBS

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Fitzjohn introduced a 21-passenger bus body for the new Ford Model AA chassis in 1930.

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Fitzjohn produced an airport limousine in 1935 that was built using a Chevrolet Master (EA) Sedan that was split in the middle. Fitzjohn then inserted a 72" extension between the two halves that included two more doors on each side, giving the purchaser an 11-passenger 8-door sedan with a wheelbase of 185".

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Fitzjohn was HQ'd in Muskegon, Michigan and I believe the Road-Runner was built from 1955 through 1957. It was Fitzjohn's last bus model produced. It came in 33' and 35' lengths and could be ordered with roof windows for sightseeing. It was available with air conditioning and powered by either a Waukesha gas engine or a Cummins JT-6 turbo charged diesel, either gas or diesel coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission. They had Ross Cam & Lever steering and Goodyear air ride suspension. Normal seating was 37 passenger capacity (recliners). Engine placement was front to rear straight in and not transverse mounted with angle drive like GM.

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In 1919, FitzJohn-Erwin Manufacturing was started by Harry A. Fitzjohn, in Muskegon, Michigan to build truck/bus bodies. In 1924, a larger plant was purchased and it was announced the main trade would be making bus bodies for Reo chassis. By the mid-'30s, FitzJohn had the 300, a complete bus for city transit. It usually had 27 seats and Chevy truck engine.

By the late 1930s, many complete buses were built with Chevy engines. They came in city service and intercity models on a lengthened Chevrolet 1 V2 ton truck chassis. The Chevy front sheet metal was used.

A sedan bus appeared in 1935. It was popular on feeder lines before World War II. It was made by cutting a Master sedan in two. A 72-m. frame extension was added. New body center sections were welded-in. An extra pair of seats and doors was installed; Heavy duty wheels, tires and springs were added. The roof got a long luggage rack.

Chevy sedan conversions, known as War-Worker Coaches, were also done. They differed from sedan buses. White ash and Masonite panels covered the center body sections.

FitzJohn also made the unit-body Duraliner. This model, introduced in 1937, had a Chevrolet engine, clutch and transmission. It was built until the outbreak of the war.

For more information please read:

The Professional Car (Quarterly Journal of the Professional car Society)

Gregg D. Merksamer - Professional Cars: Ambulances, Funeral Cars and Flower Cars

Thomas A. McPherson - American Funeral Cars & Ambulances Since 1900

Carriage Museum of America - Horse-Drawn Funeral Vehicles: 19th Century Funerals

Carriage Museum of America - Horse Drawn - Military, Civilian, Veterinary - Ambulances

Gunter-Michael Koch - Bestattungswagen im Wandel der Zeit

Walt McCall & Tom McPherson - Classic American Ambulances 1900-1979: Photo Archive

Walt McCall & Tom McPherson - Classic American Funeral Vehicles 1900-1980 Photo Archive

Walter M. P. McCall - The American Ambulance 1900-2002

Walter M.P. McCall - American Funeral Vehicles 1883-2003

Michael L. Bromley & Tom Mazza - Stretching It: The Story of the Limousine