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Transit Buses were formed in 1941 as a selling organization for the
rear-engine Ford Transit bus (see Ford), but went off on its own at the end
of 1947 after disagreements with Ford over the proper sort of change to make
in order to meet post-war demands. The company owned Union City Body Co.,
and that plant was used, starting in the fall of 1947, to produce a new
design of 31-passenger bus body. Chassis were built by Checker Cab
Manufacturing Co., and Continental engines mounted crosswise at the rear
were standard equipment. In the changed economics of the post-war years,
many former operators of lightweight buses were unable to afford new
vehicles, and the few cities (particularly Detroit) that had earlier pursued
small-bus policies were finding that increased labor costs forced a revision
of their thinking. Detroit did buy 300 Transits in 1949, but fewer than 200
were sold to other operators in two years, and in January 1950 Transit Buses
Inc was sold to Checker Cab (See Checker).
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