Thomas Built Buses

Thomas Built Buses, Inc.
Thomas Built Buses, Inc.
Formerly	Perley A. Thomas Car Works
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Bus manufacturing
Founder	Perley A. Thomas
Headquarters	United States
Area served	North America
Key people	T.J. Reed (President, CEO); John W. Thomas III (President, 1992–2002)
Products	School buses; Commercial buses; Specialty vehicles
Production output	15,000 vehicles/year
Owner	Daimler Truck
Parent	Daimler Truck North America

Thomas Built Buses is an American bus manufacturer, a subsidiary of Daimler Truck since 1998. Thomas Built is known for manufacturing of Yellow school buses such as the Saf-T-Liner line such as the C2, HDX2 and EFX2. Thomas Built Buses is based in High Point, North Carolina.

Products

Thomas Built Buses makes school bus bodies from cutaway van (Minotour), conventional (early Mighty-Mite series) (Saf-T-Liner C2), and transit-style (Saf-T-Liner EFX2/HDX2) bodies.

School buses

Current product line
Model Name	Thomas Minotour MyBus	Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2	Thomas Saf-T-Liner (EFX2, HDX2)
Photo
Year Introduced	Minotour: 1980 MyBus: 2009	2004	EFX: 2012 (as Saf-T-Liner EFX) 2025 (as Saf-T Liner EFX2) HDX: 2000 (as Saf-T-Liner HD) 2002 (as Saf-T-Liner HDX) 2024 (as Saf-T Liner HDX2)
Assembly	High Point, North Carolina
Configuration	Type A (cutaway) single rear wheel, dual rear wheel (Minotour, MyBus)	Type C (conventional)	Type D (transit-style)
Chassis Manufacturer	Ford Motor Company Ford E-Series (E-350/E-450) General Motors Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana	Daimler Trucks North America LLC (Freightliner) Freightliner C2 (Freightliner M2 106)	Thomas Built Buses Front-engine Type D chassis Rear-engine Type D chassis
Fuel type(s)	Minotour Gasoline MyBus Gasoline	Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Diesel Propane Electric	EFX2 Diesel HDX2 Diesel Electric
Passenger Capacity	14-30	up to 81	up to 90
Other notes	Minotour Produced as school bus and MFSAB MyBus Based on Minotour, produced only as MFSAB on Chevrolet/GMC chassis Produced as school bus, commercial bus, and MFSAB/activity bus	Uses Freightliner C2 chassis, derived from Freightliner M2 106 Business Class medium-duty truck Replaces both Saf-T-Liner Conventional and Saf-T-Liner FS-65 Produced as diesel-electric hybrid (C2e) from 2007 to 2013 Propane version released in 2013 CNG Version released in 2016 Electric prototype called the "Jouley" shown in 2017; intended for 2019 production	EFX2 Produced as school bus, commercial bus, and MFSAB/activity bus Replaced Thomas Saf-T-Liner EF in 2012 Shares some front bodywork and windshield with HDX. HDX2 Produced as school bus, commercial bus, and MFSAB/activity bus Introduced in 2000 as the Saf-T-Liner HD; replaced the Saf-T-Liner ER and Saf-T-Liner MVP ER. Distinguished by large front mirror units, which mount the side-view, wide-angle, and cross-view mirrors into a single unit.

Former product lines
Model name	Production	Vehicle type	Chassis	Notes
Mighty Mite	1977?–1994?	Type B (integrated)	General Motors Chevrolet P-30	Also the name of the lowest-capacity versions of Thomas Conventionals in the 1970s. Also used for base for para-transit buses in Toronto.
Saf-T-Liner Conventional	1972–2002	Type C (conventional)	Chrysler Corporation Dodge D-300 (to 1977) Ford Motor Company Ford B600/B700/B800/B8000 (1972–1998) General Motors Chevrolet/GMC B-Series (1972–1991) International Harvester Navistar International International Loadstar (1972–1978) International S-Series "Schoolmaster" (1979–1989) International 3800 (1989–2002)	Introduced in 1972 when the company renamed "Thomas Built Buses". Distinguished by windshield wipers mounted above windshield (2-piece flat glass) Discontinued after the 2003 model year by the end of 2002.
Saf-T-Liner FS-65	1997–2006	Type C (conventional)	Freightliner (Daimler) Freightliner FS-65	Saf-T-Liner FS-65 is one product of the Freightliner purchase of Thomas in 1998. All FS-65 chassis wore Thomas bodies after 2002. Saf-T-Liner FS-65 body has a 4-piece windshield
Vista	1989–1998	Type C (conventional) semi-forward control	General Motors (1989–1991) Chevrolet/GMC B6 (modified) Navistar International (1991–1998) International 3600	To aid forward visibility, the Vista mounted the driver's seat alongside the engine rather than behind it, similar to a Type D bus. Produced on a Thomas-badged Chevrolet/GMC chassis from 1989 to 1991 and an International chassis from 1991 to 1998. 1994 update gained additional windshield and side windshield glass.
Saf-T-Liner EF/ER	Saf-T-Liner EF 1972–1990, 2006–2012 Saf-T-Liner ER 1972–2002	Type D (transit-style) front engine rear engine	Various (to 1977) Thomas Built Buses	Saf-T-Liner EF Introduced in 1972. Replaced by All-Star in 1991. Name reintroduced in 2006 as part of MVP redesign, replaced by EFX. Saf-T-Liner ER Introduced in 1972. Fully discontinued in 2002. Replaced by Saf-T-Liner HDX for 2003. WestCoastER Heavy-Duty derivative of Saf-T-Liner ER sold to West Coast customers. Built with 84 and 90 passenger bodies; tandem rear axles were an option on 90-passenger version.
Saf-T-Liner MVP EF/ER, All-Star	All-Star 1991–1994 Saf-T-Liner MVP EF 1994–2006 Saf-T-Liner MVP ER 1995–2000	Type D (transit-style) front engine rear engine	All-Star Oshkosh Corporation Saf-T-Liner MVP EF/ER Thomas Built Buses	All-Star Front-engine chassis built by Oshkosh Corporation; built from 1991 to 1994 as a competitor to Blue Bird TC/2000. Distinguished from MVP EF by having Thomas emblem above grille (rather than centered). Distinguished by previous Saf-T-Liner EF by much larger windshield and dual headlights (rather than four) Saf-T-Liner MVP EF Replaced All-Star in 1994; built on Thomas chassis. MVP= Maneuverability, Visibility, and Protection. Changed to Saf-T-Liner EF for 2007 as part of an update and replaced by EFX in 2012. Saf-T-Liner MVP ER Built on Thomas chassis MVP= Maneuverability, Visibility, and Protection. Replaced by Saf-T-Liner HD (later HDX) for 2001.

Other buses

Thomas sold commercial derivatives of the Minotour, Conventional, Vista, along with the following:

Transit Liner MVP EF/ER- commercial derivative of Saf-T-Liner MVP school bus
TL960 - rear-engine transit bus derived from Saf-T-Liner ER
Chartour- rear-engine transit bus
CL960 - rear-engine transit bus
SLF200 (Super Low Floor) series - badge engineered transit bus built under license from Dennis Specialist Vehicles, based on the Alexander ALX200. It had a Dennis Dart SLF chassis.

Company timeline

Thomas Built Buses, Inc. timeline (1972–present)

Bus Type

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

'72

'73

'74

'75

'76

'77

'78

'79

'80

'81

'82

'83

'84

'85

'86

'87

'88

'89

'90

'91

'92

'93

'94

'95

'96

'97

'98

'99

'00

'01

'02

'03

'04

'05

'06

'07

'08

'09

'10

'11

'12

'13

'14

'15

'16

'17

'18

'19

'20

'21

'22

'23

'24

'25

'26

Type A

Minotour

MyBus

Type B

Mighty Mite

Type C

Saf-T-Liner

Conventional

FS-65

C2

Vista

Type D

Saf-T-Liner

EF/ER

ER

All Star EF

MVP EF

EF

EFX

EFX2

MVP ER

HD

HDX

HDX2

Transit buses

CL960 "CitiLiner"

Chartour

TL960 "TransLiner"

SLF200

References

↑ "Commercial Transit Products". Thomas Built Buses. 1997-04-01. Archived from the original on April 1, 1997. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
↑ "TL960™". Thomas Built Buses. 2000-04-23. Archived from the original on April 23, 2000. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
↑ Goundry, Andy (23 March 2020). Dennis Buses and Other Vehicles. Crowood. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-78500-708-8. Retrieved 3 January 2023.

[1] "Commercial Transit Products". Thomas Built Buses. 1997-04-01. Archived from the original on April 1, 1997. Retrieved 2014-01-04.

[2] "TL960™". Thomas Built Buses. 2000-04-23. Archived from the original on April 23, 2000. Retrieved 2014-01-04.

[Dennis-3] Goundry, Andy (23 March 2020). Dennis Buses and Other Vehicles. Crowood. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-78500-708-8. Retrieved 3 January 2023.

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Germany United States