Details of Cars

Flxible VL-100 (VistaLiner): Flxible’s later highway coach

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1955 Flxible VL100 highway coach
A 1955 Flxible VL100 highway coach in a factory photograph. Photo by Red58bill, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The Flxible VL-100, also called the VistaLiner, was one of the highway coaches Flxible built after the company had made its name with the Clipper series. It is listed together with the StarLiner, Hi Level and Flxliner among the coaches owned by members of Flxible Owners International.

Flxible VL-100 at a glance

Flxible VL-100 key facts
Maker Flxible, Loudonville, Ohio
Model VL-100, also sold as the VistaLiner
Type highway coach
Range-mates StarLiner, Hi Level, Flxliner
Company founded 1913, closed 1996
Coach-to-transit changeover Flxible’s output shifted to transit buses over 1953–1970
Licensed production DINA S.A., Mexico, early 1960s to late 1980s
Survivors many converted to motor homes

Wikipedia has no article on the VL-100; the model is mentioned only in the English article on Flxible, so this page is based on one source and stays short.

History of the Flxible VL-100

Flxible began building buses in 1924 with a 12-passenger sedan on a Studebaker chassis, and went on to intercity coaches such as the Airway of the mid-1930s and the long-running Clipper series. The VL-100 belongs to the company’s later coach range, where it is listed with the StarLiner, the Hi Level and the Flxliner.

Coaches for export

Flxible’s intercity coaches were popular in Mexico and in Latin American countries, although high import duties limited sales there. In the early 1960s Flxible began licensing DINA S.A. (Diesel Nacional) in Mexico to build Flxible-designed intercity coaches, and that arrangement continued until the late 1980s. In the same period the company’s production was moving away from coaches towards transit buses, a change that took place between 1953 and 1970.

Survivors

Flxible Owners International, founded in the mid-1980s, lists the VL100 (VistaLiner) among the non-Clipper coaches kept by its members, together with the StarLiner, Hi Level and Flxliner. Most of these vehicles have been converted to motor homes, though a few seated coaches remain in the club.

Design and features

  • Two names: the vehicle is listed as the VL100, with VistaLiner as its other name.
  • Place in the range: one of Flxible’s later highway coaches, alongside the StarLiner, Hi Level and Flxliner.
  • Export appeal: Flxible coaches sold in Mexico and Latin America despite high import duties.
  • Licensed in Mexico: Flxible-designed intercity coaches were built by DINA from the early 1960s to the late 1980s.
  • Survivors as motor homes: most preserved examples have been converted, though some seated coaches remain.

Flxible VL-100 versions

  • VL-100: the model as listed by Flxible.
  • VistaLiner: the same coach under its other name.
  • Range-mates: the StarLiner, Hi Level and Flxliner, the other later Flxible coaches.
  • DINA-built coaches: Flxible-designed intercity coaches made in Mexico under licence.

The earlier coaches are covered in the Flxible Clipper series article, the company’s history in Flxible: the Ohio bus maker, and its last transit bus in the Flxible Metro page. More vehicles are in the Flxible collection.

Video: 1955 Flxible VL 100

Video on YouTube.

Sources

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