The Ford B series was a bus chassis produced by Ford from 1948 to 1998. A variant of the medium-duty F-Series developed for bus use, it was sold in the United States and Canada and exported around the world to body builders.
Ford B series at a glance
| Maker | Ford Motor Company |
|---|---|
| Production | 1948–1998 |
| Type | cowled chassis, bodywork by a second-stage maker |
| Basis | medium-duty Ford F-Series |
| First models | variant of the F-5 and F-6 (1½ and 2-ton) |
| Main use | school buses, plus specialty vehicles |
| Naming | three-digit model numbers from 1953, four-digit for diesels from 1968 |
| Canadian sales | also through Lincoln-Mercury dealers as the Mercury M-series |
| Last generation | 1980, revised in 1995 |
| End of production | 1998 |
This page is based on English Wikipedia only.
History of the Ford B series
A chassis, not a truck
The B series was a cowled-chassis vehicle: a bare frame behind the firewall, with the body supplied by a second-stage manufacturer. That made it a natural base for school buses, and most were built as yellow school buses, though the chassis also went into specialty vehicles. It was introduced in 1948 alongside the new F-Series truck line, as a variant of the medium-duty F-5 and F-6, and it sat between the pickups and the “Big Job” heavy conventionals.
Following the F-Series
When the F-Series moved to three-digit model numbers for 1953 the B series followed. Diesel engines became an option in 1968, marked by a four-digit model number until 1991. Until 1969 Ford of Canada sold the B series through both its Ford and Lincoln-Mercury networks, the latter badging it as part of the Mercury M-series, because rural Canadian towns often had only one of the two dealerships. For most of its life the chassis paralleled the medium-duty F-Series: from 1967 those trucks received wider front axles and their own front bodywork, and the B series used that design entirely.
The end of the cowl
A final generation appeared in 1980 and was revised in 1995. Ford stopped building cowled-chassis vehicles after 1998, the same period in which it sold the Louisville/Aeromax heavy truck line to Freightliner. The company stayed in the medium-duty market with the F-650 and F-750 Super Duty from 2000, but it built cutaway chassis rather than cowled ones, and the B series’ share of the school-bus market passed to chassis such as the Freightliner FS-65 and the Blue Bird Vision.
Design and features
- Cowled chassis: a bare frame for a bus or specialist body.
- F-Series basis: medium-duty mechanicals developed alongside the trucks.
- Fifty-year run: the same concept from 1948 to 1998.
- Mercury M-series: the same chassis sold through Lincoln-Mercury dealers in Canada.
Ford B series versions
- First generation (1948–1952): cowled versions of the F-5 and F-6.
- 1953 range: three-digit model numbers with the restyled F-Series.
- Diesel models (1968–1990): four-digit model numbers.
- Final generation (1980–1998): revised in 1995.
The B series shared its engineering with the F-Series and was built alongside the C series trucks. More Ford vehicles are in the Ford collection.
Sources
- Ford B series, English Wikipedia: history, chassis layout, production
