Crown Supercoaches still on duty

[UFO pilot]

Hey all hows it going? I snapped a pic at my local school district bus yard to show these 2 Crowns still on duty. I have not seen them on the streets in years but they are still on the roster.



They are not all spoken for yet!

[EastCoastCB]

Go see if you talk to someone and ask if they'll be available for sale soon.

[UFO pilot]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Go see if you talk to someone and ask if they'll be available for sale soon.

Might be worth a shot. Be advised these busses are in California, a state which has been giving rebates to school districts to purchase new busses in exchange for scrapping the old bus being replaced. Just an FYI.



Keep hope alive

[Crown_Guy]

Originally Posted by UFO pilot

Might be worth a shot. Be advised these busses are in California, a state which has been giving rebates to school districts to purchase new busses in exchange for scrapping the old bus being replaced. Just an FYI.



Keep hope alive

Doesn't matter, that's just the old official line. Go talk to them and find out if they'll sell them. I bought two Crowns directly from a school district with no trouble at all, a couple years ago. That crap about having to scrap Crowns is old news. The rebates $$$ and program is long gone. No rebates, and they can't run the Crowns, means that someone will be wanting to find a way out from under them. GO TALK TO THEM!! before someone else beats you to it, or they just give up and scrap them on their own.

Districts are notoriously crappy about how they deal with their surplus Crowns. What usually slows them down is that the scrap yards want them to bring/tow the Crowns to them and that tow bill is more than what the scrapper will pay them, so they sit in their yard while they dither and dither and never do anything.

I don't expect you to say where they are, but if you are willing to, I'll go myself and see what's going on and if they can be had. I'm assuming it's in the high desert area. Usually Districts must put them up for auction and sell with no perceived favoritism.....yeah sure. But that's the process and it's all caught up in the bureaucracy of the Districts and their rules.

Start talking to the transportation dept directly and they'll know the status and maybe the intentions of the District.

[EastCoastCB]

If anyone has an 855 powered crown for less than 5 grand lemme know.

[Crown_Guy]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

If anyone has an 855 powered crown for less than 5 grand lemme know.

Sorry. But that's just wishful thinking. Anything anywhere near that cheap will need many thousands more to fix and it probably won't be driveable. There just aren't any Crowns in the price ranges you consider reasonable.

There's that one right now in the classifieds where he's asking $8000 and that's the best price I've seen lately for any Crown. It's an 855 Cummins with a ten speed RoadRanger. What's not to love. That's a killer deal, as long as there isn't any other incipient problems with it. You'll never see one any lower than that worth having, or without expecting to have to fix lots of stuff.

You should make an effort to look around your area and you could probably find a Crown to see and touch. You know as well as I do that some have made their way to the East Coast and will probably be more visible as they get driven around and maybe even taken to RV/bus rally's and get togethers.

[Crown_Guy]

Originally Posted by UFO pilot

Hey all hows it going? I snapped a pic at my local school district bus yard to show these 2 Crowns still on duty. I have not seen them on the streets in years but they are still on the roster.



They are not all spoken for yet!

By the way. If you are willing to tell me where they are contact me direct at my email and we can communicate. I'd help you to get one too if you really wanted one since I'll know how to talk to them to see what's going on with the Crowns. mikemcc2k@yahoo.com

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Crown_Guy

Sorry. But that's just wishful thinking. Anything anywhere near that cheap will need many thousands more to fix and it probably won't be driveable. There just aren't any Crowns in the price ranges you consider reasonable.

There's that one right now in the classifieds where he's asking $8000 and that's the best price I've seen lately for any Crown. It's an 855 Cummins with a ten speed RoadRanger. What's not to love. That's a killer deal, as long as there isn't any other incipient problems with it. You'll never see one any lower than that worth having, or without expecting to have to fix lots of stuff.

You should make an effort to look around your area and you could probably find a Crown to see and touch. You know as well as I do that some have made their way to the East Coast and will probably be more visible as they get driven around and maybe even taken to RV/bus rally's and get togethers.

The wink was meant as a reminder I was kidding. Never seen anyone with a Crown here in FL.
what's "reasonable" and what I'm capable of paying are two different things.
Anyone our west who's asking schools about old Crowns- lemme know if they got any extra and if they're cheap!
who knows- maybe a couple of us will beat the crown flippers to a couple. its possible even if unlikely. schools sell cheaper than flippers though.

[JDSquared]

Crowns are just freakin adorable.

[Crown_Guy]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

The wink was meant as a reminder I was kidding. Never seen anyone with a Crown here in FL.
what's "reasonable" and what I'm capable of paying are two different things.
Anyone our west who's asking schools about old Crowns- lemme know if they got any extra and if they're cheap!
who knows- maybe a couple of us will beat the crown flippers to a couple. its possible even if unlikely. schools sell cheaper than flippers though.

Sorry. I did miss the wink. Just every so often, like now, with this OP I find some still at a district somewhere. Not often anymore, but if I do fall into anything I'll let you know and see what we shall see and if you'd be interested. It's always better to beat the flippers when possible and since I already have a few myself I'd only be interested in saving them, from the districts, and getting them into the hands of an appreciative new owner who'll take care of and get enjoyment out of driving it. Let's see what happens.

[WIbluebird]

I did see a late 70s Crown pop up on craigslist a few years ago near me in Chicago, but it had been used as a party bus in that city for some time and was REALLY rusty. Probably the first time I've ever seen a rusty Crown, truly heartbreaking.



It was a 6-71 Detroit but had an automatic and was a single axle. Had a crappy repaint and some couches bolted to the floor.



Given the sheer distance between my area and the West Coast and the fact that most shops and mechanics around here would have zero clue how to work on one, I decided to stick with something a bit more common.

[UFO pilot]

For those wondering, I gave Crown_Guy the info on where the supercoaches are. I decided for what I wanted a Crown was not for me.

What I want is something like StuCat's Gillig with a garage cut out of the back. Or a newer FE flat nose. So, I decided an unmolested Crown or Gillig is not for me.

[demoman]

Not my bus but I am nearby.
1969 crown Cummins engine $6000.
I did not talk to them but if anyone needs a non expert eyes on i might be able to see it.
I don't know if this is the one you crown guys are interested in.

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/hvo/d/north-highlands-1969-crown-school-bus/7144519161.html

Is this proper to post on this thread or should this have been put in another?
John

[Dan Trott]

Originally Posted by UFO pilot

Hey all hows it going? I snapped a pic at my local school district bus yard to show these 2 Crowns still on duty. I have not seen them on the streets in years but they are still on the roster.



They are not all spoken for yet!

What school district is it ?????bad machine you guys GOT?stubborn keyboard. Are they tandems? Thanks.

[UFO pilot]

Originally Posted by demoman

Not my bus but I am nearby.
1969 crown Cummins engine $6000.
I did not talk to them but if anyone needs a non expert eyes on i might be able to see it.
I don't know if this is the one you crown guys are interested in.

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/hvo/d/north-highlands-1969-crown-school-bus/7144519161.html

Is this proper to post on this thread or should this have been put in another?
John

The ad now says $6000, so thats $2000 higher than the asking on that bus 2 weeks ago. This looks like a flip in progress. Go capitalism!

That asking price comes very near to the asking for running driving Crowns from recent ads so I highly suggest potential Crown buyers keep that in mind.

[EastCoastCB]

I was afraid a crown flipper would do that.
At least they hopefully live on.

[UFO pilot]

Originally Posted by Dan Trott

What school district is it ?????bad machine you guys GOT?stubborn keyboard. Are they tandems? Thanks.

They are not tandems. Mid engine from what I can tell from a distance. I am not going to tresspass into the yard.

They are still parked in the yard as of today.

Crown_Guy has right of first refusal in chasing those busses down.

Don't forget district transportation administrators have internet too and a quick Google search shows just how much a Crown bus can be priced at these days.

[Native]

Originally Posted by demoman

Not my bus but I am nearby.
1969 crown Cummins engine $6000.
I did not talk to them but if anyone needs a non expert eyes on i might be able to see it.
I don't know if this is the one you crown guys are interested in.

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/hv...144519161.html

Is this proper to post on this thread or should this have been put in another?
John

That bus does look good. If only ...then again, I have my hands full with what I have already.

[crown50]

where is this located

[Biscuitsjam]

It was on Sacramento, CA Craigslist and said North Highlands in the title. However, the listing has expired and been deleted by Craigslist.