Can anyone help with an ID?

[mcduffieja]

Saw this beauty today on US-17 in Mt Pleasant SC. Can anyone provide an ID?

Thanks in advance!

 

[rossvtaylor]

A 1980's (or thereabouts) Crown. Beautiful buses and that's a nice example. I'm sure one of the Crown experts could narrow down the year, or tell us what the possible range of years is for that style.

 

[mcduffieja]

I thought it was a crown, but there was no badging. Maybe one of the Crown experts can weigh in. What a gorgeous bus!

 

[rossvtaylor]

Yes, some of the Crown experts here could probably count rivets and give us the VIN number. They're nice buses...almost as nice as Gilligs.

Haha! Just stirring the pot a bit. We have a great old Gillig and they look similar. Both Gilligs and Crowns were westcoast buses, that is cool that you saw one back east. When I find the right Crown at the right time, I'll add one as a sister to our Gillig...so, just kidding about the "almost as nice" bit.

 

[mcduffieja]

I’ve definitely got the Crown jones, I found two on.my route to work. The sales manager at a local bus sales company owns them. I saw them parked in the bus yard and said “That’s not a Thomas, WTH?” To myself. I just need to work out the logistics. My wife wants one in prison bus/ security coach livery. Pretty rare around here, indeed!

 

[rossvtaylor]

I was just watching the bidding on a nice Crown intercity bus which closed today, for $7500. It had a broken (curved) windshield and a few other issues, but was overall a nice looking bus. It would have made a cool platform for a build.

 

[s2mikon]

I love the VW micro bus paint scheme. Now if it had a VW micro bus for a toad it would look like momma and baby. I have tried to get my son to paint his like that but he said NO!

 

[EastCoastCB]

I was just watching the bidding on a nice Crown intercity bus which closed today, for $7500. It had a broken (curved) windshield and a few other issues, but was overall a nice looking bus. It would have made a cool platform for a build.

broken windshield was a big deal, and the spicer 5 is sorta the lowest end tranny in a crown.
I'm surprised it went for that much. But bus prices are on the rise all around.

 

[rossvtaylor]

broken windshield was a big deal, and the spicer 5 is sorta the lowest end tranny in a crown.
I'm surprised it went for that much. But bus prices are on the rise all around.

Indeed...so it wasn't the right Crown for us. It'll come along, though!

And s2mikon - damn, that would be pretty great to see!

I looked up the company shown on the OP's bus and found some corporate re-naming filings, but I didn't find the actual company's site. I'd love to see what they're doing with this pretty old Crown and what she looks like on the inside - it looks like a limo/tour business.

 

[mcduffieja]

I found the owner on FB and the company. https://m.facebook.com/LowcountryValet/

 

[mcduffieja]

I found the owner on FB. He owns a service that rents out several gorgeous restored crowns and other classic vehicles for weddings and events. It's called Low Country Valet, in Charleston SC. He's also got several Crowns for sale. I'm hoping to meet up with him soon to take a look at his inventory. :Thanx:

 

[Crown_Guy]

I found the owner on FB. He owns a service that rents out several gorgeous restored crowns and other classic vehicles for weddings and events. It's called Low Country Valet, in Charleston SC. He's also got several Crowns for sale. I'm hoping to meet up with him soon to take a look at his inventory. :Thanx:

There you all go. My work here is done. See how that works.

Obviously a very nicely restored and maintained Crown still very much in Commercial Service. I've heard of this company before and I believe I've seen their website, but of course I can't find it now. There is no reason Crowns can't still be in commercial operations once escaping Kalifornia, it's the damn smog tyrants here that are trying to kill them all. I've invited many commercial operators to come in and buy, and save, Crowns for years now, and the smart ones have been doing that.

You can bet every one of your last dollars he's going to want a very premium price for any Crowns he's willing to sell. If he's put the amounts of money into restoring them to anything like a Limousine Service quality level you can expect he'll be asking over $20K at least, at the very least. The proper professional paint job could easily cost $7K+, and that looks like a proper paint job. Simple but using good materials. Any further mechanical work is also going to run the price up a whole lot more. And it's worth every single penny.

The exhaust pipe size looks to be a turbocharged engine for sure, can't tell without seeing if the pan is hanging down, (the Detroit 6-71), or not, (the Cummins). It's like looking to see whats in it's pants to tell what sex it is.

Certainly a post 1970's with that dash, and probably much newer than that. It's extremely difficult to tell the year of any Crown due to the total sameness in their design and build. They didn't change much except in little ways or due to custom modifications since the 1950's era. There isn't any appreciable difference in any significant way between a well maintained 1958 or a later 1980's Crown. As long as they are taken care of they will last forever.

Definitely been well restored and kept in very good and clean condition. Much to be expected for that type of business.

I'd be interested in what you find out, either here or PM me. I hold to the belief that Crowns will become investment vehicles for the right units and some folks are already starting to think the same way.

For all of you on the East Coast I have to keep reminding myself that most have never seen a Crown in person, or even in passing, like this one was on the road, much less been able to lay hands on one. So it would seem like some kind of phantom vehicle leaving one with the impression that they just saw something of significance, but never really quite sure of just what it was.

Take heart though, as time goes on more and more Crowns are finding their way East and ending up in private hands and being driven around so others can witness the magnificence that is a Crown, especially on the Road. Especially for the guy behind the wheel of that incredible drivers bus. Envy that guy.

Cheers to all and enjoy your Crown Spotting.

 

[mcduffieja]

@Crown_Guy and everyone else, thanks for weighing in! I first saw a crown in person a few years ago when I was out in LA, and wondered how they were still running what must have been 1950's school buses! I didn't know the back story, and didn't know anything about Crowns, for sure.
Flash forward to the present, and I've been looking at (and lusting after) them online. I've managed to find at least 2 here in town sitting at a local Thomas dealer, stopped in, and got the owner's number, and plan to go look at his collection. I'm also going to follow up with the owner of the one I posted here, he's about 90 minutes away, but I'd like to look at the ones he's got for sale - this one isn't for sale, apparently, but he's got several others.
There's still a bit of logistics to work out before I pull the trigger on one. I know I'm not ready, and want it to be as good an experience as possible, caretaking one of these gorgeous machines.