Cummins diesel engines, long the standard in heavy-duty trucks, developed a series of V8 diesel engines in the 1960s to compete with Detroit Diesel’s successful 8V71 engine. The SCRTD, a loyal Flxible and Cummins diesel customer since the mid 1960s, desired an air-conditioned transit bus with increased performance capable of freeway speeds. New Cummins 903 V8 engines powered SCRTD’s one hundred new 7100 series 40’ Flxibles that arrived in 1971. A separate 4 cylinder Perkins diesel engine powered the air-conditioning unit. They would be the only SCRTD Flxibles built with the 903 V8.
Originally acquired by the West Coast Motor Coach Society in the late 1980s, in honor of George Powell, former Superintendent of Maintenance for SCRTD, who was responsible for specifying Cummins engines in SCRTD’s new look Flxibles, the #7103 became one of the first buses of the newly formed Pacific Bus Museum in 1989. The bus was cosmetically restored in Southern California with new paint and reupholstered seats through the efforts of PBM members Jerry Duncan and the late Stephen Schwarzwald. In 1999 Cummins West Inc. repaired the #7103’s engine in Bakersfield, CA.
Manufacturer: The Flxible Company Loudonville, OH
Model: 111-CC-C3-1 Serial No. 54895 Built 1971
Powertrain: Cummins 903 V8 diesel engine with Spicer 184, 2 speed automatic transmission in T-drive configuration
Body: Aluminum body on a steel frame Seats 51
The interior is in need of repainting. Paint is peeling around the front entrance. Graffiti was removed from several areas in the rear of the bus. These areas have been sanded and primed for painting.
Support the PBM’s bus preservation efforts. Join the museum’s Adopt-A-Bus program. Adopt this bus or any PBM bus of your choice by contributing to a special fund account reserved for maintenance and or restoration of each bus. All of the PBM’s buses have their own special accounts and all funds donated to a particular account will be used only for that bus.
To donate to the Special Funds account for this bus indicate # SCRTD 7103 on your contribution.
Click here to make a donation to the “Pacific Bus Museum” for this bus.