This was the last year model of the "Buffalo" bus I called a deck and a half, a 1980 model, as denoted by the model code, PH8H-4905A; not sure what the first "H" stood for but earlier models were designated PD8M or PD8H-4905A where if I recall stood for "P arlor, D eluxe, 8 cylinder, M anual or H ydramatic- 49 passenger , 05 series, A ir conditioned. I lived across from the Transport of New Jersey , Union City garage, B4 renamed NJ Transit, when I was about 12 and was a walking encyclopedia o
Metroktransit, hearing the sounds of a real bus has brought back many memories of me riding buses in the 70's. Since my Dad never learned to drive, our family would ride the bus from Chicago to Laredo (Greyhound Scenicruiser, MC-9). In Laredo, Transportes Del Norte(made by Dina or Sultana) would take us to Monterrey Mexico. This is what a bus is to suppose to feel and sound like! Thanks!
Man this beast hear roars real hardcore. The 8V71 and 8V92 engines are like the kings of all the other Detroit Diesel engines, and after these two went off the bus and truck market, then the new kings were the 6V71,6V92,S60,S50 and soon to be the new kings are the DD13,15, and 16. Detroits are the best engines ever!
I remember back in the late 70's...we would take my grandmother to the greyhound depot, and she would ride the bus to Reno. Gamblers coach!! This bus sounds just like the one Grandma rode!!! Love the sound and the look....wish they would still be driven around!!!
Loooks like one of the Buffalo buses [late 60s- ":Scenicruyiser-deck" like ones; these were among the latter manual transmission ones, and made after the GMC & Greyhound split..models would be beofre hte one lsited, MGM PD's 4903,4108,.4905, and a few others.
I wonder if that is the same Tony I met during the MBS in Toronto almost two weeks ago! HAH! What a blast! And what a sweet sounding coach! Nice work guys!
That's may be why MCI out sold GMC in coaches, because coaches preform like a transit bus, then how you going to be able to run hard on the road. Now at days a coach would smoke a transit bus on the road. I not trashing GMC coaches, but they should have look into putting a four or five speed V transmission in there coaches if they wanted to compete with MCI, Silver Eagle and Prevost.
I wouold think that if the power train was the same....same engine and transmission combo, a transit bus and a coach would perform about the same...only difference would be if the motors could be optioned with varying horsepower ratings or if rear axle ratio gearing was different.
I just wonder, did thess buses have better performus than a New Look or RTS with a 8v71 and V730 transmission, or was it about the same? I know todays coaches can out perform todays transit buses by a high margin.
They don't make them like this anymore unfortunately....the local bus company in my area has a large fleet of MCI's with the Detroit series 60 motors in them....The only thing loud about those engines are the cooling fans....they sound nothing like these older 8V71's....I rode on a few 8V71 powered Buffalo Buses in the 1970's and 80's and loved the ride and sound of them.
In 1995, there was still a tour company in Washington DC that still use GMC PD 4905 or 3. On a class trip DC we used them to go from the airport to or hotel. The Rest of the time we use MCI buses. I wish I remebered the company name.
If you listen to take 2 of my custom-made '69 Seagrave tiller vid (with the 1980 TMC MC-9 audio in it), you will note that often times the shift from 1 to 2 occurs at a higher speed than from 2 to 3 and 3 to D (drive).
I love it! I love it! I love it! i just wanted to comment and say that just by hearing im convinced that the bus has a broken muffler it does however sound like a MCI-9 but u got to a ammit the MCI-9 had a better soung muffler, by the way is that an old Academy bus out of Hoboken,NJ???
Glad you enjoyed that drive! I owned a small company in the '80's in LA. I had a scenicruiser but the 4905's(-3's and the shorter 07 & 08) were very much in use. Light, and fast. Most were 4spd sticks. This one looks like it was a studio bus from LA (lietzke) at one time due to the color, the blue stripes are his trademark. Detroits were known as screamers. I drove one in a movie.
AWESOME!!!!! Thanks for posting this neat bus. I remember when old buses were all over the place. I sure miss the old Greyhounds and Trailways. They don't make 'em like that anymore!!!!!
Basically, yes. They are mandating four strokes now (which sound pretty much like any other engine). Even some of the older Detroit four strokes such as the Series 50 are being regulated out. Do these things really cut down on that much emissions? I always used to be sympathetic to environmentalism, but it seems they are getting out of control with the nitpicking.
The 740 generally did produce a louder sound than the 730, which has the characteristic high pitched "whine". So to answer other's questions, this is why it is so loud.
Also, basically lost interest in buses because of these characterless four strokes being mandated now. (The series 60 is almost like riding in a car!) So different; kills the whole feel of the ride.
This is obviously an HT740, not a V730! It saounds just like the MC8's & 9's using the same powertrain. Some 4905's were made for "commuter" service (with the electically controlled double doors and no bathroom), and these used the 730. NYC had these on lines such as Command and Liberty Lines. Those basically sounded like an RTS or Grumman transit bus with the same powertrain. This one here is clearly an "over the road" type transmission!
Well, that didn't sound ANYTHING like the commuter GMC's I referred to. Those sounded identical to GMC transit buses or Grumman Flxibles with the 8V-71/V730. This one is a much harder and heavier sound, as others commented, and doesn't accelerate or shift anything like them either. The shifts of MCI coaches often vary somewhat, but most of those are 740's. So this sounds *identical* to some MCI's I have heard, and generally similar to the rest.
Whenever I heard GMC's, they usually did NOT sound like this. They either sounded like the ones I mentioned; or the over the road versions often sounded like manual transmissions. So my guess is that this was a RETROFIT. I also not too long ago heard a rebuilt 4106 that sounded something like this as well, and it was unusual.
Did GMC PD 4905 always sound that loud, are was that because it was a old bus? Ether way, it nice to see a working GMC Bufflo. I take a Bufflo over a New Look, RTS or Crown Supercoach any day. I wish GMC built a new age 102 inch wide highway coach to compete with the MCI 102 A3 and Eagle 15, that was base on the Bufflo. Kinda like the GMC Classic is based on the New look and the Crown Supercoach 2 is base on the Supercoach 1.
Thank you. I assumed so because GMC was initially hesitant to use the V-730 in their buses in its first year of sale (1976) because they wanted to use up their stock of the older Allison VH/VS series transmissions.
This was the last year model of the "Buffalo" bus I called a deck and a half, a 1980 model, as denoted by the model code, PH8H-4905A; not sure what the first "H" stood for but earlier models were designated PD8M or PD8H-4905A where if I recall stood for "P arlor, D eluxe, 8 cylinder, M anual or H ydramatic- 49 passenger , 05 series, A ir conditioned. I lived across from the Transport of New Jersey , Union City garage, B4 renamed NJ Transit, when I was about 12 and was a walking encyclopedia o
1badjimmyjammer 4 months ago
I used to work for Mr. Tedesco's Academy Charter washing and moving these buses in Jersey City in 1975. Thanks for the memories!
citzie 5 months ago
I used to ride these on njt on the 319 route from nyc to ac when it actually stopped in freehold
retroguy1976 8 months ago
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!!!!!!!!!
NovaBUSFan 1 year ago
Love it, love the comments near the end to.
crushingvanessa 1 year ago
oooo, ya'll look/sound like ya'll havin' a buncha fun! and that bus sounds damn good!
brownbrownson 1 year ago
That thing sounds like an ole Pierce fire Pumper
6V92TA 1 year ago
Nice.What can I say? It is fantastic beyond words. What a bus!
23AClark 1 year ago
hahaha awesome! :D
dandyrod94555 1 year ago
excellent vid :)
TheSharkThe13 1 year ago
I had a ride on this baby not too long ago, was an awesome trip!
Spectacular66 1 year ago
oh my goodness man. i cant wait to get back to NYC
ea90744 1 year ago
Metroktransit, hearing the sounds of a real bus has brought back many memories of me riding buses in the 70's. Since my Dad never learned to drive, our family would ride the bus from Chicago to Laredo (Greyhound Scenicruiser, MC-9). In Laredo, Transportes Del Norte(made by Dina or Sultana) would take us to Monterrey Mexico. This is what a bus is to suppose to feel and sound like! Thanks!
greyhound1964 1 year ago
Oh yea, I can't ride a bus that's too quiet. I wish all buses were loud.
metroktransit 1 year ago
@metroktransit That thing got a Detroit in it?
DK99824 1 year ago
"we shall overcome" yall r stoopid as hell hahahahaha
but the buses they sang that son on are the 4501's, good call though hahahahahah
goofballs i love it
dls99 2 years ago
Oh shit.... That is beast
Spectacular66 2 years ago
For God´s sake, I want to drive this lady!!
carloslafrance1 2 years ago 4
Is this bus still around?
8v71buses 2 years ago
Man this beast hear roars real hardcore. The 8V71 and 8V92 engines are like the kings of all the other Detroit Diesel engines, and after these two went off the bus and truck market, then the new kings were the 6V71,6V92,S60,S50 and soon to be the new kings are the DD13,15, and 16. Detroits are the best engines ever!
8v71buses 2 years ago
I remember back in the late 70's...we would take my grandmother to the greyhound depot, and she would ride the bus to Reno. Gamblers coach!! This bus sounds just like the one Grandma rode!!! Love the sound and the look....wish they would still be driven around!!!
nutforcub 2 years ago
what engine does this bitch have? sounds liek bus heaven
sammydenyc 2 years ago
This bus has the 8V71 engine with the Allison V730 transmission.
baul104 2 years ago
Damn that bus sounds awsome!!
zip1325 2 years ago
Its gotta have an engine brake?Looks fun to drive and expensive.What about 2 mpg?HA HA.....
pwarren1010 2 years ago
Loooks like one of the Buffalo buses [late 60s- ":Scenicruyiser-deck" like ones; these were among the latter manual transmission ones, and made after the GMC & Greyhound split..models would be beofre hte one lsited, MGM PD's 4903,4108,.4905, and a few others.
SteveCarras 2 years ago
Yo Homeboy thats driving is definately running that engine. DAMN. Drive that bus
TheBusDriver84 3 years ago 3
that buffalo runs good
347pony 3 years ago 2
yo tony you heard that shit yo lol
WMATAvids 3 years ago 3
I wonder if that is the same Tony I met during the MBS in Toronto almost two weeks ago! HAH! What a blast! And what a sweet sounding coach! Nice work guys!
busrailfan 3 years ago 2
The highway buses had 4-speed manual transmissions. The transits had (before the V730 days) both 4-speed manual or 2-speed automatic.
SteveCarras 3 years ago
That's may be why MCI out sold GMC in coaches, because coaches preform like a transit bus, then how you going to be able to run hard on the road. Now at days a coach would smoke a transit bus on the road. I not trashing GMC coaches, but they should have look into putting a four or five speed V transmission in there coaches if they wanted to compete with MCI, Silver Eagle and Prevost.
panamcunard 3 years ago
I wouold think that if the power train was the same....same engine and transmission combo, a transit bus and a coach would perform about the same...only difference would be if the motors could be optioned with varying horsepower ratings or if rear axle ratio gearing was different.
NS3329 3 years ago
I just wonder, did thess buses have better performus than a New Look or RTS with a 8v71 and V730 transmission, or was it about the same? I know todays coaches can out perform todays transit buses by a high margin.
panamcunard 3 years ago
They don't make them like this anymore unfortunately....the local bus company in my area has a large fleet of MCI's with the Detroit series 60 motors in them....The only thing loud about those engines are the cooling fans....they sound nothing like these older 8V71's....I rode on a few 8V71 powered Buffalo Buses in the 1970's and 80's and loved the ride and sound of them.
NS3329 3 years ago
i had to turn my surround system on to enjoy the sound....it was..f-ing unbelievable...i wish i was there with you....
desde714 3 years ago
This 8v71N Engine is super loud.
BryceCBS 3 years ago
Ill tell u what. my church still has mc 9's with them 8v71's and they sound good but this one sounds great. love the 8v71's and als the 8v92's
TheBusDriver84 3 years ago
In 1995, there was still a tour company in Washington DC that still use GMC PD 4905 or 3. On a class trip DC we used them to go from the airport to or hotel. The Rest of the time we use MCI buses. I wish I remebered the company name.
panamcunard 3 years ago
Oh, what a roar of the Detroit Diesel 8V71!
mrceleb2006 3 years ago
LOL!! I really love that sound!! VRROOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!!! Btw, this bus is the GM Buffalo coach, is it?
baul104 3 years ago
Yes it is.
Sulaco516 3 years ago
Thanks!
baul104 3 years ago
No problem.
Sulaco516 3 years ago
If you listen to take 2 of my custom-made '69 Seagrave tiller vid (with the 1980 TMC MC-9 audio in it), you will note that often times the shift from 1 to 2 occurs at a higher speed than from 2 to 3 and 3 to D (drive).
ClassicTVFan82 3 years ago
So (judging form the first several pages..) this is NOT a manual but a 3-speed V730 automatic (found only on transit buses)?
(They replaced the 2-speed VH/VS.)
SteveCarras 3 years ago
I love it! I love it! I love it! i just wanted to comment and say that just by hearing im convinced that the bus has a broken muffler it does however sound like a MCI-9 but u got to a ammit the MCI-9 had a better soung muffler, by the way is that an old Academy bus out of Hoboken,NJ???
luvdat8v71 4 years ago
Yes it is, it even had the old academy three shades of blue as well.
juan833blue 3 years ago
Glad you enjoyed that drive! I owned a small company in the '80's in LA. I had a scenicruiser but the 4905's(-3's and the shorter 07 & 08) were very much in use. Light, and fast. Most were 4spd sticks. This one looks like it was a studio bus from LA (lietzke) at one time due to the color, the blue stripes are his trademark. Detroits were known as screamers. I drove one in a movie.
dr. g.
BHShrink 4 years ago
BH Shrink sayeth:
"Most were 4spd sticks"
Many with solenoid switch reverse, too!
SteveCarras 3 years ago
Man that bus knows roar like a beast and this guys are so hilariously funny that i would love to ride on that bus with them. I love a good joke.
cc409 4 years ago
AWESOME!!!!! Thanks for posting this neat bus. I remember when old buses were all over the place. I sure miss the old Greyhounds and Trailways. They don't make 'em like that anymore!!!!!
BurgerChefGuy 4 years ago
This Bus with an 8v71 is Awesome with a Heavy metal Sound and it ROCKs!!! OH YEAHHHHH!!!! I Love it!!!!
richardflint07 4 years ago
Thank You It's my friend from NYC personal bus.
metroktransit 4 years ago
Did they have to use so many bad words.
panamcunard 4 years ago
My friends always joke around. Don't it too serious.
metroktransit 4 years ago
Comment removed
scottums5427 4 years ago
So bus was companys was force to stop useing Detriot Diesel two stroke engines?
panamcunard 4 years ago
Basically, yes. They are mandating four strokes now (which sound pretty much like any other engine). Even some of the older Detroit four strokes such as the Series 50 are being regulated out. Do these things really cut down on that much emissions? I always used to be sympathetic to environmentalism, but it seems they are getting out of control with the nitpicking.
ETBX1 4 years ago
EPA nitpick about every little thing.
metroktransit 4 years ago
The 740 generally did produce a louder sound than the 730, which has the characteristic high pitched "whine". So to answer other's questions, this is why it is so loud.
Also, basically lost interest in buses because of these characterless four strokes being mandated now. (The series 60 is almost like riding in a car!) So different; kills the whole feel of the ride.
ETBX1 4 years ago
Hi all!
This is obviously an HT740, not a V730! It saounds just like the MC8's & 9's using the same powertrain. Some 4905's were made for "commuter" service (with the electically controlled double doors and no bathroom), and these used the 730. NYC had these on lines such as Command and Liberty Lines. Those basically sounded like an RTS or Grumman transit bus with the same powertrain. This one here is clearly an "over the road" type transmission!
Yeah, nothing else like it!
ETBX1 4 years ago
If you listen to most HT-740-equipped buses and other vehicles, the shift from 1st to 2nd is often longer in duration.
ClassicTVFan82 4 years ago
Sorry, ETBX1, but you're wrong in this case.
All GMC highway coaches, an example of which this video shows, were built with V-drive powertrains, not T-drive like MCI, Prevost, Eagle, etc.
Consequently, any that were equipped with an automatic in the last few years of production came with V-730s.
HT-740s have never been built for a V-drive application.
FWIW. . .
RustySax 4 years ago
Well, that didn't sound ANYTHING like the commuter GMC's I referred to. Those sounded identical to GMC transit buses or Grumman Flxibles with the 8V-71/V730. This one is a much harder and heavier sound, as others commented, and doesn't accelerate or shift anything like them either. The shifts of MCI coaches often vary somewhat, but most of those are 740's. So this sounds *identical* to some MCI's I have heard, and generally similar to the rest.
ETBX1 4 years ago
Whenever I heard GMC's, they usually did NOT sound like this. They either sounded like the ones I mentioned; or the over the road versions often sounded like manual transmissions. So my guess is that this was a RETROFIT. I also not too long ago heard a rebuilt 4106 that sounded something like this as well, and it was unusual.
ETBX1 4 years ago
now who owns this bad boy?
Matteo42 4 years ago
My good friend of mind.
metroktransit 4 years ago
Did GMC PD 4905 always sound that loud, are was that because it was a old bus? Ether way, it nice to see a working GMC Bufflo. I take a Bufflo over a New Look, RTS or Crown Supercoach any day. I wish GMC built a new age 102 inch wide highway coach to compete with the MCI 102 A3 and Eagle 15, that was base on the Bufflo. Kinda like the GMC Classic is based on the New look and the Crown Supercoach 2 is base on the Supercoach 1.
panamcunard 4 years ago
Yea that deck sound normal.
metroktransit 4 years ago
I think this is a 1977.
metroktransit 4 years ago
Detroit Diesel 8v71 with an Allison V-730?
richardflint07 4 years ago 2
Yes Sir, I wish all today buses sound like this.
metroktransit 4 years ago
Thank you. I assumed so because GMC was initially hesitant to use the V-730 in their buses in its first year of sale (1976) because they wanted to use up their stock of the older Allison VH/VS series transmissions.
ClassicTVFan82 4 years ago
Is this a 1977 or a '78 model?
ClassicTVFan82 4 years ago