yea i am an old crown school bus driver i started in 1980 associated charted bus co. culver city and then 60th street yard we 5speed crowns and ten wheelers and ten speeds we called it crown fever back in the day. the was the best schoolbus ever built only on the west coast . i drove a 1961 1976 1978 1980 the best i loved to down shift and here that detroit engine the old ones had cummings ive been a motor coach driver for over 28 years still love it its in my blood. driven in florida 1 year now
@markajns62 I too used to drive for Associated, right as they were switching over to Laidlaw in 1985 right out of high school,, I drove out of St. Andrews yard,,,,you must remember Jerry the dispatcher,,,I even remember when they were in Culver City,,off Jefferson I believe,,those were the days to drive a Crown,,,,oh and the down shifting,,,that was sooo kool
@MRBSDRIVER +I remember jerry the dispatcher i went to el camino real did u go to a valley school? On this south east state florida they never heard of crown school buses. All they have is breadboxes one day i would love to find a crown and fix it up most of these drivers in florida are not drivers at all because they don"t have mountains snow hills or sometimes unbareable traffic and that i do love. keep crowns alive.
These Crowns could NEVER match the original Crown in terms of looks and style,,,,,ugggh! and and automatic??? Really now??? You're not a real school bus driver unless you can drive a 5 speed stick and have "0" restrictions on your Calif school bus certificate
@MRBSDRIVER Ah, today you're a bus driver if you can drive a bus. Being "crown Qualified" as it was called, is the past, sadly. I am 0 restricted and as much as a pain it is, I'll be 0 until I retired some day.
@Amalthias Yeah and it sounds like it's not as much fun as it used to be,,,heck, anybody can drive an automatic bus,,,,it was the special one's who were able to drive that 5 speed and double clutch,,,or better yet,,speed shift without the clutch!
Morales.......Ventura USD has some very nice Crowns like this, except.......they have the REAL engine....Detroit DDEC 6V92......very nice to hear coming down the street.
OK, some more about this bus. Atwater 28 was built in July 1990 as a 2R-40N-636, and it has a Cat 3208T rated at 250 HP. (The engine's serial no. is CA02Z64385.) This bus's CHP-292 certificate was valid until 11.24.2009, and it had only 147,975 miles when sold by Interschola (not much for a Crown, but approaching middle-age for most 3208 engines). So, there you have it!
Didn't Atwater have a Super II with a Cat 3208? Some other districts had this engine in their Super IIs, even though Crown didn't mention it in the parts manual for the Super II - they only specified the 6V92TAC (which my bus has) and the Cummins 8.3. Crown would build their buses to order, so no two are exactly alike. Even Placer 35, the sibling to my bus, built at the same time with the same specs as mine, has some detail differences to mine. Fun!
yea i am an old crown school bus driver i started in 1980 associated charted bus co. culver city and then 60th street yard we 5speed crowns and ten wheelers and ten speeds we called it crown fever back in the day. the was the best schoolbus ever built only on the west coast . i drove a 1961 1976 1978 1980 the best i loved to down shift and here that detroit engine the old ones had cummings ive been a motor coach driver for over 28 years still love it its in my blood. driven in florida 1 year now
markajns62 3 months ago
@markajns62 I too used to drive for Associated, right as they were switching over to Laidlaw in 1985 right out of high school,, I drove out of St. Andrews yard,,,,you must remember Jerry the dispatcher,,,I even remember when they were in Culver City,,off Jefferson I believe,,those were the days to drive a Crown,,,,oh and the down shifting,,,that was sooo kool
MRBSDRIVER 2 weeks ago
@MRBSDRIVER +I remember jerry the dispatcher i went to el camino real did u go to a valley school? On this south east state florida they never heard of crown school buses. All they have is breadboxes one day i would love to find a crown and fix it up most of these drivers in florida are not drivers at all because they don"t have mountains snow hills or sometimes unbareable traffic and that i do love. keep crowns alive.
markajns62 7 hours ago
These Crowns could NEVER match the original Crown in terms of looks and style,,,,,ugggh! and and automatic??? Really now??? You're not a real school bus driver unless you can drive a 5 speed stick and have "0" restrictions on your Calif school bus certificate
MRBSDRIVER 4 months ago
@MRBSDRIVER Ah, today you're a bus driver if you can drive a bus. Being "crown Qualified" as it was called, is the past, sadly. I am 0 restricted and as much as a pain it is, I'll be 0 until I retired some day.
Amalthias 2 weeks ago
@Amalthias Yeah and it sounds like it's not as much fun as it used to be,,,heck, anybody can drive an automatic bus,,,,it was the special one's who were able to drive that 5 speed and double clutch,,,or better yet,,speed shift without the clutch!
MRBSDRIVER 2 weeks ago
@MRBSDRIVER yeah what's a clutch for? stop and start right? Shifting? Huh? hahaah!
Amalthias 2 weeks ago
Morales.......Ventura USD has some very nice Crowns like this, except.......they have the REAL engine....Detroit DDEC 6V92......very nice to hear coming down the street.
tinnmann02 6 months ago
OK, some more about this bus. Atwater 28 was built in July 1990 as a 2R-40N-636, and it has a Cat 3208T rated at 250 HP. (The engine's serial no. is CA02Z64385.) This bus's CHP-292 certificate was valid until 11.24.2009, and it had only 147,975 miles when sold by Interschola (not much for a Crown, but approaching middle-age for most 3208 engines). So, there you have it!
icenijohn2 9 months ago
Didn't Atwater have a Super II with a Cat 3208? Some other districts had this engine in their Super IIs, even though Crown didn't mention it in the parts manual for the Super II - they only specified the 6V92TAC (which my bus has) and the Cummins 8.3. Crown would build their buses to order, so no two are exactly alike. Even Placer 35, the sibling to my bus, built at the same time with the same specs as mine, has some detail differences to mine. Fun!
icenijohn2 9 months ago
Sounds like a Cummins C8.3 (ISC) in there, don't it, folks?
ClassicTVMan1981X 10 months ago
What year is it?
appleguy133 11 months ago
@appleguy133 1990
sideslide23 10 months ago
OMG I havent seen this bus since I lived in Fresno, this is a very nice bus.
sideslide23 1 year ago
This is a Crown Supercoach Series II school bus. These are becoming quite rare in California nowadays.
jfs1988 1 year ago
I rode in is bus
morales4375 1 year ago
That bus is in good shape for its age
sneezabonk 1 year ago
the bus should go to oxnard for bus 2
morales4375 1 year ago