Gillig, originally Gillig Bros., is a bus manufacturer, founded in 1896 and based in Hayward, California. For most of the company's first century, Gillig made school buses but with declining market share in the 1970s decided to branch out into transit buses.

In 1980, Gillig introduced the Phantom, a transit bus based upon their school bus platform. A State of California tax-free subsidy helped early sales (though the state's two biggest transit authorities, SCRTD and MUNI passed), later buoyed by low-bidding on contracts and specializing in serving smaller transit agencies. This strategy has proven to be successful, as the Phantom has become one of the longest-lasting transit models in existence.

The Spirit, a late-1980s attempt at a minibus, did not sell well and was discontinued after a few years.

In 1997, Gillig entered the low-floor bus market with the Advantage (originally called "H2000LF", and is currently called the "Low Floor"). At the outset, the rental car shuttle variation was a big seller but the transit variation gained steam as the model matured.

Contrary to their strategy of being a company that mainly served smaller transit authorities (and those in California, even after the tax advantages ended), many midsize transit agencies have ordered Gillig buses in recent years; these cities include Cincinnati, Denver, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and others. Many universites run Gillig made buses (mostly the Phantom), notable buyers on that front include the University of Maryland, College Park, the University of Connecticut, the University of Virginia, Boston College, and American University as well as most schools in the University of California system.

Current products

• Phantom (Standard Floor) bus: Available in 30, 35 and 40 foot models and choice of Cummins Westport and Caterpillar diesel,engines.
  • Phantom Hybrid bus: Diesel-electric hybrid version of the Phantom
• Gillig Low Floor bus: Available in 29, 35 and 40 foot models and choice of Cummins Westport and Caterpillar diesel, engines. This model is popularly known as the Advantage and was originally also known as the H2000LF.
  • Gillig Hybrid Low Floor bus: Diesel-electric hybrid version of the above
• BRT Low Floor bus: Based upon the chassis of the Gillig Low Floor Bus, this bus takes on a more European look of streamlined design. Available in 30, 35, and 40 foot models and choice of Cummins Westport and Caterpillar diesel, engines. The hybrid drive system is also available on this bus. A popular name assigned, but not widely used, to this model is the Extreme.
• Trolley Bus Replica: Available in 30, 35 foot models and only in diesel engines.

Gillig did offer LNG engines in their products for a short time, but currently, Gillig does not offer buses with natural gas engines. Gillig decided that the "clean diesel" pathway was more cost effective and required less changes to their products. Although Gillig does not offer OEM CNG or LNG, there are transit districts that have converted old chassis to run on CNG or LNG.

Trivia

• The first rear-engine transit style school bus was introduced by Gillig in the 1950s. Known as the C-Series, and equipped with Cummins C-series diesel engines, they revolutionized the transit style school bus. Within five years, the C-Series accounted for 3/4 of all of Gillig sales figures.
• Introduced and patented the "California Top" roof construction style. This construction style and design is still widely used today on every school bus in the country. The "California Top" design consisted of an arched roof with vertically-sliding adjustable-latch side windows.
• The last school bus built by Gillig left the factory floor in March of 1993. Prior to that, they briefly stopped building school buses, with the earlier Gillig school bus design, in 1981.
• During the time they built school buses, and out of all the major school bus body manufacturers at that time, Gillig was typically categorized as the "safest" bus ever built due to the near total absence of recalls. The only recall for a Gillig-built school bus was in 1979 for rear-end axle separation issues.
• Were known for rust problems related to lack of proper maintenance and care.
• Its first shop in San Francisco, California was destroyed by the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
• Bought out the school bus division of the Kenworth Truck Company in 1957
• The Official name for the Gillig school bus was "Transit Coach" (the transit-styled variation), and the model number system at the time was based off of the bus engine's displacement or horsepower rating.
• Built the largest school bus in terms of passenger capacity. The 855DT-series, a tandem-axle 43-foot-long transit-style bus with a midship engine and transmission placement, sat up to 97 pupils when it was released in the mid 1970s.

Historical preservation of Gillig school buses

In March 2001, a website was launched focusing on preserving Gillig's line of earlier-built school buses. Initially known as "The Gillig Transit Coach Archive", and now known as "GilligCoaches.NET," the website's main focus is to increase general awareness of the older Gillig school bus, and to preserve them in an on-line photo and informational archive. The website's founder, Steven Rosenow, has owned a Gillig in the past, and is working on purchasing more for total restoration.

In 2006, efforts began getting underway to create a "historical society" for the Gillig school bus.

External links

• Gillig Corporation
• GilligCoaches.NET

Bus manufacturers | Companies based in Alameda County | Manufacturing companies of the United States