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The Henry Ford, in Dearborn, Michigan, has acquired the first steel-bodied school bus, Blue Bird No. 1. Blue Bird No. 1 was the first steel-bodied school bus built by Albert Luce, Sr. in 1927. Mr. Luce was the owner of Ford dealerships in Fort Valley and Perry, Georgia when one of his customers requested a vehicle to transport workers to a cement plant. He bought a wood-bodied bus that he sold to this customer but the wood deteriorated before the customer could finish paying for the vehicle. Albert Luce investigated ways of building a better bus and constructed a body using steel angles and channels, steel sheets, wood and canvas. He then mounted it to a 1927 Ford Model T chassis. This new bus was sold to Frank Slade of Marshallville, Georgia to be used as a school bus. By 1932 the Depression had reduced car sales so seriously that Mr. Luce sold his Ford agencies and concentrated full-time on manufacturing school buses. He named his new company Blue Bird Body Company. Today, Blue Bird Corporation remains one of the nation's major school bus manufacturers. Blue Bird No. 1 will go on display in the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in May, 2008.
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The Henry Ford Museum
