Thomas Minotour

Thomas Minotour
Minotour on 1997-2003 GMC Savana chassis
Overview
Type	Bus
Manufacturer	Thomas Built Buses
Also called	Thomas MyBus
Production	1980-present
Assembly	United States: High Point, North Carolina (Thomas Built Buses)
Body and chassis
Body style	School bus MFSAB (Activity bus)
Platform	Ford E-Series (1980-present) Ford Transit (begin 2017) Chevrolet Van/GMC Vandura (1980-1996) Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana (1997-present)
Chassis	Cutaway van chassis (see notes)
Chronology
Predecessor	Thomas Mighty Mite

The Thomas Minotour is a bus body that has been manufactured by Thomas Built Buses since 1980. Primarily sold as a school bus, the Minotour is also produced as a MFSAB (activity bus) or in custom configurations specified by the customer. Since its introduction, the Minotour has been produced using both Ford and General Motors cutaway van chassis.

The Minotour is the smallest vehicle produced by Thomas, with a seating capacity of up to 30 passengers in its highest-capacity version; it is also the only current Thomas school bus model line to not wear the "Saf-T-Liner" moniker. It is manufactured alongside the full-size Thomas school bus line in High Point, North Carolina.

Background

In the 1970s, the design of small school buses underwent evolution. As the redesigned Ford Econoline and Chevrolet G-Series/GMC Vandura were introduced, the full-size van segment saw the advent of a new type of commercial vehicle: the cutaway van chassis, a van chassis with bodywork unfinished beyond the front seats. In the context of school bus manufacturing, this allowed practical small school buses that were no longer adapted from passenger vans or full-size SUVs.

In 1973, the first cutaway-chassis school bus was produced by Wayne Corporation; the Wayne Busette was a body built on a Chevrolet/GMC van chassis. In 1975, Blue Bird introduced the Blue Bird Micro Bird. While not the first cutaway-chassis school bus, the Micro Bird introduced several features that were adapted on virtually all subsequent models; it featured a full-height entry door and additional glass ahead of the entry door to aid loading visibility for the driver.

In the 1970s, Thomas Built Buses produced small school buses with two versions of the Mighty Mite. Initially produced as a narrow-body version of the Saf-T-Liner Conventional, it was replaced in the mid-1970s by a bus (a Type B configuration) produced on a stripped chassis produced by Chevrolet; it was produced with relatively few changes until 1995.

In 1980, seeking to supplement the Mighty Mite and replicate the success of the Busette and Micro Bird, Thomas introduced the Minotour on both Ford and General Motors chassis.

Thomas Minotour EL (2003-2007 Ford E450)

2004-2011 Thomas Minotour (Chevrolet Express 4500 4WD)

Body

The Minotour body is produced in three different versions: one for single rear-wheel chassis along with standard and extended lengths for dual rear-wheel chassis.

Since its 1980 introduction, the body of the Minotour has seen relatively few changes. During the 1990s, a floor-level rub rail was added. In the early 2000s, the front bodywork above the roof was modified to improve body aerodynamics. In 2008, the taillights were updated (to share a similar design with the Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 and Thomas Saf-T-Liner HDX). Following various chassis redesigns, the window forward of the entry door has grown in size.

Chassis

Introduced on a dual rear-wheel chassis for both Ford and General Motors, the Thomas Minotour became the first cutaway-chassis developed for a single rear-wheel chassis; in the early 1980s, Thomas developed a narrow-body version of the Minotour for a single rear-wheel Ford chassis. Currently, the General Motors chassis is available with two gasoline engines and a diesel engine; the Ford chassis is available with two gasoline engines. A new Ford Transit will be introduced and will begin production by spring of 2017.

In addition to gasoline and diesel versions of the Minotour, Thomas offers two alternative-fuel versions. On the General Motors chassis, the Minotour can be equipped with the option of CNG (compressed natural gas) or propane-fueled powertrains.

Although Thomas Built Buses is owned by Freightliner, a Daimler AG company, the Sprinter van family (badged as a Freightliner or Mercedes-Benz, or initially as a Dodge as well) was not adopted as a chassis for Minotour for several reasons. In addition to the Daimler-produced Sprinter being unable to directly compete with its Ford and General Motors counterparts in terms of cost, engineering concerns came into play.^[1] In the mockup of a prototype, Thomas engineers discovered that the heavily reinforced body design of the Minotour far exceeded the GVWR rating for the then-current version of the cutaway-chassis Sprinter.^[1]

Variants

MyBus

The Thomas MyBus (marketed as MyBus by Thomas Built Buses) is a variant of the Minotour marketed as a MFSAB (Multi-Function School Activity Bus); it is a vehicle intended for entities transporting children (or other individuals) in a group setting, but are not making use of traffic-control devices; these vehicles have been required to take the place of 15-passenger vans due to the risk of rollover in the latter.

Sharing the basic body of the Minotour, the MyBus differs primarily in its more aerodynamic front and rear roof cap styling. In addition, due to its use as an MFSAB, the MyBus is not allowed to be fitted with warning lights, a stop sign, nor can it be painted school bus yellow (conversely, the Minotour is required to be painted that color if it is a school bus).

See also

• Blue Bird Micro Bird
• Wayne Busette
• List of buses

References

• http://www.thomasbus.com/_pdf/brochure-minotour-school-2010.pdf Thomas Minotour Product Literature (current model)
• http://www.thomasbus.com/bus-models/school/minotour/overview.asp Thomas Minotour Webpage

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Minotour buses.

• Thomas Built Buses
• Auto Safety House