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Commercial Body Builders


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Does anyone have more information on this Delta, BC-based company, the buses it produced, and who else they were operated by? (This company became a truck equipment supplier called Commercial Truck Equipment Co. in 2013, and no longer manufactures its own products, let alone buses)

All I know is that:

  1. They made cutaways based on vans
  2. Their bodies were made of 100% aluminum instead of fiberglass and steel
  3. They had two models: the Tundra, a very small bus based on the Mercedes Sprinter chassis and possibly the Ford E350, and the Polar, their most popular model which was a standard shuttle bus based on the Ford E450.
  4. I know of only a few transit agencies that operated CBB's buses: CMBC and its contractors, BC Transit, and Lethbridge Transit.

So I'm wondering:

Did the Tundra ever come on a Ford chassis, and which years did each bus model enter production? I only know they were discontinued in 2013. The Polar seems to have started in 1994 based on the transit units listed in the Transit Museum Society database. Also, were there any other transit agencies that operated their buses? I found out they tried to bid on a TTC RFP for Wheeltrans buses, but they didn't win so I know TTC didn't operate them.

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  • 2 years later...

That's a blast from the past both in terms of age of the post and my past.

I worked for the Bus Division of Commercial Body Builders for the final three years of it operation. I still work for the company now just on the truck side. For the history side of the company as a whole I'll just link you to the company website https://www.comtruck.ca/about-us/history/

As for the bus division itself I guess I'll start at the end and go backwards.

  • The division was closed in June of 2010 due to lack of orders.
  • The last bus delivered was a Polar for BC Transit (Community Shuttle) for Agassiz-Harrison unit #2238. Picture attached of it just before it left our yard.
  • It was not actually the last bus body as we had one left over which was sold to a local farmer who mounted it on a trailer to use for hay rides.
  • The two models we had were both based on Ford E Series cutaways. E350 & E450. The Sprinter was a one off prototype.
  • The discontinuation of the diesel engine in the E Series due to the 2010 emission standards was the final nail in the coffin for the bus division.
  • On the operators Commercial sold units to CMBC, West Vancouver Transit and BC Transit. The prototypes ended up in private hands. Lethbridge was not an original customer at least for the Commercial built units. The buses are all over the secondary market at this point.
  • I don't know when the first units were built as it was well before my time. The bus division was acquired from another company on Vancouver Island and I don't know their history.
  • Commercial built 501 units of all models including prototypes between 2000 and 2010. I don't know how many were built by the other company previously.

If there is anything else you what to know I'll answer if I can.

image.thumb.png.ef386bb3d20e822b753f8b9903f85657.png

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14 hours ago, Tribunius said:

That's a blast from the past both in terms of age of the post and my past.

I worked for the Bus Division of Commercial Body Builders for the final three years of it operation. I still work for the company now just on the truck side. For the history side of the company as a whole I'll just link you to the company website https://www.comtruck.ca/about-us/history/

As for the bus division itself I guess I'll start at the end and go backwards.

  • The division was closed in June of 2010 due to lack of orders.
  • The last bus delivered was a Polar for BC Transit (Community Shuttle) for Agassiz-Harrison unit #2238. Picture attached of it just before it left our yard.
  • It was not actually the last bus body as we had one left over which was sold to a local farmer who mounted it on a trailer to use for hay rides.
  • The two models we had were both based on Ford E Series cutaways. E350 & E450. The Sprinter was a one off prototype.
  • The discontinuation of the diesel engine in the E Series due to the 2010 emission standards was the final nail in the coffin for the bus division.
  • On the operators Commercial sold units to CMBC, West Vancouver Transit and BC Transit. The prototypes ended up in private hands. Lethbridge was not an original customer at least for the Commercial built units. The buses are all over the secondary market at this point.
  • I don't know when the first units were built as it was well before my time. The bus division was acquired from another company on Vancouver Island and I don't know their history.
  • Commercial built 501 units of all models including prototypes between 2000 and 2010. I don't know how many were built by the other company previously.

If there is anything else you what to know I'll answer if I can.

image.thumb.png.ef386bb3d20e822b753f8b9903f85657.png

There was a one-off E-550 Polar built in 2002 and sold to TransLink. Was that a prototype as well?

Also, is the company still capable of producing buses despite the closure of the Bus Division?

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8 hours ago, Tribunius said:

Yes S017 it was a one off prototype to study carrying more passengers. It never amounted to much as Ford discontinued the chassis.

Yes in theory we could still do it however it isn't a focus for us anymore.

Another question: when did the change from manual passenger door to power door occur?

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The change over was in late 2006. The first units to get them were Polars for Translink. The first unit delivered was T524. BC Transits first unit equipped with them was 2077.

The actual controls went through a few iterations with the final version having a remote opener in addition to a dash mounted control. The remote door opener was a BC Transit only feature added in 2008. The first unit delivered was 2130.

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  • 10 months later...
  • 1 month later...
On 4/9/2021 at 11:03 PM, Community Shuttle said:

@Tribunius would you have any idea who these Ford-based Tundras were sold to?

2001 FORD E-350 12 PASSENGER BUS **LOW KM** - cars & trucks - by... (craigslist.org)

Archived link if ad is deleted or expired: 2001 FORD E-350 12 PASSENGER BUS **LOW KM** - cars & trucks - by... (archive.is)

That must have been West Vancouvers unit. It was the only gas powered unit from that build year.

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  • 2 years later...
  • 5 months later...

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.7701328,-120.3404707,3a,15y,263.72h,92.71t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sQjCuWVjAtHoC-4FJybJQmQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

Was this a 1 off 1990s Polar?

Early polar with round parking lights and rollsign

Side wheelchair lift, most pictures i have seen are rear wheelchair lifts

Back has a emergency exit

Also any picture of SM018, the E-550 Polar?

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