Gillig
| Gillig Corporation | |
|---|---|
| company logo | |
| company type | |
| foundation | 1890 |
| Founder | Jacob Gillig |
| location | Hayward, California, United States |
| area served | United States |
| industry | Bus building |
| products | Transit Buses |
| homepage | www.gillig.com |
Gillig Corporation, formerly Gillig Bros., is a manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses located in Hayward, CA. Prior to 1993, Gillig had also been a manufacturer of school buses.
History
In 1890, Jacob Gillig opened a carriage and wagon shop in San Francisco, CA, and was joined by his son Leo in 1896. The original shop was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but reopened as the Leo Gillig Automobile Works manufacturing automobile, hearse, truck, and bus bodies.
In 1920, Leo's brother Chester Gillig joined the company and introduced and patented the "California Top" roof construction style consisting of a hard-top roof and sliding windows. The company's name was changed at this time as well to Gillig Bros. In the late 1920s, Gillig starting producing pleasure boats and heavy trucks, and produced their first school bus in 1932. In 1937, Gillig introduced their first transit-style (flat front) school bus, and in 1938 the company moved to Hayward, CA. In 1957, Gillig purchased Pacific Bus division of Kenworth Truck Company, and by that time the company was devoted almost entirely to the production of school buses. In 1959, Gillig pioneered the diesel-powered rear-engined transit style school bus with the release of the C-series Transit Coach, and within five years the C-Series accounted for three-quarters of all of Gillig sales figures. In 1967, Gillig produced the highest capacity school bus ever produced, the 855-D, which had a passenger capacity of 97 pupils.
In 1969, Herrick-Pacific Steel purchased the company and changed the name to the Gillig Corporation. During the time they built school buses, Gillig earned a reputation for being one of the "safest" buses 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.
In 1977, Gillig decided to branch out into the manufacture of transit buses and teamed up with Neoplan to build a series of European-styled transit buses that had the option of propane fueled engines. However, the partnership with Neoplan lasted only until 1979, and in 1982 Gillig introduced the Phantom, a heavy-duty transit bus based slightly upon their previous round-body school bus platform. A State of California tax-free subsidy helped early sales (though the state's two biggest transit authorities, SCRTD and MUNI), and sales were 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, and is still in production. Production of the Transit Coach School Bus ceased in 1982, but a school bus variation of the Phantom was offered beginning in 1986, but production stopped in 1993 when Gillig exited the school bus market altogether. The Phantom was eventually taken off the market in September 2008, after a successful 26 years of production.
The Spirit, a late-1980s attempt at a medium-duty bus, 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"). Like the Phantom, the Low Floor was first purchased largely by rental car companies for use at their airport facilities, but transit sales increased as the model matured.
Currently, Gillig produces around 1,200 to 1,300 buses a year. 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 Detroit, Columbus, Cincinnati, Denver, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and others. Many universities run Gillig made buses (mostly the Phantom), notable buyers on that front include East Carolina University, Indiana University, University of Michigan, The Ohio State University, 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. Gillig's Low Floor product displaced the longtime incumbent RTS and Nova in the fleet of the Walt Disney World Transportation Company.
In August 2008, Gillig Corporation was purchased by Henry Crown & Co. operating under CC Industries Inc. (CCI), based in Chicago.
Current Models
- Advantage Low Floor
- BRT
- Trolley Replica
All buses are available in 30, 35, and 40 foot models. The trolley replica is not available in 40 foot model.
Past Models
- Transit Coach School Bus (1957-1982) - A long-running series of transit-style school buses that Gillig produced prior to the production of the Phantom.
- Gillig-Neoplan (1977-79) - A Rear-engine design transit bus built as a joint venture with Neoplan, that was available in 30 and 35 foot lengths, and diesel or propane engines.
- Spirit (1989-early 90s)
- Phantom (1980-2008)