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Flxible
The Flxible Co. (pronounced "flexible") was an American manufacturer of motorcycle sidecars, funeral cars, ambulances, intercity coaches and transit buses, based in the U.S. state of Ohio. It was founded in 1913 and closed in 1996. The company's production transitioned from highway coaches and other products to transit buses over the period 1953–1970, and during the years that followed, Flxible was one of the largest transit-bus manufacturers in North America.
In 1913, Hugo H. Young and Carl F. Dudte founded the Flexible Side Car Company in Mansfield, Ohio, to manufacture motorcycle sidecars with a flexible mounting to the motorcycle that was designed by Young while he was owning and operating a Harley-Davidson dealership. The flexible mounting allowed the sidecar to lean on corners along with the motorcycle. With growing demand and financial assistance (and leadership) from Charles F. Kettering, a larger plant was opened in Loudonville, Ohio. In 1919, the company dropped the first "E" in "flexible" and changed its name to The Flxible Company so the name could be trademarked.
After low-priced automobiles became available in the 1920s, the market for motorcycle sidecars dropped off and Flxible turned to other markets. Their first bus was 12-passenger Studebaker-chassis sedan, which was delivered to E.L. Harter in 1924. Harter operated a passenger line that ran from Ashland, Ohio to Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Herter purchased a second bus in April of 1925. Flxible also built Hearses and ambulancess, primarily based on Buick chassis. Ambulance and hearse production ceased in 1964.
Charles Kettering, a Loudonville, Ohio native and vice president of General Motors, was closely associated with Flxible for almost the entire first half of the company's existence. In 1914, Flxible was incorporated with the help of Kettering, who then became president of the company and joined the board of directors. Kettering provided significant funding for the company in its early years, particularly after 1916, when he sold his firm, the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), to GM for $2.5 million. Kettering continued to serve as president of Flxible, until he became chairman of the board in 1940, a position he held until his death in 1958.
After selling Delco to GM in 1916, Kettering organized and ran a research laboratory at GM and, by the 1950s, held the position of vice president at GM. As a result of Kettering's close relationship with both GM and Flxible, many GM parts were used in the production of Flxible vehicles, particularly prior to GM's 1943 purchase of Yellow Coach, a competing bus manufacturer, of which GM had been a majority owner since 1925. For example, most Flxible ambulances, hearses and buses, from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s, were built on Buick chassis, and Flxible's "Airway" model buses of the mid-1930s were built on a Chevrolet chassis.
In 1958, as a result of the consent decree from the 1956 anti-trust case, United States v. General Motors Corp., GM was mandated to sell their bus components, engines, and transmissions to other manufacturers, free of royalties. However, in the early 1950s and prior to the consent decree, Flxible built a small number of buses with GM diesel engines while Kettering still served on the board. It has been postulated that GM may have made its diesel engines available to Flxible to reduce the criticisms of GM's business practices that some felt were monopolistic. The same has been said about GM's decision in the 1960s and 1970s not to produce a 35 ft (11 m) "New Look" transit bus with an 8-cylinder engine. However, it is also possible that GM chose not to enter that market because the potential sales did not warrant the added costs of engineering and production. Another result of the consent decree, which was not settled in its entirety until 1965, was that GM was barred from having any of its officers or directors serve as an officer or director for any other bus manufacturing company. That provision would have applied to Kettering, had he not died in 1958.
In 1953, Flxible absorbed the bus-manufacturing portion of the Fageol Twin Coach Company, and accepted its first order for transit buses from the Chicago Transit Authority. In 1964, Flxible purchased Southern Coach Manufacturing Co. of Evergreen, Alabama, and built small transit buses at the former Southern Coach factory until 1976. Flxible was purchased by Rohr Industries in 1970, and a new factory and corporate headquarters were built in Delaware, Ohio, in 1974, with the original factory in Loudonville, Ohio, being used to manufacture parts and sub-assemblies. Flxible was sold to Grumman Corporation in 1978 and became known as Grumman Flxible. The name reverted to Flxible when Grumman sold the company in 1983 to General Automotive Corporation. In 1996, Flxible declared bankruptcy and its assets were auctioned. The last Flxible vehicles were produced in 1995.
In the mid-1980s, several Grumman 870 buses operated by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) developed cracks in their A-shaped underframes. This prompted NYCTA President David Gunn to remove the entire fleet from service. Soon, several other companies reported cracked 870 "A" frames. However, the frame issues primarily affected NYCTA 870s and not the 870s owned by the franchisees of the New York City Department of Transportation, which were the first buses built with the problem rectified the following year. NYCTA attempted to get the remainder of its pending order for new buses transferred to GM, but was barred from doing so unless they could prove that the 870s were flawed and unsafe. The buses were eventually returned to Flxible, and were rebuilt and resold to Queen City Metro and New Jersey Transit. Grumman blamed the problems with the NYCTA 870s on NYCTA's poor maintenance practices at the time, despite the fact that transit operations in Chicago, Connecticut Transit, Houston, Los Angeles and Orange County, California had also reported problems with their 870s. Regardless, NYCTA ordered fifty Metros in 1995, but Flxible closed its doors before the order was produced, and NYCTA obtained the remaining new buses from Orion instead.
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Flxible
The Flxible Co. (pronounced "flexible") was an American manufacturer of motorcycle sidecars, funeral cars, ambulances, intercity coaches and transit buses, based in the U.S. state of Ohio. It was founded in 1913 and closed in 1996. The company's production transitioned from highway coaches and other products to transit buses over the period 1953–1970, and during the years that followed, Flxible was one of the largest transit-bus manufacturers in North America.
In 1913, Hugo H. Young and Carl F. Dudte founded the Flexible Side Car Company in Mansfield, Ohio, to manufacture motorcycle sidecars with a flexible mounting to the motorcycle that was designed by Young while he was owning and operating a Harley-Davidson dealership. The flexible mounting allowed the sidecar to lean on corners along with the motorcycle. With growing demand and financial assistance (and leadership) from Charles F. Kettering, a larger plant was opened in Loudonville, Ohio. In 1919, the company dropped the first "E" in "flexible" and changed its name to The Flxible Company so the name could be trademarked.
After low-priced automobiles became available in the 1920s, the market for motorcycle sidecars dropped off and Flxible turned to other markets. Their first bus was 12-passenger Studebaker-chassis sedan, which was delivered to E.L. Harter in 1924. Harter operated a passenger line that ran from Ashland, Ohio to Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Herter purchased a second bus in April of 1925. Flxible also built Hearses and ambulancess, primarily based on Buick chassis. Ambulance and hearse production ceased in 1964.
Charles Kettering, a Loudonville, Ohio native and vice president of General Motors, was closely associated with Flxible for almost the entire first half of the company's existence. In 1914, Flxible was incorporated with the help of Kettering, who then became president of the company and joined the board of directors. Kettering provided significant funding for the company in its early years, particularly after 1916, when he sold his firm, the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), to GM for $2.5 million. Kettering continued to serve as president of Flxible, until he became chairman of the board in 1940, a position he held until his death in 1958.
After selling Delco to GM in 1916, Kettering organized and ran a research laboratory at GM and, by the 1950s, held the position of vice president at GM. As a result of Kettering's close relationship with both GM and Flxible, many GM parts were used in the production of Flxible vehicles, particularly prior to GM's 1943 purchase of Yellow Coach, a competing bus manufacturer, of which GM had been a majority owner since 1925. For example, most Flxible ambulances, hearses and buses, from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s, were built on Buick chassis, and Flxible's "Airway" model buses of the mid-1930s were built on a Chevrolet chassis.
In 1958, as a result of the consent decree from the 1956 anti-trust case, United States v. General Motors Corp., GM was mandated to sell their bus components, engines, and transmissions to other manufacturers, free of royalties. However, in the early 1950s and prior to the consent decree, Flxible built a small number of buses with GM diesel engines while Kettering still served on the board. It has been postulated that GM may have made its diesel engines available to Flxible to reduce the criticisms of GM's business practices that some felt were monopolistic. The same has been said about GM's decision in the 1960s and 1970s not to produce a 35 ft (11 m) "New Look" transit bus with an 8-cylinder engine. However, it is also possible that GM chose not to enter that market because the potential sales did not warrant the added costs of engineering and production. Another result of the consent decree, which was not settled in its entirety until 1965, was that GM was barred from having any of its officers or directors serve as an officer or director for any other bus manufacturing company. That provision would have applied to Kettering, had he not died in 1958.
In 1953, Flxible absorbed the bus-manufacturing portion of the Fageol Twin Coach Company, and accepted its first order for transit buses from the Chicago Transit Authority. In 1964, Flxible purchased Southern Coach Manufacturing Co. of Evergreen, Alabama, and built small transit buses at the former Southern Coach factory until 1976. Flxible was purchased by Rohr Industries in 1970, and a new factory and corporate headquarters were built in Delaware, Ohio, in 1974, with the original factory in Loudonville, Ohio, being used to manufacture parts and sub-assemblies. Flxible was sold to Grumman Corporation in 1978 and became known as Grumman Flxible. The name reverted to Flxible when Grumman sold the company in 1983 to General Automotive Corporation. In 1996, Flxible declared bankruptcy and its assets were auctioned. The last Flxible vehicles were produced in 1995.
In the mid-1980s, several Grumman 870 buses operated by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) developed cracks in their A-shaped underframes. This prompted NYCTA President David Gunn to remove the entire fleet from service. Soon, several other companies reported cracked 870 "A" frames. However, the frame issues primarily affected NYCTA 870s and not the 870s owned by the franchisees of the New York City Department of Transportation, which were the first buses built with the problem rectified the following year. NYCTA attempted to get the remainder of its pending order for new buses transferred to GM, but was barred from doing so unless they could prove that the 870s were flawed and unsafe. The buses were eventually returned to Flxible, and were rebuilt and resold to Queen City Metro and New Jersey Transit. Grumman blamed the problems with the NYCTA 870s on NYCTA's poor maintenance practices at the time, despite the fact that transit operations in Chicago, Connecticut Transit, Houston, Los Angeles and Orange County, California had also reported problems with their 870s. Regardless, NYCTA ordered fifty Metros in 1995, but Flxible closed its doors before the order was produced, and NYCTA obtained the remaining new buses from Orion instead.
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