The GX-2 was a prototype bus built for Greyhound that would eventually be developed into the Scenicruiser. After Greyhound's initial experiences with GX-1, the 50-seat double-decked bus, Greyhound President Orville Caesar decided that the next prototype would be a deck-and-a-half style. This decision resulted in the iconic silhouette of the Scenicruiser. It began in mid-1948 as a 35-foot design, but, in part, to accommodate more passengers, he directed his engineering department, which had obtained from GM a PD-3751, to add five feet in length to the upper deck.
Design
The design, introduced to Greyhound's executives in the fall of 1948, was "a coach with an observation dome following somewhat the general idea of the astrodome cars recently put in service by some of the railroads." Or, as Orville Caesar later summarized, "the observation dome model coach is basically a Silversides coach with a dome and the Model GX-1 front end added." Unlike GX-1, the design patent for GX-2 did not name Raymond Loewy. Albert Boca, the patent holder, was a GM designer, as the 1941 Pontiac, Michigan, city directory reveals. The design patent D160059, submitted and granted in 1950, was assigned to General Motors. The GX-2 was built by Greyhound engineers and mechanics in the Chicago plant of Greyhound Motors & Supply Company with the active cooperation of Raymond Loewy Associates, industrial designers, and the styling section of General Motors Corporation.
Testing
Greyhound, from the GX-1 testing, had determined the value of a dual-engine approach as well as air leveling and shock absorption, so the focus for the GX-2 was on style and function, using a standard coach and increasing its height and length. Constructed during 1948 and early 1949, it was revealed to the public on July 1, 1949, as the Greyhound Scenicruiser. It toured the country for testing and refinements, in addition to encouraging the remaining state legislatures to pass 40-foot bus-length laws, during the following year. By June 1950, it had visited 46 states.
Description
The coach was 40 feet long, eight feet wide and almost 11 feet tall. It weighed 26,100 unloaded and 34,485 loaded. Unlike the future Scenicruiser, the GX-2 had its driving wheels at the very back of the coach. The intermediate tag axle, also called the dead axle, differed in having two wheels instead of four later. The bus seated 10 on the lower deck and 33 on the top deck. One of its most striking design improvements was that the passengers in the rear compartment "... are seated in a raised dome with a wide windshield curved around the entire forward section to give an unobstructed view of the road ahead." The six upper-level skylights provided illumination from the windshield to the rear, which had windows in the roof at the sides in a U-shaped configuration around the top back of the bus. A leather seated lounge provided a table for playing cards. The new bus had many innovative features for the time, including a "... washroom and toilet facilities and a public address system designed both for announcements by the driver and for the playing of tape-recorded music." It even increased both heating and cooling temperatures automatically by four degrees when the headlights were turned on.
Engine
The engine was the GM Diesel 6-71. Mounted transversely at the rear with three rubber mounts, it connected via angle drive to the rear axle through a 4-speed transmission. During the testing time, Greyhound added a two-speed clutch which became part of the original PD-4501 in 1954. The diesel also drove the hydraulic fluid pump, the alternator and a cooling fan. The hydraulic system operated the steering gear, but unlike the 4501 to come, it also worked the brakes and the six windshield wipers. The seven gallons of fluid were pumped at a rate of 11 gallons per minute and generated a maximum pressure of 1500 PSI, with 900 PSI the norm. The muffler was mounted behind the rear bumper and the radiator was on the left rear side.
Final design
After two to three years of testing, Greyhound and GM finalized the design of the Scenicruiser that would enter service in July 1954. GX-2 went into Greyhound service around 1952 with Great Lakes Greyhound Lines, running as G-7483 until around 1957. It was leased to the Ralph Marterie Orchestra for several years, and then sold by Greyhound to Sterling Stages of Warren, Ohio, which used it for charters. They in turn sold it to the Blue Ridge Quartet. From there, it disappeared and the first of the iconic Scenicruisers, the only hand-built example, was most likely scrapped near Nashville, Tennessee.
