I was astounded that you seemed to work up quite a sweat swinging that gear shift in sweeping turns, while double-clutching, looking both ways, and making those turns! I was so worn out watching that I had to get a beer!

Ah, the memories. Our district had a collecton of 16 Gilligs of various sizes and age back in the '50s. The first one that served my area was probably '48 or '49 as I began 5th grade in '52. It was a long one, the route very hilly, and she broke down at least once a month. Our driver has some mechanical abilities and always managed to get us back on the road. When staying after school for sports or other activities, I could catch another bus, which was the much older brother on the one in your video, driven by a midlde-aged gal who brooked no trouble. That bus had manual doors, and she was so pleased when in 1953 she was assigned a brand-new bus - same model, with air doors. The oldest bus in the fleet was so old that it lacked electronic turn signals and turns were indicated by metal arrows in front and back that the driver cranked into the 7:00 position for slow, 9:00 for left turn, and 11:00 for right turn.

Offering rides on your bus is wholesome.

I'm 41 and I remember riding in a '60s diesel Gillig with a manual as a kid, late 80s/ealy 90s. Those busses were built to last generations, and they did! I wanted one then, and I still do.

This bus is awesome!

Finally, somebody who can drive a manual bus without slipping the clutch on take off.

I love this bus! I drove a similar one back in the 70s - one row shorter and had a manual door - but it did have power steering. That district also had a couple from '59 or '60 that had the quad headlights and a 534 Ford V8 for power.

Work Ed in High School worked in the bus garage and paint shop. Our Gillig's had either the Mid Engine 6 Cylinder Hall Scott gas, or Rear Engine 180 or 190 Cummins. The newest of them had 3208 Cat rear engine.

I enjoyed watching this - my school district in Washington state was still operating a couple 1957 gas powered Gilligs well into the early 90s when I was growing up. Eventually, replaced by a Crown Supercoach and a Thomas Built RE.

Love this! Thanks for sharing. And good job to the cameraperson for being in a strategic position where we can see both the road and the driver in full action.

Thanks for the ride and the background info.

Nice driving

That’s cool man

I have visited bernie areas before would be fun to go for a ride on the bus

Imagine if one day these kids can ride this bus from home to school.. and from school to home during the school year

impressive !!!!!!!!

The school district I grew up only had one Gillig 1974 with a Cat 3208 diesel. And most of the buses in the fleet were Blue Birds and Superiors with GMC V6 Engines in the 70s and in the 80s bought Blue Bird All American Diesels.

Wow the year my 66 year old grandma was born WOW!

great looking bus love that bus

Awesome old Gillig!

I rode in this type of School Bus back in California when I was 4 years old.

I would love to drive this bus

This is the first bus of its kind I've seen with a floor shift. The GMC Greyhound I saw in another video had a column shifted 4 speed. Also, since you double-clutched each shift, I'm assuming there's no synchromesh in this transmission? This is a cool bus.

Double clutching at its best

Rode on this bus in elementary

Cool bus

Hey. I know you are in California, but the City of Cape Girardeau, MO could use a great guy like you. When this bus was built, just about all the over-the-road bus companies had their buses come equipped with manual transmissions. I wish I had this guy's email so that the city of Cape could see about landing you a new job in creating a Kirkwood-Cape bus service.

I enjoyed this video and this bus I guess will make it more than new ones do

So I have a question, I recently became the owner of a ‘55 Gillig bus and was curious where you get parts from?

The sound is very similar to Dodge WC cars

Can you send me a close up picture of the gauges?? Love you're bus especially the steering wheel

What is the little handle sticking off the side of the gear selector rod for?

Wow. I wonder did that bus ever have a black kid on there. That’s a lot of history on that bus. Nice one also!!

Pusher configuration much less noisy for the driver. Any problems with a privately-owned RV painted school-bus yellow ?

Hey. I was thinking of buying one of these. It’s been converted into a living space. Are these decent buses? Thanks.

I have a similar chassis (70 GMC 401 V6, 5 AND TWO. what is the max rpm with the International? Top speed?

Taking the seats to school

Dd2 brake system, air disc?

Is double clutch actually needed? What if you just held the clutch rather then release then reapply?

Is that school bus still used to transport students

I think it would have been better if you had taken the bus out of town so we could enjoy a longer ride ,and gotten the thing into high gear.

Sir vintage school bus again would you drive to california. I have no car

that bus is so old

It's got Armstrong Power Steering

detroid diesel engine

It’s a shame the Democrats in California want to scrap these buses. Such a waste and a shame. They don’t make them like they used to. I wished these buses were produced in the rest of the US. Many would probably still be on the road today