Ford B-Series
| Ford B-Series | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Ford |
| Also called | Mercury MB-Series (1948–1968) |
| Production | 1948–1998 |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Type C (conventional) |
| Layout | 4x2 |
| Body style(s) |
Cowled chassis
|
| Related | Ford F-Series (medium-duty trucks) |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine(s) | Gasoline Diesel |
| Transmission(s) | Manual Automatic |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | 1941 Ford truck chassis |
| Successor | none |
Cowled chassis
The Ford B-Series is a bus chassis that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company from 1948 to 1998. Derived from the medium-duty variants of the Ford F-Series, the B-Series were produced as a cowled chassis; the design was a bare chassis aft of the firewall. While primarily used for school bus applications in the United States and Canada, the chassis was exported worldwide for to construct a wide variety of bus bodies.
Prior to 1969, Lincoln-Mercury dealers in Canada marketed the B-Series as part of the Mercury M-Series truck line. At the time, rural communities in Canada were serviced by either the Ford or the Lincoln-Mercury dealer network, but not both networks concurrently.
As part of the late 1996 sale of the Louisville/AeroMax heavy-truck line to Freightliner, the medium-duty F-Series and B-Series were phased out of production following the 1998 model year. While Ford would re-enter the medium-duty segment with the F-650/F-750 Super Duty for 2000, as of 2016, it has not produced another cowled bus chassis. Currently, Ford bus production is concentrated on cutaway chassis vehicles. In the cowled-chassis segment, the role and market share of the Ford B-Series was largely superseded by the Freightliner FS-65, introduced in late 1997.
In 1948, Ford introduced the B-Series (B=bus) as part of the all-new Ford F-Series truck line, with the B-Series being cowled-chassis variants of the F-5 and F-6 (1 ½ and 2-ton) medium-duty conventionals. In 1953, alongside all Ford trucks, the B-Series shifted to a 3-digit model nomenclature that remains in use by Ford today, with Ford selling the B-600, B-700, and B-800 (as they entered production, diesel-powered versions were badged with an extra "0").
For its entire 50-year production run, the B-Series paralleled the medium-duty F-Series in its development. Before 1967, the body design of medium-duty F-Series was largely shared with the F-Series pickup trucks, after which Ford gave its larger trucks wider front axles and bodywork. Following this, the B-Series was redesigned in 1980, with a minor update in 1995.
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