Wayne Lifestar
| Wayne Lifestar | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer |
Wayne Corporation Wayne Wheeled Vehicles |
| Also called | Welles Lifestar (Canada) |
| Production | 1986–1995 |
| Assembly |
Richmond, Indiana (1986–1992) Marysville, Ohio (1992–1995) |
| Designer | Wayne Corporation |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Type D |
| Body style | school bus |
| Layout | front-engine 4×2 |
| Related | Wayne Lifeguard |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | Diesel |
| Transmission | Automatic |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Wayne RE |
| Successor | Wayne RD-9000 (prototype only) |
The Wayne Lifestar is a school bus that was manufactured and marketed by Wayne Corporation and its successor company Wayne Wheeled Vehicles from 1986 to 1995. Based on a front-engine transit-style body configuration, the Lifestar was the first transit-style school bus produced by Wayne in over 10 years and the first front-engine example in several decades.
From 1986 to 1992, the Lifestar was produced in Richmond, Indiana. Following the formation of Wayne Wheeled Vehicles, production was shifted to Marysville, Ohio.
In the late 1960s, Wayne Corporation produced a rear-engine transit-style school bus similar to other major school bus manufacturers. As Wayne did not have the manufacturing equipment or capacity to build the chassis in-house, it sourced its rear-engine chassis from Chevrolet. When General Motors discontiuned its Chevrolet/GMC rear-engine bus chassis production in 1973, Wayne was forced to end production of its transit-style school bus in favor of the Lifeguard conventional introduced that year. Beyond 1973, all transit-style buses from Wayne became special-order vehicles for military and GSA (federal government) purchases with chassis outsourced from other manufacturers; the transit-style buses were too expensive to produce at a competitive price as a school bus.
As the 1970s became the 1980s, the school bus industry was in a period of relative turmoil: along with the struggling economy, fewer Americans were school-age than in years past. Innovation and low cost were key to attracting school bus orders. To do so, Wayne Corporation was necessitated to develop a transit-style school bus that could be sold at a lower purchase price; for larger fleets, their higher capacity theoretically allowed for fewer buses per students transported. Named Lifestar, the new vehicle would feature the continuous longitudinal interior and exterior panels of the Lifeguard for the sides and roof, both for safety and for parts commonality.
Identification of an appropriate chassis design from an outside supplier to meet engineering, volume, and cost considerations was essential to the project and the future of Lifestar. In the prototype stage, Wayne developed both front- and rear-engine versions of the Lifestar, as the majority of manufacturers (with the exception of Ward, Crown Coach, and Gillig) offered both configurations.
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