citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message blue bird corporation type public traded as nasdaq blbd industry bus manufacturing founded 1932 founder albert l. luce sr. headquarters 402 blue bird blvd p.o. box 937 fort valley ga 31030 area served united states canada over 60 countries worldwide africa asia the caribbean latin america europe middle east 1 key people phil horlock president and ceo products school buses activity buses number of employees 1000 1 parent merrill lynch capital partners 1992 1999 henlys plc 1999 2004 cerberus capital management 2006 2014 still owns 58 % of shares 2 website blue bird.com blue bird corporation originally known as the blue bird body company is an american bus manufacturer headquartered in fort valley georgia . best known for as a manufacturer of school buses the company has also manufactured a wide variety of other bus types including transit buses motorhomes and specialty vehicles such as mobile libraries and mobile police command centers . currently blue bird concentrates its product lineup on school and activity buses and specialty vehicle derivatives . 3 after company founder a.l. luce produced a steel panel school bus in his auto dealership in 1927 he started production of bus bodies exclusively in 1932 founding blue bird body company in fort valley georgia . remaining under family control into the early 1990s the company changed hands several times in the 2000s and became publicly owned in february 2015 with previous owner cerberus capital management holding a 58 % share of the company . contents 1 history 1.1 1927 1945 the change to steel 1.2 1945 1960 post war transition 1.2.1 all american 1.3 1960 1980 moving beyond school buses 1.4 1980 2000 market leadership 1.4.1 environmentally friendly buses 1.4.2 ownership changes and joint ventures 1.5 2000s focus toward school buses 1.6 2010 present next generation school buses 2 products 2.1 school buses 2.2 other vehicles 2.3 prototypes 2.4 company timeline 3 manufacturing and assembly 4 branding 5 images 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit 1927 1945 the change to steel edit blue bird number 1 built on a 1927 ford model tt chassis . donated to the henry ford museum in 2008 . as the second quarter of the 20th century began albert luce sr. was one of the entrepreneurs of the period who transitioned from building wagons to developing some of the earliest purpose built school buses . what is now blue bird corporation began life as a side project in a ford motor company dealership in perry georgia . 4 along with the dealership in perry luce owned the ford franchise in fort valley georgia a rural farming community south of macon . in 1925 luce had sold a customer a ford model t with a wooden bus body ; the customer sought to use the bus to transport his workers . due to a combination of unsatisfactory construction quality of the bus body and the rough conditions of the rural georgia roads the wooden bus body started to disintegrate before the customer had finished paying for the vehicle . 4 5 driven to produce an improved design to sell to his customers luce sought input to develop a stronger bus body capable of surviving unimproved roads . 4 in place of wood luce constructed his bus body from steel and sheetmetal ; wood was used as a secondary material . 5 completed in 1927 the bus was put into use as a school bus . while buses would initially remain a side project for luce with only 9 bus bodies produced between 1929 and 1931 4 the onset of the great depression would make a change in his company forever . following a 95 % decline in car sales in 1931 luce sold both of his ford dealerships using the 12 000 proceeds from the sale to begin his own company concentrating solely on bus production . 4 inspired to begin production in order to support the local economy luce also felt school buses would be a necessary resource as part of the shift towards consolidated schools . 4 6 the early use of farm wagons on a part time basis soon evolved into purpose built school bus products each with economy and function as major priorities . in 1937 the company began production of full steel bus bodies an innovation which soon replaced the wooden bodies which were then in common use around the united states . 6 in a 1939 conference blue bird engineers helped to develop the color school bus yellow which is still in use today . during world war ii bus production was largely diverted to the armed forces with blue bird producing buses and mobile ambulances . due to rationing of steel company engineers were forced to re engineer several body assemblies to minimize use of steel . 4 by the end of the war increased bus production lead blue bird school buses to come into use in many school districts in the southern us outside of georgia . 4 1945 1960 post war transition edit following world war ii the configuration of schools throughout the united states continued to change . in rural communities school districts transitioned away from schoolhouses to centralized schools featuring the graded class structures of urban schools while urban populations moved into suburbs . depending on location the previous practice of walking to school had become increasingly impractical particularly as students progressed into high school . in both rural and suburban school districts the addition of the baby boom generation lead to a new demand for school transportation . near the end of 1945 blue bird would be forced to be rebuild its fort valley factory as it was destroyed by fire . though the building was destroyed a significant amount of equipment was salvaged allowing bus production to resume shortly afterward . 4 in the post war period blue bird would grow substantially becoming one of the larger body manufacturers in the united states . during the late 1950s the leadership of blue bird changed . company founder a.l. luce retired handing over operations to his three sons . 6 all american edit main article blue bird all american blue bird founder albert luce sr. viewed a design for a flat front passenger bus at the 1948 paris auto show . two years later blue bird body company introduced their own transit style design which evolved into the blue bird all american often pointed to as one of the pioneer transit designs to gain widespread acceptance for school buses in north america along with wayne corporation gillig corporation and crown coach corporation whose supercoach dated to 1932 . in 1952 blue bird became the first school bus manufacturer to produce its own chassis rather than rely on outside suppliers for the all american ; today blue bird builds the chassis for every full size bus produced . 7 1960 1980 moving beyond school buses edit main articles wanderlodge micro bird and mini bird 1979 blue bird wanderlodge early 1960s blue bird school bus with a chevrolet c 60 chassis . this bus is being converted to an rv . as the 1950s became the 1960s blue bird grew rapidly becoming the fourth largest manufacturer of school buses . 6 to accommodate the added demand the luce brothers added several production facilities to supplement the fort valley georgia plant . in 1958 blue bird canada was opened in brantford ontario . 8 in 1962 blue bird midwest was opened in mount pleasant iowa . in 1965 blue bird moved production beyond north america with blue bird central america in guatemala . to lower production and maintenance costs while the conventional and all american bodies were produced they were built on locally sourced chassis from mercedes benz hino nissan diesel and toyota . company founder a.l. luce died in 1962 . shortly after the three luce sons sought to diversify the company product line fearing that the school bus industry whose demand was influenced by the baby boom generation would eventually drop off as students completed their education . at the beginning of the decade the blue bird company logo made its debut painted on the roofline of many of its buses . in 1963 the first major blue bird venture outside of school buses made its debut . named the blue bird transit home re branded wanderlodge in 1968 it was a 12 000 92 000 in 2015 dollars luxury recreational vehicle based on the all american . using the heavy duty frame and all steel body to its advantage the vehicle was marketed as higher quality than other rvs of the time ; the interior was largely built to order . based on the all american for over 25 years the wanderlodge developed a loyal following including celebrities and heads of state among their owners . in the 1970s blue bird developed a bus for a much wider audience . named the city bird it was a variant of the all american developed for the mass transit segment . a short wheelbase rear engine bus the city bird was intended for smaller cities and routes with cul de sac ends providing better maneuverability and more efficient costs than larger vehicles . during the 1970s with the use of small school buses increasing blue bird found a way to diversify its school bus line . while school buses based on cutaway vans were not invented by the company blue bird found ways to gain significant market share . in 1975 blue bird introduced the micro bird based on a dual rear wheel chevrolet gmc van chassis . largely similar to the wayne busette the micro bird distinguished itself by featuring a full height school bus door and additional windows forward of the entry door to aid loading zone visibility . in 1977 the small bus lineup was expanded to two with the debut of the mini bird based on the gm p 30 stepvan chassis . while still a small bus in its own right the mini bird was designed with the advantage of the same body width of the conventional all american ; many mini birds were fitted with wheelchair lifts . 1980 2000 market leadership edit 1988 1990 blue bird tc 2000 1995 1998 blue bird ford b800 in brooklyn new york main article blue bird tc 2000 the late 1970s and early 1980s were a time of turmoil for school bus manufacturers ; many of the predictions of the luce brothers had largely come true . as the baby boom generation completed their secondary education by the end of the 1970s student populations a key factor in school bus sales for nearly three decades began to decline . coupled with the fragile economy of the time three of the six largest school bus manufacturers carpenter superior and ward would file for bankruptcy in the early 1980s with superior exiting school bus production entirely . the recession of the early 1980s cut deeply into profits leading to the re organization or closure of several manufacturers . blue bird fared better than most competitors becoming the largest manufacturer in terms of sales ; by the mid 1980s one out of every three new school buses was a blue bird . 6 a key factor to the sales expansion was the renewal of the blue bird product line at the end of the decade . in 1988 the company made two product introductions that would change the company . due to increasing demand the company began in house production of rear engine chassis for the all american for the first time ; previously it was outsourced to other manufacturers . also that year the company expanded the transit style school bus line from one