issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs attention from an expert in buses . please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article . wikiproject buses or its portal may be able to help recruit an expert . february 2014 this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message carpenter industries inc. carpenter the safest link between home and school . trading name 1919 1937 ralph h. carpenter body company 1937 1990 carpenter body works inc. 1990 1996 carpenter manufacturing co 1996 2001 carpenter industries inc. former type subsidiary industry vehicle manufacturing fate dissolved by parent company founded 1919 founder ralph h. carpenter defunct 2001 headquarters mitchell indiana 1919 1995 richmond indiana 1995 2001 area served north america key people john a. foddrill dr. beurt servaas products school buses transit buses step vans number of employees 700 1997 1 200 2000 2 parent spartan motors 1998 2001 website http crownbycarpenter.com 1999 version archived footnotes references 1 2 2 carpenter body works typically referred to simply as carpenter is a former american bus manufacturer . founded in 1919 in mitchell indiana the company produced a variety of vehicles with the majority of production consisting of yellow school buses for the united states and canada . after remaining a family owned company into the late 1980s carpenter was sold and relocated in 1995 to the former wayne corporation facilities in richmond indiana . in 1998 carpenter was acquired by specialty vehicle manufacturer spartan motors . after struggling to regain lost market share carpenter was closed by spartan in early 2001 . contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 1950s 1980 reconstruction and expansion 1.3 1981 90 financial decline 1.4 1991 2001 struggle for identity 1.4.1 crown by carpenter 1996 99 1.4.2 carpenter 2000 01 1.4.3 carpenter chancellor re 1.5 closure 1.5.1 epilogue body structure concerns 2 products 3 survivors 4 references 5 external links history edit foundation edit carpenter was founded in mitchell indiana in 1919 by ralph h. carpenter a blacksmith by trade . he began his career building hauling wagons for two cement factories located near his southern indiana hometown of bloomington . as his business grew he began to expand into building horse drawn kid hacks with wooden benches to transport children to school . 3 as horse drawn wagons became obsolete he adapted wagon bodies for automobile chassis . carpenter s first true school bus was built in 1923 . a distinguishing feature used by the company was an early form of a school bus stop arm instead of a stop sign a clenched fist with a red painted index finger was used to prop out from the side of the bus . 3 during the late 1920s all wood construction all wood construction was phased out in favor of a combination of wood reinforced by metal ; in 1935 carpenter built its first all steel school bus body . 3 4 in 1937 carpenter officially incorporated as carpenter body works expanding into a larger factory in mitchell in 1939 . 3 in 1941 the company became one of the first publicly owned bus manufacturers . during the world war ii moratorium on private sector vehicle manufacturing carpenter became a bus supplier for the us army and us navy . 3 1950s 1980 reconstruction and expansion edit 1955 carpenter gmc school bus 1970s carpenter chevrolet conventional in use as a campaign bus in may 1947 the carpenter factory in mitchell indiana was heavily damaged by a fire in the paint shop . 3 in 1954 carpenter produced its first transit style forward control bus . similar to designs from blue bird and wayne the company used marmon herrington as its chassis supplier . 3 as with other manufacturers carpenter conventional style buses in the early 1950s were available on a variety of chassis including chevrolet gmc ford dodge international harvester mack reo diamond t studebaker and white . in march 1956 the carpenter factory was again struck by fire starting on the body fitment station . causing nearly 750 000 in damage much of the factory was destroyed except for the warehouse upholstery shop and paint shop ; approximately two dozen buses were driven away from the fire to safety . 3 with the help of factory workers the factory was rebuilt and expanded in just 89 days . during the reconstruction some workers worked without pay until later compensated . following the 1963 death of ralph carpenter at age 85 leadership of the company transferred to his son in law john a. foddrill . 3 to the end of the 1960s carpenter continued to produce its school bus product line as it had since the 1920s every vehicle was essentially built one at time without an assembly line and essentially to order . although one of one of the larger school bus manufacturers carpenter allowed for a great deal of specialization and available options for a purchaser . 3 in 1969 carpenter became one of the first manufacturers to offer a downsized school bus 25 30 passengers for smaller scale operators . 3 based on the general motors p chassis the carpenter cadet cv utilized the roof and the body of the conventional body carpenter from the entry door rearward . from the drivers seat forward the cadet was designed similar to the gm stepvan . the cadet would spawn a number of similar designs from other manufacturers remaining in production for 29 years . in 1970 carpenter upgraded its transit style school buses with the introduction of the corsair ; the marmon herrington chassis was replaced by a hendrickson chassis . 3 in addition a distinguishing feature of the corsair was its wraparound curved fishbowl windshield . along with the forward control corsair an all new rear engine model made its debut . in 1970 parts of the factory were expanded further ; under a company objective management sought to source nearly all materials for the construction within indiana only carpet had to be sourced out of state 3 during much of 1978 production at the mitchell indiana facility was halted by a 6 month long labor strike lasting from february to august . 3 1981 90 financial decline edit a cbw 300 transit style bus built in 1984 an early 1990s carpenter classic conventional school bus with ford chassis . as the 1970s turned into the 1980s a critical factor affecting school bus manufacturing was declining student populations ; the baby boomer generation that had attended schools for the past 25 years were now on the verge of all completing their secondary education . overcapacity and lowered demand in the bus manufacturing industry was coupled with the unstable economy of the time . the company unsuccessfully attempted to diversify into the small transit bus market . in 1981 carpenter made its first move in expanding beyond its mitchell indiana home . after securing over 1 million in loans the company opened a machine shop in north vernon indiana . citation needed in addition in moving into the mass transit market carpenter introduced the cbw range . a rear engine mass transit bus designed in 30 and 35 feet lengths large orders for the cbw were received from the southern california rapid transit district los angeles the chicago transit authority and new orleans rta . 5 in 1983 the forward control version of the corsair was replaced by a far more modern cavalier . based on an international harvester chassis the cavalier improved driver usability and ergonomics over its predecessor . as it was sold in limited numbers the rear engine corsair remained in production . in 1984 the carpenter conventional now called the classic received its most extensive updates in nearly 20 years . citation needed after fewer than 150 buses were sold sales of the cbw mass transit line were discontinued in that year . 5 in 1985 the company opened a chassis manufacturing plant in seymour indiana although the plant would close within a year . 3 in an expansion of the model line carpenter became one of the last major manufacturers alongside ward amtran to introduce a school bus based on a cutaway van as it introduced the clipper in 1985 . the clipper was a dual rear wheel design sold primarily on a chevrolet gmc chassis . in 1988 due to escalating costs the north vernon machine shop was closed down . 3 in 1989 the cavalier was replaced by the counselor as the international harvester chassis was replaced by a gmc chassis . for the last time the rear engine corsair was produced . in december 1989 with nearly 14 million in unpaid debt carpenter body works was forced to declare chapter 11 bankruptcy . 3 in 1990 indianapolis based businessman dr. beurt servaas formed a holding company cbw inc to acquire carpenter body works . although the company board consisting primarily of the foddrill family and supporters were in favor of the acquisition the united auto workers labor force rejected the proposal due to massive labor concessions ; it would take two weeks for an agreement to take place . 3 1991 2001 struggle for identity edit 1990 crown supercoach series ii a body design acquired by carpenter in 1991 1994 1995 carpenter classic with an international 3800 chassis as it entered the 1990s carpenter was no longer a family owned company transitioning into the leadership formed by dr. servaas . during the acquisition the product line was called the cadillac of school buses ; 3 as such the company had high hopes for the future based on its moves early in the 1990s . in may 1991 carpenter purchased the tooling product rights and intellectual property of crown coach a california based manufacturer that had closed its doors two months prior . 3 the original intent of the company was to restart production of the crown supercoach series ii under the carpenter name but the complexity of its unibody construction proved too expensive for mass production the purchase price of the original series ii was over 125 000 in 1990 nearly twice as high as a competitive blue bird or thomas . introduced in 1989 the series ii had been the most updated bus from crown coach in 40 years . while carpenter would have to shelve the supercoach ii as a whole it did not go unnoticed . a number of elements were carried over for the bus that was brought to market in its place . introduced for 1992 the carpenter coach re rear engine also served as the replacement for the long running corsair . far more modern than its predecessor the coach marked the first use of spartan motors chassis in a school bus and the beginning of the relationship between carpenter and spartan motors . a minor change was added as the clipper was renamed the classmate . in 1994 after failing to meet expectations the coach was replaced by a rear engined version of the counselor while retaining a spartan motors chassis . in a joint venture carpenter expanded its cutaway van model line by distributing single rear wheel buses manufactured by quebec based manufacturer les enterprises michel corbeil badged as both carpenter and corbeil vehicles . crown by carpenter 1996 99 edit crown by carpenter conventional crown by carpenter business logo as part of the 1991 purchase of the crown coach intellectual property carpenter inherited the rights to the crown brand name . while the crown influenced coach re was not a success its production lasting from 1992 to 1993 carpenter used the crown