Cutaway van chassis

Busette, developed by Wayne Corporation in 1972, was the first successful small school bus to be based on a cutaway van chassis with dual rear wheels.

By the early 1980s, all five of the major school bus body companies in the United States had developed competing products built on the cutaway van chassis.

The body ends immediately behind the driver and front passenger seats, and is usually covered by temporary plywood or heavy cardboard material for shipment to the various second stage manufacturers.

Second stage manufacturers, known in the industry as "body-builders," build such products as bus and truck bodies, motor homes, and other specialized vehicles.

Many cutaway chassis are equipped with dual rear wheels and can handle greater weight loads than the basic vans upon which they were based.

[2] Many of these models have access between the driver and the patient care area, which for some applications, is a favorable feature over a full cab chassis with a modular box.

Seeking to expand product offerings, several recreational vehicle manufacturers, notably Champion, ElDorado National, Turtletop, and others also developed minibus models using cutaway van chassis and body construction similar to their motor homes.

Wheelchair accessible minibuses can also be used for paratransit type services, by local authorities, transit operators, hospitals or charities.

They featured a size and weight capacity similar to the earlier step van model trucks and more of an automobile style cab area.

They are often (but not necessarily) characterized by a distinctive "cab-over" profile, the portion of the coach over the cab containing a bed or an "entertainment" section.