Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company

John D. Hertz and associates began acquiring smaller Chicago-area companies involved in bus-building in 1922,[1] and soon assembled a manufacturing site covering four square blocks.

[2] George J. Rackham, whose career had commenced with the London General Omnibus Company after the First World War, spent the years 1922–1926 in the U.S., and recognised the advantage of low swept chassis frame for bus development while employed by Yellow.

In 1926, he returned to England to join Leyland Motors as Chief Engineer and was responsible for the groundbreaking Titan and Tiger models.

[6] In the 1930s, Yellow Coach produced best-selling models for the rapidly expanding urban transit and intercity bus businesses.

[6] For Greyhound Lines, the largest operator of intercity bus service, Yellow Coach developed distinctive streamlined models which introduced a high floor, underfloor luggage storage, a flat front, air conditioning, and a diesel engine, supplying more than 1,250 buses during Greyhounds' years of fastest growth.

Initially four types were offered: All were conventional front-engine design vehicles powered by Yellow Knight I4 sleeve-valve gasoline engines, or a General Electric gas-electric hybrid unless noted otherwise.

[12] In 1931, Yellow Coach introduced its 700 series buses, featuring one of the first bus designs to mount the engine in the rear.

In 1934, Dwight Austin, patent-holder on an innovative rear-drive system, was hired by Yellow Coach and soon developed new models in the 700-series with transverse engines and a “V” angle drive.

The V-drive and other innovations introduced in the 700 series would become long-lasting standards: air conditioning, diesel engines, a flat front, a high passenger floor (with luggage beneath), and unibody construction.

For Greyhound Lines, an operator of intercity bus service, Yellow Coach developed model 719 in 1936 which introduced the high floor, underfloor luggage storage, a flat front and streamlined styling.

The new model designations indicated type, fuel, propulsion (for transit) or customer (for parlor), seating capacity, and version number.