Ford B series

The Ford B series is a bus chassis that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Produced across six generations from 1948 to 1998, the B series was a variant of the medium-duty Ford F series. As a cowled-chassis design, the B series was a bare chassis aft of the firewall, intended for bodywork from a second-stage manufacturer. While primarily used for school bus applications in the United States and Canada, the chassis was exported worldwide to manufacturers to construct bus bodies for various uses.

Ford B series
Sixth-generation Ford B-series (1985–1994 Ford B700 with Thomas Saf-T-Liner conventional body)
Overview
ManufacturerFord
Also calledMercury MB series (1948–1968)
Blue Bird B-Series (Conventional Chassis from Blue Bird)
Production1948–1998
Body and chassis
ClassClass 6 (medium duty)
Layout4x2
Body style(s)
  • Cowled chassis
    • school bus
    • commercial bus
RelatedFord F-Series (medium duty)
Chronology
Predecessor1941 Ford truck chassis
SuccessorBlue Bird Vision (indirect)

Prior to 1969, Lincoln-Mercury dealers in Canada marketed the B series as part of the Mercury M-series truck line. At the time, rural Canadian communities were serviced by either a Ford or a Lincoln-Mercury dealer network, but not both networks concurrently.

Coinciding with the late 1996 sale of the Louisville/AeroMax heavy-truck line to Sterling Trucks, Ford phased out the medium-duty F series and the B series following the 1998 model year. For 2000, Ford re-entered the medium-duty segment with the F-650/F-750 Super Duty. As of the 2019 model year, Ford has not developed a cowled-chassis derivative of the F series, instead concentrating on cutaway chassis vehicles. In the cowled-chassis segment, the role and market share of the B series was largely superseded by the Blue Bird Vision (introduced in late 2000's).

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