Actually these buses were FRONT wheel drive despite having twin tyred rear axles. They were very light on the handlebars and the drivers hated them.
The GMC PD-4501 (Parlour / Diesel / 45 seats / Type 01) was a concept long distance bus, 40 feet long and 8 feet wide designed by Greyhound and built by GMC, 1,000 being built between 1954 and 1956. It was designed to be Greyhound's iconic flagship but it became a GMC embarrassment as it transpired to be (as Greyhound phrased it) a crock of $#!+.
Two different prototype ideas had been built ... the GX-1 and the GX-2 (Greyhound e
Xperimental 1 and 2) and it was decided to follow the GX-2 design. An initial plan for 2,000 "Scenicruisers" (as they were to be known) was reduced to an order of 1,000 after GMC announced that they could not supply a V8 two stroke diesel engine for it and instead offered twin 4 cylinder 4.7 litre engines. GMC had also raised the price of each bus from $24,000 to $49.000 both of which Greyhound were displeased with.
Two 4-cylinder two stroke diesels were mounted side by side at the extreme rear coupled to a single manual gearbox with electric clutch and strangely drove the front wheels only despite the rear axles having twin wheels. The suspension was air cushion but the ride was rough due to the electric clutch which was either in or out with no in between. Engine failures were frequent but could limp home on one engine so long as the exhaust on the dead engine was blocked to avoid dirt ingress via suction from the still driven crankshaft. Greyhound sued GMC as within 5 to 6 years most were out of service pending serious repairs. GMC by now had a V8 to offer and these were retro fitted to create the "Super Scenicruisers" all being released for service by 1961 ... but the problems didn't end, the bodies were starting to crack at stress points around the windows neccesitating steel plates being rivetted on to strengthen them. At the same time, the aluminium fluted panels were removed as they were hiding serious body rot.
The most iconic bus of all time was in reality a disaster with most giving barely 15 years service. They were all finally retired in 1975.
The GX1 idea prototype (driver sat upstairs)
![GX-1-760x467.jpg](./download/file.php?id=38149&sid=a21ab63d5342f7f1b789d770673e306d)
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The GX2 idea prototype (this idea was chosen though the production Scenicruiser was altered in many ways. This saw service with the 1000 production examples)
![78e66df0224a7322cb3b7ae30c2914e0.jpg](./download/file.php?id=38150&sid=a21ab63d5342f7f1b789d770673e306d)
- 78e66df0224a7322cb3b7ae30c2914e0.jpg (63.53 KiB) Viewed 6786 times
There were many companies jumping on the deck and a half bandwagon but the the most blatant copy must be the Beck DH 1040. The Beck Bus Company cloned many GM buses and the Scenicruiser was no exception. GM didn't sue Beck on copyright grounds probably because they were already losing a case against Greyhound on the disappointing quality of their own Scenicruisers. Besides, only a dozen Beck DH 1040 Scenicruisers were made ... almost exact replicas apart from the giveaway detail of twin headlights.
![beck.jpg](./download/file.php?id=38152&sid=a21ab63d5342f7f1b789d770673e306d)
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