Ward Body Works

Ward Body Works

250px|A logo used on the side of Ward buses until 1986.
Company type	Family-owned
Industry	Transportation
Founded	1933
Founder	D.H. Ward
Defunct	1980 Ward brand operated by successor AmTran from 1980-1992.
Fate	Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Re-organized as American Transportation Corporation
Successor	American Transportation Corporation (AmTran)
Headquarters	Conway, Arkansas
Number of locations	2 (Conway, Arkansas and Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania)
Area served	North America
Products	School Buses Commercial Buses

Ward Body Works (also known as Ward Industries and Ward School Bus Manufacturing, Inc.) was a manufacturer specializing in school buses based in Conway, Arkansas. Ward filed for bankruptcy in 1980, and its successor, AmTran continued the use of the Ward brand on its school buses until 1992.

History

D. H. "Dave" Ward founded Ward Body Works in Conway, Arkansas in 1933 when he "lowered the roof of a wooden bus for Mr. Carl Brady of the Southside Schools". Southside Schools were located about 15 miles north of Conway..

In the 1930s, Ward Body Works produced its first all-metal body bus. In the 1960s, Ward School Bus Manufacturing, Inc. was responsible for many notable innovations including use of computers in manufacturing (using IBM 360s), safety advances, and manufacturing process improvements. In the 1970s, Ward opened an assembly facility in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, but this plant was closed in 1975. In 1976, Ward built a prototype Type D transit school and commercial bus on an International Harvester chassis with front-wheel drive and tandem rear tag axles. It did not enter production.

Products

GMC B-series school bus on a Ward Volunteer body

Type A

• Vanguard on Ford/General Motors chassis

Type B

• Coachette on General Motors P30 chassis

Type C

• Patriot on General Motors chassis
• Volunteer on various chassis
  • Dodge D-300
  • Chevrolet/GMC B-Series
  • Ford B700/B800/B8000
  • International Harvester Loadstar/S-Series "Schoolmaster"
  • Navistar International 3700/3800

Type D

• President on various chassis
  • International Harvester 1853FC
  • General Motors S-7
  • Asia-Smith Motors forward-control chassis
• Senator on Navistar International 3900 chassis

See Also

• AmTran - direct successor
• IC Bus - successor to AmTran

References

• http://thecabin.net/news/local/2009-11-07/ward-had-idea-and-ran-it -Article with information about Ward Body Works foundation.
• http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Arkansas'+'auto'+plant+still+going+strong+after+75+years.-a0181301714 - Article with facts related to Ward bankruptcy filing