gmc5105

Very nice picture of one of the Gm Fishbowls also called newlook owned and operated by the Cincinnati Transit Historical Association. This particular Fishbowl or "Dreamliner" as they were called in Cincinnati, is a 1975 TDH 5307A that was operated by the Central Ohio Transit Authority from 1975 till 1998 when it was donated to the CTHA. It is powered by a 6V71N Detroit Diesel with a VH9 Allison automatic 2 speed transmission. The Fishbowl next to it is a 1981 Canadian built T8H5307A, ordered and operated by the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky until donated to the CTHA in 2002. It is powered by an 8V71 Detroit Diesel with a V730 Allison 5 speed auto tranmission. I to would love to see any model maker produce any one of the newlook or for that matter oldlook coaches that were built by GM. There were about 60,000 of these two types produced from the end of WWII to 1985.

That bus is a Flxible newlook which during the late 60"s til the advent of the Flx ADB in 1977 was GM'S major competition during this period. All the glass was flat all the way around and the body was a very simular in looks to a fishbowl. Flx became competitive in the transit market when GM had to sell it's engine and tranmissions to other builders due to a monopoly law suit. The Flx was a decent bus but did not stand up as well in heavy duty transit service as a fishbowl. Flx's main problem was frame breakage. I put many miles behind the wheel of both the Flx and a "dreamliner" and I'd take the "dreamliner' any day, even though our "dreamliners" were 6v71's with a two speed transmission versus a Flx with an 8v71 and a three speed transmission!!!! There, however is nothing like the sound of an inline 671 in an "oldlook" taking-of from a standing stop!!! Bob

The bus I was refering to was called the GM Classic. And you are right in the fact that this bus was a fishbowl from the belt rail down. It had the flat front and rear windshields that were being built by other manufactures at the time. It was a stopgap measure taken by DD LTD to try and retain business that was going to more modern looking buses. I am a member of the Cincinnati Transit Historical Association which has 6 operatitional Transit buses. 3 fishbowls: Dreamliners as they were known in Cincy-(GM used names such as this and other such as city slickers and curbliners in their promotional brochures); 2 oldlooks: the style that was built prior to the fishbowls, and 1 ADB, (Advanced Design Bus) made by Flxible-(no not a typo). ADB's started with the RTS in !977 and really the design has more or less continued to today. Check out the CTHA website at

A little history is in oder here. GM built the TDH 5300 series (fishbowls) from 1969 to 1977 in the US. At that point the RTS was introduced. Gm in Canada, known as Detroit Diesel LTD, however continued to build fishbowls into 1983. At this point DD LTD reconfigured the fishbowl giving it a new front end and a new side window treatment and continued to sell them for several more years. DD LTD never produced the RTS. Many American cities bought Canadian fishbowls as they were cheaper and easier to maintain than the RTS. PS The model designation for GM buses was the first letter stood for the type of service:"T" stood for Transit, "S" for Suburban, or "P" for Palor (over-the-road); The second letter stood for engine type: "D" for diesel, "G" for Gas; the third letter stood for transmission type: "H" for Hydraulic (automatic), "M" for manual shift. and "E" for Electric. The first two number stood for normal seating capacity and the last two denoted the series model. So a TDH 5301 stood for Transit, Diesel, Hydraulic, 53 passenger, first in the series.