About Fun Fleet Bus #375

Vin: TDH-5301-3720

Built December 1962 for Chicago Transit Authority

First generation (1959-1962)

102 inches wide/40 feet long

6V71 Detroit. VH transmission with power shift 

53 seats, two doors, Haywood Wakefield seats

This bus was purchased from a private party that was in a junk yard in Chicago. I had it towed to California and it needed so much work. When I inspected this bus, it had a blown engine. I simply replaced the entire power plant. I got it to run well but the body needed so much repair. Unfortunately, I never was able to do the body work.

This was a ral catch as this bus was certainly much different than most 5301s. It was the last ones made and had some 5303 upgrades. The real story behind this bus was that CTA was unhappy with the original first generation 5301s. They objected to the front directional lights and had GM installed old look lenses to replace the aluminum housings. The same was true of the tailgate. They eliminated the fiberglass housings and used old look lenses instead. Also, the marker lights were not the square type but a commercial light to replace them. In addition, they eliminated the trim panels next to the marker lights and removed the trim pieces from the interior panels. This led to changes that came on the second-generation buses or 5303s. These buses came with the power shift VH transmission which eliminated the dip type used on first series new looks.