The Ford Barn

petehoovie · 12-16-2025, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfla

Ken

Ability to "pay" is my ONLY obstacle. I love the Flathead "sort of" obscure and different, stuff you don't see at car shows at all, IF any. Sort of like this truck that I wanted SO bad years ago, I actually think our one Tony Price used to take car of this one at one time???

Flathead Fever · 12-17-2025, 03:06 AM

I was a mechanic for the phone company for 30-years, so something like this bus is an important piece of history to me. It's pretty neat. Even in the late 1970s we still had Marmon Herrington 4X4 specialized trucks. Anything that was a 4X4 Marmon Herrington part was extremely expensive on our converted Ford trucks and took months to get it through the Ford dealer. Ford had a problem locating the part numbers, even when the trucks were just a few years old.

This bus is not too far from where I live, probably less than an hour away. I keep hauling old Fords home that I will never live long enough to compete or I'd probably haul this one home to. It would make somebody a neat motorhome. It's a very specialized vehicle that probably was only lightly used. I bet its drivetrain is in good condition. If it's like the trucks we had it would have started off as a two-wheel drive chassis like a Ford F-650 chassis and then Marmon Herrington added the transmission and the front 4X4 axle. I hope somebody saves it.

My guess is that this was a truck setup for emergency use; it let people make calls from inside of it during big emergencies. Like when a whole neighborhood's phone services was wiped out. We had a trailer that had a bank of phones setup for emergency use. It set around for years until there was a big fire and then we had to quickly bring it into the shop and go through it and send it out to the site. I only saw it used one time n 30-years. If this is what this bus was used for, I'm guessing it does not have that many miles on it.

1952henry · 12-17-2025, 08:42 AM

I do not believe the MH buses were based on Ford products at all, same with their little package vans.

big job · 12-17-2025, 01:37 PM

Back in the my day at the bus co.that Marmon bus became the Ford bus in late 1940s 239 V8 3 speed a real shoe box then the Marmon Herrington retuned when i don.t remember but we had a 1959 & 1960 powered by the 332 Y block still 3 speed went like a rocket till the governor kicked in around 40 mph which they were city busses only.
I do remember Ford bus was 8RT first used in 48 truck & bus. dig up photo first pic. MH pic 2 Ford And Ford was in parnership with MH

12-17-2025, 03:06 AM	#22
Flathead Fever Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Yucaipa, CA Posts: 1,492	Re: 1941 Marmon Herrington Bus I was a mechanic for the phone company for 30-years, so something like this bus is an important piece of history to me. It's pretty neat. Even in the late 1970s we still had Marmon Herrington 4X4 specialized trucks. Anything that was a 4X4 Marmon Herrington part was extremely expensive on our converted Ford trucks and took months to get it through the Ford dealer. Ford had a problem locating the part numbers, even when the trucks were just a few years old. This bus is not too far from where I live, probably less than an hour away. I keep hauling old Fords home that I will never live long enough to compete or I'd probably haul this one home to. It would make somebody a neat motorhome. It's a very specialized vehicle that probably was only lightly used. I bet its drivetrain is in good condition. If it's like the trucks we had it would have started off as a two-wheel drive chassis like a Ford F-650 chassis and then Marmon Herrington added the transmission and the front 4X4 axle. I hope somebody saves it. My guess is that this was a truck setup for emergency use; it let people make calls from inside of it during big emergencies. Like when a whole neighborhood's phone services was wiped out. We had a trailer that had a bank of phones setup for emergency use. It set around for years until there was a big fire and then we had to quickly bring it into the shop and go through it and send it out to the site. I only saw it used one time n 30-years. If this is what this bus was used for, I'm guessing it does not have that many miles on it. Last edited by Flathead Fever; 12-17-2025 at 03:21 AM.

12-17-2025, 08:42 AM	#23
1952henry Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: North Dakota Posts: 1,840	Re: 1941 Marmon Herrington Bus I do not believe the MH buses were based on Ford products at all, same with their little package vans. __________________ I dig coal, which provides motivation for EVs.