Flxible
The Flxible Company came into existence in 1913 in Loudonville, Ohio as the Flexible Side Car Company. Started by Hugo Young and Carl Dudte, they put out onto the market a motorcycle sidecar with a mounting that would allow the sidecar to tilt and stay on the ground to take curves with the same lean of the motorcycle.
In 1924 with an abundance of affordable automobiles available, the call for and desire for motorcycle sidecars dwindled. The Flxible Company then turned to building hearses and ambulances and a small 12 passenger bus. They used chassis made by other car and truck manufacturers but often powered by a Buick Straight 8 engine. Quality was always a hallmark of the company in their building of the vehicle bodies, with painstaking attention to detail.
In 1936 the Flxible Company began making transit and intercity buses. And in 1951 they absorbed part of the Fageol Twin Coach Company and with it they acquired several substantial bus contracts. Trying to blend style and utility they offered several bus models including the Clipper, the Visicoach, the Starliner and the two level VistaLiner. And even musicians as wide ranging as BB King, and Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs for a time toured the highways from town to town using one of their buses. Their most popular model was the Clipper, and it eventually saw an end to production in 1967.
In 1996 the Flxible Company declared bankruptcy, the last buses were built in ’95.
There are still some classic old Flxible’s to be found here and there and this one posed for a photo In The Search For Americana On The Sprocket Rocket………