Argosy Buses

[argbus]

I'm a bus fan from British Columbia Canada trying to find some info on Argosy Bus production

Are there any production records available for these units?

Can somebody provide a serial # breakdown

23 passenger bus built in 1978 with a serial # B28L8V3312
3312 being the serial of the specific bus but what does B28L8V signify

A 36 passenger bus also built in 1978 has the serial# CPY37731704

The 23 passenger is model CB
The 36 passenger is model CP

The 23 passenger has a 10 numbers & letters while the 36 has 11 numbers & letters making up the serial

If anybody could tell me where I could find information on these buses sold in Western Canada that would be fantastic although I would really like to get a glimpse at the full production.

For the sake of curiosity were the buses built on the same assembly line as the RV's?

How were the sales handled, factory direct?

Have also noted that Argosy built specialty vehicles like hearses. Would be interested in hearing about the specialty vehicle production as well.

Thanks

[martin300662]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Buses (and motorhomes) have two VIN. The first is the chassis VIN and the majority are GMC chassis (P30 derivatives) and start with Cxx. The second is the number designated for the completed vehicle and issued by Airstream.

So in general you use the Airstream VIN for identification of 'type' and registration, the GMC VIN however is critical for identifying the chassis when buying parts like running gear.

The GMC number gives no information on the parts Airstream added, or when they added, so don't be concerned if the GMC number is from one year and the Airstream from the next, it just means the chassis was built and held in stock until Airstream built. As the Airstream model year describes 'type' this is the model year.

As for the decoder they are on-line but here is an example.



B because it is a bus, 28 means it is 28ft long, L is the floor plan, 8 is the model year and V means it was built in Versailles, Ohio

[argbus]

Thanks, so what would the C have stood for in the case of the 36 passenger bus?

[martin300662]

Originally Posted by argbus

Thanks, so what would the C have stood for in the case of the 36 passenger bus?

The VIN you quote for the 36ft is the GMC/Chevy VIN and has no information about the bus only the chassis.

In general the 36ft units were only made in the mid 90s and where either front engineed gasers or diesel pushers. Maybe worth looking at Fred's website for the 'unique units'

http://www.viewrvs.com/motorhome/air...eam-unique.php