Corbeil Bus Corporation is a former Canadian bus manufacturer headquartered in Saint-Lin–Laurentides, Quebec, that specialized primarily in school buses from 1985 to 2007. From 1936 to 1975, J.H. Corbeil was a manufacturer of bus bodies; In 2007, the company was acquired out of bankruptcy by Collins Industries. Serving as the Canadian equivalent of Collins Bus Corporation, manufacturing was shifted from Quebec to Hutchinson, Kansas.
In the early 2000s, Corbeil built over 2,500 vehicles per year in its facility in Canada. Following the discontinuation of the Mid Bus brand name, Collins ended the use of the Corbeil name after 2015 in favor of using its namesake brand on its vehicles across North America.
History
1936–1975: J.H. Corbeil
Corbeil traces its roots to 1936, when Joseph Henri Corbeil founded J.H. Corbeil. However, due to the reducing demand, the company closed the plant in the early 1980s, and consolidated its operations at their main plant near Brantford, Ontario. After the 2004 model year, Corbeil stopped selling the Conventional. In 2004, IC Corporation (the successor to AmTran/Ward) commenced sales of full-size buses in Canada, largely taking the place of the discontinued Corbeil Conventional, along with the discontinued 3000 and 3900.
In September 2007, after 22 years of assembly, Corbeil shut down its operations, closing its facilities in Quebec and Indianapolis, Indiana.
2007–2013: Corbeil Bus Corporation
In late 2007, Les Entreprises Michel Corbeil was acquired by Collins Bus Corporation, with Collins purchasing the assets, designs, naming rights and warranties of Corbeil.
- Dual rear wheels were introduced in 1990.
|-
!EMC 1st Premier/Conventional
250px
|1991–2004
|Type C (conventional)
|Ford Motor Company
:*Ford B700/B800/B8000 (to 1998)
Freightliner
:*Freightliner FS-65 (1997–2002)
Navistar International
:*International 3800
|
- Introduced in 1991, the 1st Premier/Conventional was only sold in Canada.
- International/AmTran competed the Corbeil Conventional with its Volunteer/CS model and the IC model in the United States.
|-
!EMC3900/Forward Control
|1993–2000
|Type D (transit-style)
:*front engine
|Navistar International
:*International 3900
|
- Introduced in 1993 and were only sold in Canada.
- International/AmTran competed the Corbeil Forward Control with its Genesis/FE model in the United States.
|-
!EMC3000/Rear Engine
|1998–2000?
|Type D (transit-style)
:*rear engine
|Navistar International
:*International 3000
|
- Introduced in 1998 and were only sold in Canada.
- International/AmTran competed the Corbeil Rear Engine with its RE model in the United States.
- Similar in configuration to the AmTran RE, very few examples of the Corbeil Rear Engine were produced.
|}
Company timeline
{| class="toccolours" style="margin:auto;"
|-
| colspan="50" style="text-align:center;" |Les Entreprises Michel Corbeil, Inc. timeline (1985–2007)
|
|- style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0; background:#f0f0f0;"
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="width:5%; " |
| colspan="5" style="width:15%; "|1980s
| colspan="10" style="width:15%; "|1990s
| colspan="8" style="width:15%; "|2000s
|- style="background:#f0f0f0; text-align:center;"
| '85 || '86 || '87 || '88 || '89
| '90 || '91 || '92 || '93 || '94 || '95 || '96 || '97 || '98 || '99
| '00 || '01 || '02 || '03 || '04 || '05 || '06 || '07
|- style="text-align:center; background:##f0f0f0; background:#f0f0f0;"
| colspan="2"|Brand name
| colspan="11" style="background:#d0d0d0;"|Corbeil/EMC
| colspan="12" style="background:#d0d0d0;"|Corbeil
|-align=center
! colspan="2" style="background:#f0f0f0;" | Bus type
| colspan="23" style="background:#f0f0f0;" |Corbeil school buses
|- align=center style="background:#d0d0d0;"
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" style="background:#f0f0f0;" |Type A
| colspan="23" style="background:#FFD800;" |Minibus
|- align=center
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" style="background:#f0f0f0;" |Type C
| colspan="5" style="background:#d0d0d0;" |
| colspan="0" style="background:#d0d0d0;" |
| colspan="14" style="background:#FFD800;"|1st Premier/Conventional
| colspan="3" style="background:#d0d0d0;" |
|- align=center
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#f0f0f0;" | Type D
| colspan="5" style="background:#d0d0d0;"|
| colspan="3" style="background:#d0d0d0;" |
| colspan="8" style="background:#FFD800;" |EMC3900
| colspan="7" style="background:#d0d0d0;" |
|- align=center
| colspan="5" style="background:#d0d0d0;"|
| colspan="9" style="background:#d0d0d0;" |
| colspan="2" style="background:#FFD800;" |EMC3000
| colspan="7" style="background:#d0d0d0;" |
|}
References
- - Coachbuilt.com history and background on Les Enterprises Michel Corbeil
External links
- Defunct official website
- Defunct Quebec official website