YELLOW COACH/GM COACH

Yellow Coach Manufacturing Co. (1923-1925)
Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Co. (1925-1928)
Chicago, Illinois
Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Co. (1928-1943)
General Motors Truck & Coach Div., General Motors Corp. (1943-1987)
Pontiac, Michigan

This is a Yellow Coach radiator emblem (1923-1926)   mjs
Size: 70mm diameter   MM: None

John D Hertz and the Yellow Taxicab Manufacturing Company had made thousands of Yellow taxicabs since 1915 (see Yellow Cab). John Hertz then decided to diversify into bus and coach manufacture and organized the Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company. He hired George A Green from Fifth Avenue Coach to design a new range of double-decker and single-decker busses and begin bus manufacture in 1923, including some Yellow-Knight models. Hertz also organized a chain of bus operating companies to use his buses. He gained control of the Chicago Motor Bus Company and its manufacturing arm, American Motor Bus Company, and then brought in Fifth Avenue Coach (see Fifth Avenue Coach) to form The Omnibus Corporation. 

General Motors bought control of Yellow Coach in 1925 and merged its own GM Truck manufacturing operation into Yellow. Production was moved to Pontiac, Michigan in 1928. Bus and coach designs were continually developed to meet the requirements of bus operating companies. In 1929, Yellow bought C H Will Motors Corporation (see Will), the bus manufacturing subsidiary of Greyhound, the main US intercity bus operator. Yellow was able to achieve a commanding position in the bus building business by developing very close links with the major bus operating companies.

Yellow Coach remained the leader in the bus market in terms of innovation and sales through the 1930's, due in part to the application of new ideas by the talented design engineer, Dwight Austin.

Bus production was interrupted during World War II but by the time production resumed in 1944 the company had been reorganized as the GMC Truck & Coach division of General Motors and the Yellow Coach name was replaced by GM Coach. GM Coach continued to dominate bus production in the US for many years but in 1987 General Motors decided to close its bus division and sold the manufacturing rights to Motor Coach Industries, a subsidiary of Greyhound.

Emblems

The identification and sequencing of emblems used by Yellow Coach and GM Coach is difficult, due to the lack of original photos or illustrations that clearly show the emblems and the shortage of surviving examples of these vehicles. The dates given in the following presentation are based on available evidence but should be taken as current best estimates. If you can help to correct any errors or offer more detailed information on the emblems used by Yellow Coach or GM Coach, please let me know, in order to update this post.

The following yellow, white and black Yellow Coach radiator emblem with a shield depicting Sir Galahad, King Arthur's "most perfect Knight", was used on the first Knight-engined Yellow Coach models from 1923 to 1926. This Yellow Coach radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Yellow Coach radiator emblem (1923-1926)   mjs
Size: 69mm diameter   MM: Unknown

The following originally painted version of this Knight-engined Yellow Coach radiator emblem is believed to have been used on the final Knight-engined Yellow Coach models around 1927-1928. It was the practice at this time for GMC to replace some earlier enamel finish emblems with painted finish versions. This Yellow Coach radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Yellow Coach radiator emblem (c1927-1928)   mjs
Size: 60mm diameter   MM: Unknown

The yellow, black and white enamel Yellow Coach radiator emblem depicting a "YC" logo, shown above at the top of this post and again below, was used on the first conventional gasoline and gasoline/electric hybrid Yellow Coach models from 1923 to 1926, This Yellow Coach radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Yellow Coach radiator emblem (1923-1926)  mjs
Size: 70mm diameter   MM: None

The following is a Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company serial plate:

This is a Yellow Coach Manufacturing Co. serial plate (c1925) mjs
Size: 267mm wide 97mm high

The following emblem is believed to have been used as a hub emblem on some later 1920's models. This Yellow Coach hub emblem is rare.

This is a Yellow Coach hub emblem (1925-1928)   mjs
Size: 57mm diameter   MM: None

The following is a Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Company serial plate:

This is a Yellow Truck & Coach Mfg. Co. serial plate (c1927)  mjs
Size: 254mm wide 80mm high

The Yellow Coach radiator emblem is believed to have been changed on some Yellow Coach models from about 1926 to 1936, see later example shown below:

This is a Yellow Coach Model 719 (1936) curbsideclassic

Close-up showing emblem (1936)

This is the yellow, black and white enamel Yellow Coach radiator emblem shown below. This Yellow Coach radiator emblem is rare.

This is a Yellow Coach radiator emblem (c1926-1936)  mjs
Size: 69mm diameter    MM: None

The following is a Yellow Coach hub emblem and is rare:

This is a Yellow Coach hub emblem ( c1928-1930)   mjs
Size: 50mm diameter   MM: Unknown

The Yellow Coach emblem was changed in about 1937 on some models, see 700 Series example shown below, where the Yellow Coach emblem is mounted on the front of the cab just below the windscreen:

Greyhound 700 Series Super Coach with new emblem (1938) wheelsage 

Close-up showing new Yellow Coach emblem

This is the gold and black enamel Yellow Coach emblem shown below. This Yellow Coach emblem is scarce.

This is a Yellow Coach emblem (c1937-1940)    mjs
Size: 69mm diameter    MM: Fox

This Yellow Coach emblem was located off-center on some models, see surviving 1940 Yellow Coach bus shown below:

Yellow Coach bus with off-center emblem (1940) hopetunnel

Close-up showing off-center emblem (1940)

Following the completion of the merger between Yellow Coach and GM in 1944, the emblems were changed to "GM Coach". The following painted plastic GM Coach emblem dates from about 1948 and continued in use into the 1950's:

This is a GM Coach emblem (c1948-c1956)   mjs
Size: 130mm high 100mm wide   

I am most grateful to Dennis Neilsen for his helpful advice regarding the dates of use of Yellow Coach emblems. Any errors in my interpretation of this advice are entirely down to me.