Lasting presence: MCI coaches defy their age and keep on rolling in the
revenue for operators

When it comes to aging gracefully, it seems no coaches do it better than MCI. Based on data compiled from state motor veicle registration, John Morrison, MCI's vice president of pre-owned coach sales, said that more than 71 percent of all registered, 1995 model-year and older coaches built by the major manufacturers, were made by MCI. And there are more than 4,300 MCI coaches out there that date from 1981 to 1985 alone.

Crowding 30
Beach Transportation, Missoula, Montana, took delivery of a brand-new MCI® MC-5C in 1980 — one of the very last of that model that were built. It's still going strong. Even with a modern, all-MCI fleet that will welcome two new J4500s this spring, Beach Transportation still finds reason to run that first MC-5C as well as some 1980s MC-9s. Says Scott Beach, vice president of operations, "They're very reliable, dependable coaches."

Beach says his company takes good care of its senior coaches, keeping them freshly painted and meticulously maintained. Even at their advanced age, they're not high-mileage vehicles. "We don't stretch their legs much more than 300 miles each way," says Beach.

Buff buses
Dan Holter, general manager of Rochester City Lines, Minnesota, also still operates a 1980 MCI® MC9 — the difference is, he bought it when it was already more than 20 years old. "It was actually a young bus, because it came out of the desert Southwest with only about 100,000 miles on it," says Holter, who runs the family-owned business started by — and still owned by — his parents, George and Marilyn. "I bought it because I believed it would last another 20 years." Like Beach, Holter runs a fleet that also includes the latest and the greatest, including MCI® J4500s that he uses for the company's Heartland Express tours. The older coaches, which also include other 1980s and early 1990s MCI models, primarily serve the company's commuter operations.

Holter, who admits to being a bit of an old-bus buff — a trait he shares with his brother, Stan, who runs Richfield Bus Co. — has even older models in his collection, including some GMs that date back to the 1940s that he has earmarked for eventual nostalgia tours. He also recently purchased a 1979 MC-5C with roofline windows, one of only a few built that year. "It was built for panoramic mountain viewing," says Holter, and he plans to fix it up and use it for select small tours. Yet perhaps his favorite recent acquisition is a duplicate of his company's very first new coach, a 1970 MC-7. It's not yet in service, but he plans on restoring it. "We're going to paint it in the exact same colors as the original," says Holter.

Something to see
Canada's Banff-based Brewster has five 1979 MC-5Cs still giving passengers eye-popping roofline-window views of the Rockies. They're original to the operation, though Brewster has thoroughly overhauled the vehicles in recent years, giving them modern front ends and new skins as well as a roomy, two-by-one seating configuration. The MC-5Cs only run locally, each having achieved well more than a million miles.

Brewster, which just took delivery of eight new MCI J4500s with leather seating and top-of-the-line amenities, also runs 13 1982 MC-9s at its Columbia Icefields operation and includes a few late 1980s MCIs in its large fleet as well. Michael Dove, Canadian Rockies area manager, says the company has no immediate plans to retire its dependable old coaches. "Those MC-5s and MC-9s are great little workhorses," says Dove. "They just go forever."

Keeping an original
Voigt's Bus Service, Minnesota, bought its first new MCI, an MC-8, in 1973 (Voigt's was the first private carrier to receive that model) — and it's still running, albeit only for parades and ceremonial occasions. Chairman of the Board Butch Voigt runs an all-MCI fleet that includes luxurious, late-model MCI E4500s, yet he, too, has a soft spot for an earlier era of busing.

His bus barn includes an MC-8 undergoing restoration as well as some 1980s MC-9s that the company still uses. "They're in good condition," says Voigt, whose shop does its own body and mechanical work. Though Voigt doesn't put that many miles a year on his coaches, the time is adding up, and some of the oldest coaches, especially the MC-9s purchased from Greyhound Lines, have turned the million-mile mark. Both Butch Voigt and the MC-9s are scheduled to retire soon. Yet just as Voigt says there is a fourth generation already "washing buses" at his family-run company, there's always a new crop of MCI coaches ready to become tomorrow's long-haul stars.

Got a story about your vintage MCI coaches? Send your tale, coach description or picture to us, and we may make it a part of MCI's 75th Commemorative Anniversary Celebration in 2008. E-mail us at fyi@mcicoach.com.