October 30, 2024

FLXIBLE

The Flxible Co.
Loudonville, Ohio (1924-1974)
Delaware, Ohio (1974-1996)
Flxible-Southern (1964-1976)
Evergreen, Alabama 


This is a Flxible radiator emblem (1930's)    mjs
Size: 47mm diameter   MM: None

The Flxible Side Car Company was founded in 1913 to build a patented motorcycle side car but, by 1922, was building hearses and ambulances on passenger car chassis, especially Buick, which continued into the 1960's. 

By 1924, Flxible was also building complete small parlor style buses by rebuilding Buick or Studebaker chassis and mounting new bodies on them. Flxible built many 12-passenger coaches in the 1920's. Flxible gained popularity and developed a wide range of innovative bus designs over the following years. In 1939, Flxible began to build the successful 25 to 29-passenger "Clipper" coaches using rear mounted engines. Flxible introduced new bus styling in the 1940's and 1950's. Clipper coaches were made in Australia under the name Ansair-Flxible from about 1950.

In 1964, Flxible purchased Southern Coach Company of Evergreen, Alabama and started to build buses under the name Flxible Southern. In 1970, Flxible was bought out by Rohr Industries and a new factory was built in Delaware, Ohio, where bus production began in 1974. In 1978, Flxible was sold to the Grumman Automobile Corporation and the bus name was changed to Grumman Flxible. In 1983, the name became Flxible again when the company was sold to General Automotive Corporation. Flxible production continued until 1996 when the company went bankrupt.

Emblems

Early Flxible hearses, ambulances and buses based on Buick and Studebaker chassis displayed Buick and Studebaker emblems as appropriate, see example of a Flxible Buick bus shown below, which carries a Buick radiator emblem

This is a Flxible Buick bus with Buick radiator emblem & hub emblems (1927)   travelarz.wiki

However, in the 1930's some Flxible hearses and ambulances built on Buck or other chassis displayed the "Flxible" name on a small round emblem mounted on the radiator grille and on the spare wheel cover, see example shown below:

Flxible-Buick Combination Hearse & Ambulance (1936) wmcc

Close up with Flxible radiator grille & spare wheel cover emblems (1936)

This emblem is the round black and white enamel Flxible emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Flxible emblem is rare.

This is a Flxible emblem (1930's)    mjs
Size: 47mm diameter   MM: None

Some of the first new Flxible Clipper coaches in 1939 displayed a "Flxible" script emblem on the front of the coach, see example shown below:

Flxible Clipper coach showing Flxible script (1939)   curbsideclassics

The following is an example of a Flxible script:

This is a Flxible coach script (various dates)    mjs
Size: 280mm wide 100mm high   MM: None 

By 1946, the Flxible Clipper coach had a large metal Flxible emblem mounted on the front of the coach, see Flxible 23-passenger Airport Coach example shown below: 

Flxible Clipper Airport Coach (1946)    aacam

Flxible Clipper Airport Coach emblem (1946)    aacam

By 1949, there was a slight change to the Flxible Clipper Coach emblem with the addition of the Loudonville, Ohio location, which remained for several years, see examples shown below:

Flxible Starliner Clipper with new emblem (1949) snugshack

Flxible Clipper Coach emblem (1949-c1955)    studiobaker
Size: Unknown   MM: Unknown

The Ansair-Flxible Clipper coaches built in Australia from 1950 to about 1965 carried a similar emblem , see examples shown below:

Ansair-Flxible Clipper coach (1955)     wiki

Ansair-Flxible Clipper emblem (1950-c1965)   curbsideclassic






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