FITZJOHN

FitzJohn Body Co. (1938-1939)
FitzJohn Coach Co. (1939-1958)
Muskegon, Michigan 

Fitzjohn Coach of Canada Ltd. (1949-1958)

Brantford, Ontario

This is a Fitzjohn emblem (date uncertain)    mjs
Size: 360mm wide 47mm high    MM: Unknown

FitzJohn started business in Muskegon in 1919 as a builder of truck and bus bodies. The company grew and specialized in bus bodies, including a line of standard bus bodies for Reo chassis. 

In 1938 FitzJohn began the production of complete buses, initially for urban transit services but then for intercity duties. A Canadian factory was opened in 1949 to build the FitzJohn Cityliner coach. FitzJohn produced more than 2600 complete buses before it ceased trading in 1958.

Emblems

In the early years of Fitzjohn as bus body builders, the company used a "Fitzjohn" signature script as a logo or trademark, see below:

This is the Fitzjohn signature script logo (1920's)  wiki

Fitzjohn bus body ad with signature logo (1927)  coachbuilt

There were a variety of Fitzjohn nameplates used over the years when Fitzjohn built complete bus units but there are very few original period photos or advertisement illustrations that clearly show the nameplates.

The Fitzjohn nameplate shown above at the top of this post is believed to date from the late 1930's or early 1940's but I cannot confirm this. This painted cast metal Fitzjohn nameplate is rare.

Fitzjohn Cityliner buses built from about 1939 through to about 1943 displayed a very large Fitzjohn emblem with side wings mounted on the top front of the radiator, see photos of early Fitzjohn buses shown below:

Fitzjohn Cityliner bus showing large radiator emblem (1940)
dosmo.forums.aaca

Fitzjohn Cityliner bus with large radiator emblem (c1940) 
forums.aaca

Fitzjohn Cityliner bus with large radiator emblem (1943)  moroz

This is the large painted metal Fitzjohn radiator emblem. Original examples of this Fitzjohn bus radiator emblem in good condition would be very rare.

This is a Fitzjohn bus radiator emblem (c1939-1943)  ms
Size: Unknown   MM: Unknown

If you have further details about this Fitzjohn radiator emblem, please let me know in order to update this post.

The center part of this Fitzjohn radiator emblem was used without the side wings as the radiator emblem for at least some early Fitzjohn Falcon bus models, see examples shown below:

Fitzjohn Falcon showing radiator emblem (1940's)   desoto58

Fitzjohn Falcon bus showing radiator emblem (1946)   desoto58

Fitzjohn Falcon bus rad emblem (1940's) moroz

This is the painted metal Fitzjohn Falcon bus radiator emblem. Original examples of this Fitzjohn radiator emblem would be very rare.

This is a Fitzjohn radiator emblem (1944)  moroz
Size: Unknown   MM: Unknown

The following original period photo shows a different Fitzjohn Falcon bus with a vertical radiator emblem but this time with extremely wide side wings. If you have a closer view of this radiator emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.

Fitzjohn Falcon bus with radiator emblem (1942)   mytransportblog

The "Fitzjohn" name was also displayed on a large painted serial plate mounted inside the bus, see example below:

This is a Fitzjohn bus serial plate (1940's)   mjs
Size: 187mm wide 83mm high

By the later 1940's, Fitzjohn Cityliner buses displayed the "Fitzjohn" name as a simple metal script nameplate mounted directly below the front windscreen, see advertisement illustration below

Fitzjohn Cityliner transit bus ad showing nameplate (1948-1949)  mytransportblog

By about 1950, the Fitzjohn Cityliner buses displayed a new metal script emblem on the front of the bus, see example shown below:

Fitzjohn Cityliner bus displaying front panel emblem (1951)  ms
aaca museum

Fitzjohn Cityliner nameplate (c1950-1955)   ms

The following advertisement shows part of the "Fitzjohn" name inscribed in a large chrome panel above the radiator of a Fitzjohn Duraliner bus from the mid-1950's:

Fitzjohn Duraliner bus showing radiator nameplate (1954)
mytransportblog

Detail showing Fitzjohn Duraliner radiator nameplate

The following photo shows a Fitzjohn Roadrunner bus from the mid-1950's with a wide Fitzjohn nameplate below the windscreen which may have continued in use up to the end of production:

Fitzjohn FID Roadrunner showing front nameplate (1955)    mytransportblog