Atthebackoftheroom

Ever heard of a bus with two Detroit two-strokes side by side? That was the Greyhound Scenicruiser. GM built 1,001 of them for Greyhound starting in late 1953, a 40 foot bus with that famous split-level roof. Problem was, GM didn’t have a single engine big enough to move it. The biggest Series 71 at the time was the 6-71, and it wasn’t enough. So the engineers got creative. They grabbed two marine 4-71 Jimmys, the kind built leaning over at an angle to fit under the deck of a boat, and mounted them in a V on a removable subframe. Both cranks fed into a fluid coupling, then into a three-speed manual with a two-speed splitter. Picture that. Two Detroit two-strokes screaming in the back of one bus. That had to be the loudest Greyhound ever built. 😂 Most accounts say it could limp home on one engine in an emergency, but normally both were running. And that’s where the trouble started. The coupling and twin-engine setup gave Greyhound fits, and they were complaining to GM before production was even half done. Then in 1957, Detroit came out with the 8V-71, and starting in 1961, Greyhound pulled the twin Jimmys out of every single Scenicruiser and dropped in an 8V-71 with a four-speed. Not one kept its original engines. Same cubes, half the headaches. But I sure would’ve liked to hear those two 4-71s running together. 😏🚌