Blue Bird built its first school bus in 1927.
The vehicle was created by Albert L. Luce Sr., a Ford dealer in Perry and Fort Valley, Georgia. After a wooden bus body he sold in 1925 deteriorated on rough rural roads, Luce designed a stronger body using steel and sheet metal, with wood used only as a secondary material. Completed in 1927, the bus was placed into school service.
The vehicle later became known as Blue Bird “Number One,” even though the Blue Bird Body Company was not formally established until 1932. That timing causes a common mix-up: 1932 marks the company’s founding, while 1927 marks Luce’s first completed school bus. The restored bus was donated to The Henry Ford museum in 2008. Blue Bird’s early designs helped move American school buses away from wagon-like wooden bodies toward purpose-built steel construction.