The Canadian Plant   Before the war, FitzJohn had sold many buses to Canadian operators through its Canadian representative, J.E. Fawkes of Toronto. In 1949, the company organized FitzJohn Coach of Canada, Ltd., and acquired land and buildings at the Brantford (Ont.) Airport. Reconstruction of a former hangar produced a plant of 42,900 square feet, compared with the Muskegon factory's 85,000 square feet at that time. Sales manager for the new Canadian company was B.J. Hickey, and the first deliveries were made to Hollinger Bus Lines, Toronto, in May,1950.

The Brantford plant built Cityliners exclusively, and in fact production of the old front-engine model was continued in Canada while development of its rear-engine successor was under way at Muskegon. Most of the Canadian buses were built within the first two years of the company's existence; altogether the plant delivered 197 vehicles. The serial numbers of these buses ran in with those built in the United States; the Muskegon plant assigned blocks of numbers to the Brantford factory.

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Diesels and Rear Engines   FitzJohn continued to make valiant efforts to sell its transit and intercity models to its traditional customers, for the traditional rea- sons: low first cost, sturdy construction and economical operation. But times were changing, and in 1950 it became obvious that rear-engine Cityliners were necessary. For the first time, diesel power became available--generally the Cummins JT-6B engine was used. The new buses were still called Cityliners, but were officially designated FTG or FTD. Some carriers specified a suburban version, with high-backed seats and no center door, and a brief attempt was made to build a separate model called the Suburbanliner (FSG or FSD). Only three were built.

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