Optima Bus Corporation
Optima Bus, LLC, formerly Chance Coach Inc., was a brand of small transit buses manufactured by North American Bus Industries. It was established in 1976 in Wichita, Kansas. It was originally the trolley-replica and conventional bus production business of Chance Industries, Inc. In 1998, Chance Coach, Inc. was sold to American Capital Strategies, which rebranded the company as Optima Bus Corporation in 2003. American Capital subsequently sold Optima to North American Bus Industries, who closed the Kansas assembly plant on August 8, 2007, with production moved to their existing plant in Anniston, Alabama. Optima Bus was owned by North American Bus Industries, Inc. until 2010, when NABI discontinued the production of its Optima and Blue Bird brand commercial bus products. Models

Current

 Opus: under  or under  low-floor bus, design based on Wrightbus bodywork
 American Heritage Streetcar AH-28 - trolley-style body on bus chassis
Opus ISE series hybrid
 Opus ISE Series Hybrid Buses is a hybrid Opus version. It utilizes ISE-Siemens ThunderVolt hybrid technology built around Siemens ELFA motors, generators and inverters. Historic
The Chance RT-52 was a front-engined small-sized transit bus built by Chance Coach, Inc. measuring  in length. It was primarily used as a shuttle bus, and normally carried 19 passengers. The maximum passenger capacity was 23 passengers. Powered by an inline 6-cylinder Cummins 6BTA5.9 turbo diesel engine displacing , coupled to an Allison MT643 manual transmission, its gross vehicle weight (GVW) was , its wheelbase was , and it was  wide. The RT-52 was used in the Wiki Wiki Shuttle route at Honolulu International Airport. The first wiki site, called WikiWikiWeb, was named by its programmer, Ward Cunningham, after this line of buses. The buses were also purchased by Pace, primarily for use in Niles, Illinois; all have now been retired, with the last one running service routes in May 2007. Chance manufactured the Sunliner trams, an open-air towed tram used at various parks and zoos in the United States and Canada. References

External links

 Optima page on North American Bus Industries site
 Opus ISE Series Hybrid Bus

Bus manufacturers of the United States
Hybrid electric bus manufacturers
Companies based in Wichita, Kansas
Private equity portfolio companies
Cerberus Capital Management companies
Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States