The GM New-Look was the iconic North American Transit Vehicle. Produced from 1959 to 1986 more than 44,000 buses served across the United States and Canada. Nicknamed the Fishbowl because of its Six Piece Circular Rounded windshield, The Fishbowl is the North American transit king it is as iconic as the AEC Routemaster is in the UK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview: 44,484 GM Fishbowls were produced with 33,413 produced in the United States and 11,071 built in Canada. GM produced the fishbowl as an update to its older bus offerings. The difference with the Fishbowl lies within its construction. The Fishbowl did not utilize a traditional ladder frame which is still common in bus construction today, the Fishbowl was built using airplane style stressed skin construction which wrapped around a wooden floor. Uniquely, some variants had the engine bay hanging from the rear of the roof line. GM's odd design quirks paid off as the Fishbowl actually weighed less than many of its competitors at the time. It was produced in two main configurations known as Transit and Suburban. Transit Buses were typical transit style buses with two doors and the Suburban variant had all forward facing seats, luggage bays and only one door. DC Transit, WMATA's predecessor was the first transit agency to field the Fishbowl.

 

 

 

Driving Experience: The Fishbowl is an archaic driving experience. These buses did not have the creature comforts that modern buses have equipped as standard. For the driver the biggest noticable difference will be with the steering. Fishbowl's did not have power steering making turning the bus a very physically strenuous activity. This is typically why for a long part of American history bus drivers were always depicted with large arms. The drivers compartment is also noticeably smaller with the controls crammed into the far left corner.

 

 

 

A GM Fishbowl was the subject of the 1994 action movie Speed in which an Ex-Police Officer terrorizes a young SWAT officer by placing explosives on the bus, and once the bus reaches 50 mph the bomb activates. If the bus drops below 50 mph the bomb explodes forcing the bus to race through the streets of Los Angeles while the officers attempts to disarm it.