The New Look bus was the face of North American public transit in the latter half of the 20th century and General Motors built more than 45,000 between 1959 and 1986. Many people dubbed these buses “Fishbowls”, due to their distinctive, six-piece, rounded windshields.

Now, for the first time in any scale, you can buy a museum-quality model of the New Look bus scanned from the real thing. The first-release model from Rapido Trains in HO scale includes double-stream rear exit doors.

Other features are:

• Correct tubular profile;
• full interior including separate seats and hand rails;
• steerable front wheels;
• etched metal details;
• multiple bumper styles;
• optional standee windows;
• optional air-conditioning housing;
• optional rear window intakes;
• optional etched-metal advertisement frames;
• multiple route / destination decals.

Deluxe models also feature:

• interior lighting;
• painted seats with painted handrails;
• working headlights and tail lights; and
• illuminated destination signs.

As usual with models of this type, Rapido will only manufacture the buses after it receives an order. Reserve your model by May 8, 2017 with delivery next fall. Introductory prices are: $59.95 for the standard model and $79.95 for the deluxe model. (Canadian dollars).

You can pre-order your buses from your hobby retailer or directly from Rapido Trains Inc. If you order direct, your credit card will only be charged when your vehicles are in stock and ready to ship. No deposit is necessary.

Order on-line here. Rapido has several bus liveries available, including OC Transpo, BC Transit, Boston’s MBTA, Detroit’s DSR and Los Angeles’ LAMTA. But Transit Toronto suspects, most readers of this site will want one in TTC colours, which, as you can see from the image at the top of this page, is definitely available. You can even pre-order a bus on-line from the TTC Shop here.

Rapido Trains Inc. says it’s “a high-end manufacturer of model trains and accessories in HO, OO and N (North American 1:160 and British 1:148) scales. Our aim is to recreate the entire rail travel experience, from fully-detailed interiors and underframe equipment on our trains to fully-wired telephone poles for your model railroad.”

According to the company,

“The name RAPIDO was introduced by Canadian National in 1965 to headline the railway’s high-speed intercity passenger services. Until the mid-1980s, RAPIDO stood for fast schedules, frequent trains, and superb service. Today, we continue the RAPIDO idea with our state-of-the-art models and attention to detail.”

Rapido Trains Inc. also owns a former Calgary Transit New Look, which it is restoring to the classic TTC maroon and cream. You can read more about this project here.

From the Transit Toronto archives, read:

• The GM New Look “Fishbowl” buses by Robert Lubinski.
• A history of the GM / MCI / Nova buses by James Bow.
• GM’s New Look articulated buses by Robert Lubinski.

TTC GM “New Look” 3328 operates in 6 BAY service, passing TTC GM “New Look” 7149, on a special service bound for the Exhibition in this August 1969 scene. Both buses are southbound at Bay and Dundas. Photo donated by Peter Coulman from the collection of John Knight.