page_title: Ford B series
section_title: 1995–1998
hierarchical_section_title: Ford B series / Sixth generation (1980–1998) / 1995–1998
caption_attribution_description: 1997 Blue Bird Conventional school bus (on Ford B700 chassis) operated in handicapped service by the Shelby County, Alabama Board of Education in Helena, Alabama.
context_page_description: The Ford B series is a bus chassis that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Produced across six generations from 1948 to 1998, the B series was a variant of the medium-duty Ford F series. As a cowled-chassis design, the B series was a bare chassis aft of the firewall, intended for bodywork from a second-stage manufacturer. While primarily used for school bus applications in the United States and Canada, the chassis was exported worldwide to manufacturers to construct bus bodies for various uses.
  Prior to 1969, Lincoln-Mercury dealers in Canada marketed the B series as part of the Mercury M-series truck line. At the time, rural Canadian communities were serviced by either a Ford or a Lincoln-Mercury dealer network, but not both networks concurrently.
  Coinciding with the late 1996 sale of the Louisville/AeroMax heavy-truck line to Freightliner, Ford phased out the medium-duty F series and the B series following the 1998 model year. For 2000, Ford re-entered the medium-duty segment with the F-650/F-750 Super Duty. As of the 2019 model year, Ford has not developed a cowled-chassis derivative of the F series, instead concentrating on cutaway chassis vehicles.
context_section_description: For 1995, the medium-duty F-Series underwent a model revision, improving the aerodynamics of the hood design, with the B-series following suit.  With few changes made to the chassis, the B-series retained the same steering column and instrument panel used since 1980.  For the first time, a tilt-steering column was offered as an option (distinguished by Ford-badged steering wheels sourced from International).    
  The badging of the B-Series underwent a revision, ending the use of external B-700/B-800 designation; all cowl badges used "B-Series" badging.        
  After a 50-year production run, the final B-series cowled bus chassis was produced as the sixth-generation medium-duty Ford F-Series ended its model cycle after the 1998 model year.    
  Engines
  While the 7.0L gasoline engine remained standard on the medium-duty F-Series, the 1995 B-series shifted entirely to diesel-fuel engines, using Cummins-sourced 5.9L and 8.3L inline-6 engines.  
  5.9 B Cummins 5.9 6BT I6 diesel (1992–1998)
  8.3 L Cummins 8.3 I6 diesel (1994–1998)
caption: 1997 Ford B series located in Alabama, USA.
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