I just wanted to drop in here and say THANK YOU to all those that have and will offer help on this question. My name is Gerald Johnson and I am the one that Peggy M. posted the original message on behalf of. I am sorry I don't have better pictures of the bus but the two screen captures are all I have. In my limited reseach I felt it was likely made prior to WWII which your posts verify. This bus has been spotted in at least one other movie (a war movie that I don't know the name of) filmed on the RKO set (also known as The 40 Acres which is now gone). My first thought was that it had to be a cut down but then I started doing some research on buses and found several short ones, although none were as short as this one.
The developer of the "Town of Mayberry" (TOM) project told me that if he can find out the exact year that he can have the body built in his replicating shop. From what you folks have posted, am I correct in assuming that there was a design change in 1941 involving the way the headlights are mounted? Any rules of thumb you could give me in distinguishing the 39-40 from the 41 forward in this body style would be much appreciated. I can pass it along to the developer and perhaps he can find a better screen shot from another movie that might nail down the model year based on the way the headlights are mounted.
Thanks again for all the help and a special thanks to Peggy M. for her help and enthusiasm.
Oh yeah..IF anyone happens to run across a short bus like this or a good chasis of the proper year model for sale, PLEASE email me and I will pass it along to Imagineer.
Gerald
