body with the Conventional; the key change was its narrower width to properly fit the van chassis. At its launch, the intended markets for the Micro Bird were districts transporting small children or special needs students (the Micro Bird would become popular with the "Handy Bus" option, fitted with a wheelchair lift). Design overview Body First generation (1975-2010) During its 35-year production run, the body design of the first-generation Blue Bird Micro Bird saw a gradual degree of change, with many updates tied to redesigns of its cutaway van chassis. During the 1980s, to aid in driver visibility, Blue Bird replaced the two-piece loading-zone window with a larger single-piece window; to do so, a portion of the van chassis passenger-side door was replaced with glass. Following the introduction of the Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana cutaway bus chassis for the 1997 model year, Blue Bird would make several major changes to the Micro Bird body, including a higher roofline and wider body. In a move to increase interior headroom, the curve of the roof was flattened slightly; in the interest of aerodynamics, the front and rear roof caps were replaced by re-profiled fiberglass versions. For exterior body panels, Blue Bird switched from steel to aluminum construction. On Ford-chassis Micro Birds, Blue Bird made a flat floor standard on all Handy Buses. Following the end of the first joint venture with Girardin Minibus in 1999, Blue Bird commenced development of its own body for a single rear-wheel cutaway chassis. Making its debut in 2001, the Micro Bird SW (single rear wheel) was produced in two variants: a lower-roofline body (similar to the MB-II, and largely intended as a MFSAB) and a version with a roofline nearly matching the dual rear-wheel Micro Bird in height. Later in the 2000s, the fiberglass roofcap of the body saw a second redesign. After Blue Bird formed its second joint venture with Girardin in late 2009, Blue Bird ended production of the first-generation Micro Bird at the end of the 2010 model year. After 35 years of production, the Micro Bird was the longest-produced Blue Bird after the Conventional/CV200 and the All American. It would also be the final Blue Bird-produced model to have its chassis production outsourced to another manufacturer. MB-II/MB-IV (1992-1999; 2010-present) Blue Bird and Quebec-based manufacturer Girardin Minibus have produced cutaway school bus bodies in two separate joint ventures; the first joint venture was from