Wayne Corporation effectively ceased to exist. During its liquidation, the product rights and many of the assets of the company (aside from the company itself and its liabilities) were purchased in February 1993 by a subsidiary of Harsco Corporation for $2.1 million. Re-organized as Wayne Wheeled Vehicles (WWV), production of the Chaperone, Lifeguard, and Lifestar were transferred to a facility in Marysville, Ohio to supplement production of military trucks. In June 1995, after an attempted sale of the company fell through, WWV was closed down by its parent company. At the time of its closure, Wayne was in the process of launching the RD-9000, a rear-engine school bus. Featuring innovations that would have been new to the school bus industry, the RD-9000 was never mass-produced; some features were eventually adopted by competitive builders. While initially shuttered after the closure, the large Richmond factory would play a key role in the future of a major competitor to Wayne late in the 1990s. Additionally, part of the Lifeguard and the Busette designs were adopted by competitors as well. Mid Bus In 1980, following the collapse of the professional car industry and growing overcapacity among school bus body manufacturers, Superior Coach Company of Lima, Ohio was shut down by its parent company Sheller-Globe. The next year, Mid Bus was formed by three former Superior employees; along with seven co-workers, they began manufacturing small school buses in a different facility in Lima. While full-size buses still retained the Superior name, the company debuted a small bus named Superior by Mid Bus. A conversion of a full-size van, it also added a raised roof, reinforced body sides, and school bus windows. In 1987, the "Superior by Mid Bus" name was dropped in favor of "Mid Bus". By the end of the 1980s, Mid Bus sought to compete with larger-scale school bus manufactures; the company sought expertise in developing a product based on a cutaway van. In 1990, Wayne Corporation discontinued Busette production in favor of its newer Chaperone model; additionally, the company was closing the Welles plant in Canada, where Busette production had been located. Mid Bus entered into an arrangement with Wayne to take over Busette production in its own facility in Ohio. Not only did the use of an existing design lower development costs, but the popularity of the Busette (especially among Head Start agencies) allowed for an existing customer base. Crown by