and Perley (Pat) Thomas II, with the former becoming director of sales and the latter taking over control of government contracts. 1950s During the decade, Thomas Car Works began exports of its product lines, establishing satellite facilities in Ecuador and Peru. From North Carolina, bodies were shipped to South America in CKD form for final assembly on locally sourced chassis. In 1957, the Thomas Saf-T-Liner name made its first appearance, denoting updated bus bodies (with an enlarged two-piece windshield). Used full-time by 1972, the name remains in use for all full-size Thomas buses over 60 years later. Company founder Perley Thomas died in 1958 at the age of 84; at the time of his death, Thomas retained his title of company president and also actively served as a design consultant. 1960s In 1962, Thomas Car Works officially expanded its production beyond High Point as Thomas Built Buses of Canada, Ltd. was established in Woodstock, Ontario. At the time, the company became the third-largest producer of school buses in the United States. To demonstrate the strength of its internal roof bows, Thomas stacked a full-size school bus on the roof of another (using a crane) in 1964; the company has subsequently repeated the demonstration several times using more recent product lines. For 1967, to reduce blind spots in front of the bus, Thomas developed a convex blind-spot mirror. Initially mandated in North Carolina, the device (allowing a 150-degree field of vision directly in front of the bus) would be adopted by 16 other states in only two years. In various forms, blind-spot mirrors are currently required on all school buses in North America. 1970s In the early 1970s, Thomas underwent a number of major transitions in company leadership and market positioning. Company president John W. Thomas died in 1972, giving leadership to his brother James Thomas, who retired within a year. A third generation of the Thomas family assumed control of the company leadership, with John Thomas Jr. (President) and Perley Thomas II (VP, international operations). As Thomas Car Works had ended its involvement with streetcars since World War II, the new generation of company leaders chose a new name for the company tied closer to its current product lines; in 1972, Perley A. Thomas Car Works was renamed Thomas Built Buses, Inc (used in its emblems and marketing material since the 1950s). Expanded school buses Since producing its first school