ahead of the door was given a "loading-zone" window, as on the Thomas Minotour. Sharing the General Motors chassis of the Ward Patriot, the first-generation Thomas Vista adopted much of its bodywork from the standard Thomas Saf-T-Liner Conventional. As with both the Conventional and Saf-T-Liner EF/ER, Thomas built the Vista its own dashboard and control panel, with the Vista receiving a GM-sourced steering column and instruments. The engine of the Vista sat next to the driver (a Detroit Diesel 8.2 L V8), similar to the Saf-T-Liner EF. After 1991, General Motors entered into a supply agreement to supply the B-Series to body manufacturer Blue Bird Corporation, effectively ending the production of the GM-chassis Thomas Vista. 1992–1998 For 1992, Thomas was able to continue production of the Vista, as it replaced the General Motors chassis with a design from Navistar International. While heavily derived from the International 3800, Navistar developed the purpose-built 3600 semi-forward control chassis specifically for the Vista. To showcase the model change, Thomas fitted the Vista with a Navistar-supplied hood (cut nearly in half to fit the shortened chassis). For the first time, the Vista was available with multiple engines, as Navistar offered both the DT inline-six and IDI V8 diesels. As before, the driver of the Navistar-chassis Vista was positioned next to the engine, similar to a Thomas EF bus. In 1994, the Vista underwent a redesign of its forward body; to eliminate several blind spots, the side window was enlarged (adopting a single piece of glass) and the windshield was changed to a wraparound, four-piece configuration. During the mid-1990s, Thomas introduced smaller-capacity versions of the Vista, serving as the functional successor of the Type B Mighty Mite. Following the acquisition of Thomas by Freightliner in 1998, the Thomas Vista was withdrawn in favor of the Thomas Saf-T-Liner Conventional and Thomas-Saf-T-Liner FS-65. As the Navistar 3600 chassis was designed specifically for the Thomas Vista body, its production ended as well. References School buses Thomas Built Buses