focusing entirely on school buses. By 1982, sales of the aging Firecoach had largely collapsed, leading to a temporary hiatus in its production. After 34 years of production and with slightly over 1,800 examples produced, the final Firecoach was produced in 1985. During 1984, Crown moved its headquarters and production from Los Angeles to Chino, California in San Bernardino County. To diversify beyond the Supercoach-based product line, Crown entered into a joint venture with the Hungarian firm Ikarus to produce articulated mass-transit buses. At 102 inches wide and 60 feet long, the Crown-Ikarus 286 was the longest and widest bus ever produced by Crown Coach. Bodied by Ikarus in Hungary, the transit bus was imported to Crown in California for final assembly, including its interior and American-sourced powertrain (shared with the Supercoach). In 1986, the partnership ended, with 243 examples produced. At the end of 1986, Crown Coach entered into receivership; in addition to the closure of production, the Los Angeles factory (which it had owned since 1939) was sold. In April 1987, the company was purchased at auction by GE Railcar. After a reorganization as Crown Coach, Incorporated, production in Chino restarted in July 1987. As the 1980s ended, the Crown Supercoach had reached over 40 years of production with only minor evolutionary changes made through its production. In 1989, the California Energy Commission began a study to test low-emission school buses, using methanol-fueled vehicles as part of the test; Crown Coach was a manufacturer selected to take part of the study, using a methanol-fuel Detroit Diesel 6V92 engine. The fitment of the engine required an extensive update of the rear bodywork of the Supercoach, leading to a matching update of the front bodywork. Although not a completely new design, the Series II, as it was named, was the first major update to the Supercoach since 1948. GE railcar would find the business unprofitable and would seek a buyer. After an unsuccessful attempt at finding a buyer in 1990, Crown Coach would be shut down on March 31, 1991. Crown's difficulty in competing with manufacturers of smaller, less durable but cheaper school buses was cited by company president Bruce Freeman in October 1990 as a primary factor in GE's decision to leave the school bus market. The assets of Crown Coach would be purchased by Carpenter Body Works in May 1991. This included tooling and intellectual property of the