The first Eagles were built in Germany by Kassbohrer during 1956 and 1957 as ordered by Continental Trailways. Built with luxury features, these 51 buses were identified as Golden Eagles. The first Silver Eagles were built in 1958 and 1959 without the Golden Eagle amenities and were selected as the standard bus of the Trailways fleet.

Eagles built during 1960 and 1961 by Kassbohrer were the first to be identified as Model 01 Eagles. After 1961 Kassbohrer declined to build additional Eagles because of other business and Trailways was forced to find another supplier.

In 1962 Continental established its own factory in Belgium, with the help of a Belgium partner, La Brugeoise, giving it the name Bus & Car, N.V. The first Bus & Car Eagles were similar to the earlier models except for the introduction of a wraparound mesh grill which remained an Eagle spotting feature until 1969.

Many U.S. parts were imported for assembly in Belgium, including Detroit Diesel engines and transmissions. Of the many running changes to the Model 01 during its lifetime, most were first seen in the 1964 models. Some were just appearance changes, but others were engineering, such as an air-operated parking brake and new air intakes for the engine. Most appearance features remained the same from 1965 through 1967 except that the silver siding and lightning bolt trim was raised to the window level.

A large number of internal changes were made in 1968 to create the Model 05.

Information from the Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses - 1988