I’ve seen this bus around our neighborhood for years, and probably showed it to you before. But one fine sunny fall day while I was working on my van, it appeared in front of our house. Is this person going to camp here for a few days?
Not to worry…
I met its owner Charles when he asked if he could pick up some of the fallen apples from our tree. Sure!
And if he could have some scraps of wood laying around from my project. Sure! And then he offered to clean up the front yard a bit. Sure! And I gave him a $20 bill for his effort.
And then we chatted some, and eventually he explained some complicated details of his life and asked if I could possibly run him down to the library downtown, as his bus wasn’t quite in the mood, or something like that. Sure…
He’s an intelligent person, but obviously marches to his own drummer.
And the bus was gone later that day.
Wow that is EXACTLY the same bus we drove all over the western US in when I was in junior high school in the early 80’s. Same year, same color. Just without all of the belongings strapped to it.
The biggest thing I recall about it is being stuck in Centralia, WA for a day when it somehow devoured a cylinder or something on I-5 and we had to have it replaced. Well, that and the constant calls from the driver’s seat for “Bungee!” whenever the shift to fourth was completed and the passenger would be tasked with hooking the lever with the bungee cord so it wouldn’t pop out of gear. Good times.
Yup, I remember the bungee accessory on a ’66. For some reason bugs and Ghias never had that problem. Synchronizers failed, but didn’t pop out of gear.
I had a well worn ’63 Squareback that used a fourth gear bungee, it would pop out of second on decel as well, also occasionally would get stuck in third, you needed to remove trans fill plug and work the shift fork with a screwdriver to get it unstuck. It was a rustbucket, engine leaked oil, sunroof leaked, but I got 2 years out of it and it still ran and drove when I finally sold it, the new owner ran it out of oil and seized the engine a day later.
Reminds me of the red Mazda Miata art car that could be spotted around Columbus Ohio about 10 or 15 years ago. All manner of happy meal toys, doll heads and etc. were glued to it. I’ll never forget the vanity license plate: “THAT CAR”
Different drummer indeed! Aren’t these buses worth like, $100,000 now?
He could sell it, by a ProMaster to give himself more room, fix it up like Paul’s, and keep the change!
Ok, I know I’m reaching, but I read here somewhere on these very pages that these buses go for crazy money these days.
An early barndoor bus or 21, 23 window “Samba” but certainly not a clapped out bay window. Never.
In the condition it’s in? $5,000
That is a fine chap. He demonstrated some kind and neighbourly gestures. I hope things uncomplicate for him.
Reminds me of homeless people in a subway station surrounded by three shopping carts piled with crap to about three feet above the basket, plus four or five large plaid plastic bags on the floor bulging with more crap. Definite issues here.
You never know where people come from or what they’ve overcome to get to where they are. Charles owns a vehicle, is perceptive enough to see a meal in a pile of apples that would have rotted, and has a good work ethic. I hope he finds his niche.
And there are plenty of people out there who think we have issues for driving around in the cars we have…. “Different drummer” seems just right to me. To each his own.
Nice bus
And well done, both Charles and Paul
Life is complex, we need each other more than we know ☺
That’s definitely a west coast thing. Very common in my neighborhood. There are many like Charles that we meet frequently. Everett, Wa.
There’s nothing wrong with marching to the beat of a different drummer.
I once had a psychologist say that about me.
And then he added ” and it’s not your fault they’re playing in a band in a different town”
Never quite understood that at the time but as I got older I do.
Now I’m proud of it!
Early bay window VW Kombi, had one it became lame when it ate a piston sold it to a wrecking yard, saw it again ten years later still in that yard and intact.
Reminds me of the movie The Lady In The Van with Maggie Smith. Eccentric person, van overloaded with stuff, probably some intriguing backstory behind it all.
I wonder how much of that strapped-on stuff would fit in my Wells Cargo Trailer…and yes I’ve done some customizing with it too! All of those road signs came from an antique store called “Raggedy Man LLC” in Heath Springs, SC. Quite a drive from where I live, but the sight of everything on display outside & inside the place is worth it! The cargo net was a leftover one I had from the Aerostar, the left floor mat was an old computer desk chair mat from our house, & the right floor mat came out of one of the Astros at Pull-a-Part.
Left view: Fuse box, Dome Light switch, Storage pocket, CITGO gas station sign, Junction highway sign
Right view: STOP sign, Street sign, Homer Simpson CAUTION–SLOW MAN AT WORK sign (THAT one came from Hobby Lobby, but it’s still funny!), Clipboard with Notepad, Storage pocket, Vintage SPRINGFIELD Wall thermometer showing Celsius AND Fahrenheit temperatures (& it STILL works too; good place for it as well without risking damage trying to nail it into the wall)