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kenshapiro2002
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was lucky in that Virginias DMV is a great help. Maryland's is not. If john can't find the original owners information for me I can't turn to my own state for help... The original title was indeed in Maryland.
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UZI
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i bought a bus off of ebay one time. i picked the thing up, got it home and started going thru stuff. it was from a wrecking yard in north jersey. i found some cool stuff including an old registration from 1988. it was a fairly unique sounding name, i knew the town where it was registered so i googled the owners name. the name that came up had the exact same address as the registration. i called the guy asking him if he had any old pictures of the bus. he said "well, i suppose i could go down to the barn and take some"

turns out he bought the bus, drove it once and put the bus away in 1988 in his barn, then sold the property to a neighbor. the neighbor let him keep the bus in the barn (according to him) but according to the neighbor he sold the property with the barn on it and the barns contents. he tries telling me the bus is stolen. what happened was that the neighbor had someone cleaning up the old farm property. scrap metal was really high at the time so this guy grabbed everything that was metal and hauled it to the recycler. i told him that the issue was between him and his neighbor. if he wanted the bus back, he could come and get it. end of story. he didn't want the bus in the first place.
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Stanagon
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

where is that bus now uzi? Did you pass along the history?
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UZI
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stanagon wrote:
where is that bus now uzi? Did you pass along the history?


it went like this: i had borrowed a set of wheels to get the thing home. i jacked it up, pulled the wheels and the next day i came in the motor was laying on the ground. the frame was completely rotted in front of the torsions. everything was completely rotted. i confirmed that the "PO" didn't want it back and parted out what i could and cut it up. there was no history to pass on but it's a story i love to tell about tracking down previous owners. this guy seriously thought that he could sell a piece of property, leave a vehicle on it for 20 plus years and not pay rent and think that the bus was gonna be there when he went back.

when i cut it up, i cut the roof off first. the only think holding the nose on was the heater tube. the rear of the bus had already fallen in half. the only thing holding the transaxle in was the brake cables. it was full of window screen and tar. all the rust was bondo'd over.you'd never know how rusted this bus was by looking at it. it was a doublecab.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

this is after i jacked it back up. you can see the motor hanging.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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Stanagon
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Save the gates, anything else?
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mandraks
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 10:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sweet canopy
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UZI
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 5:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

gates were full of bondo. some guy in australia wanted them anyway. jDOT spotted the frame rust. i offered the guy half of what he wanted on ebay because there was no mention of it. i paid $1200 which i figured covered the hoops and canvas (which was stored under the rear seat). aside from that there wasn't much that was any good. i sold the roof to a guy in SF for $800, i sold the crew door escutcheon to a guy in FL, some guy in long island got the front doors for free. the rest is gone.
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j.pickens
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, the canvas. It amazes me to this day that the canvas survived in such good condition in that mess of a bus.
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jeffavatech
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 07, 2014 8:17 am    Post subject: craigslist Reply with quote

How did you format your request? I will try that avenue in my quest.
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SkooobaSteve
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 07, 2014 8:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sometimes its just a dead end, I contacted the og owners daughter about pictures of the bus I got from them. She went through 3 boxes of old pictures and there were none of the bus. Although it was cool to hear stories about it, would have been really neat to have some old pictures of it in its hay day.
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Riff Raff
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 7:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Certainly one of the allures of logo'd buses is that they wear their history on their sleeves.

My SC was originally owned by the Humboldt Co-op.
I e mailed back and forth with the current manager when I first discovered the buried logos, but the truck had not belonged to them for 45 odd years and no one around remembered it.
I plan to drive it out there this summer for their annual car show and that may spark some memories of it.

My 15 was pulled from a quonset in Rosetown. I'll see if Ken remembers where, as I have to go through Rosetown on my way to Humboldt anyhow, so maybe I'll see if I can look up the PO for the 15 (whom I believe was original owner).

I like to know as much history of my buses as possible.
Knowing the history adds to the character (not just buses, but any person, place, thing).
As ourselves and our buses age, the window of opportunity to learn their history closes further every passing year.
As we are just current stewards, it behooves us to learn as much as possible to pass on , along with the bus, to the future stewards before it is lost
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kenshapiro2002
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 9:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Riff Raff wrote:


I like to know as much history of my buses as possible.
Knowing the history adds to the character (not just buses, but any person, place, thing).
As ourselves and our buses age, the window of opportunity to learn their history closes further every passing year.
As we are just current stewards, it behooves us to learn as much as possible to pass on , along with the bus, to the future stewards before it is lost


Well said. My feelings exactly.
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Jack 1
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 3:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting thread, I live in the Uk and have recently purchased a bus imported from California, I think I have the guys name on the title. The bus is a 1960 So23. I would be interested in who owned the bus and any history, pictures and missing parts etc. also found some interesting things found in the bus while stripping it. I can post pictures and details if that helps tracking the previous owner ?
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kenshapiro2002
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jack 1 wrote:
Interesting thread, I live in the Uk and have recently purchased a bus imported from California, I think I have the guys name on the title. The bus is a 1960 So23. I would be interested in who owned the bus and any history, pictures and missing parts etc. also found some interesting things found in the bus while stripping it. I can post pictures and details if that helps tracking the previous owner ?


My take is that posting HERE isn't going to get you much. Gotta do the detective work, some of which I discussed in my search.
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kenshapiro2002
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kenshapiro2002 wrote:
kenshapiro2002 wrote:
Thank. Just sent my newest discovery PO a letter.


Mailed the letter yesterday, but today, the guy saw an ad of mine on Craigslist down in Virginia and responded! We just spoke on the phone for an hour. I absolutely have a silver spoon up my ass when it comes to this stuff...always seem to find what I'm looking for. That and good detective work. He found the bus in 2000 "nosed up against an oak tree at a small car repair shop in Indianhead MD". It was headed to the crusher after sitting there for over two years...no payment by owner for work. My guy, John, bought it for $200. He owned it until 2011 and was able to tell me lots about its condition when he got it,what he did, etc. He was super excited to hear from me and know its being saved. He simply didn't have the time or money to do it. We're friends now and he says he will definitely take me up on my offer to come see the bus from time to time. He wanted to see all the shots of the work I've done...said he almost cried when he sold it three years ago. Also turns out he was only the second owner. The original owner who bought it in Sept. 1966 was the same guy who left it at that small car repair shop 32 years later in 1998. John is sure he has that guy's name and contact information and promised to followup on that. Nice evening !


Persistence pays off. Been three months and John hasn't been able to come up with anything. Somehow I blew off his mentioning of buying the bus from a place called "Scooter's". Guess because he said it wasn't there anymore and had been paved over. Today I figured I'd do my detective thing and see if I could find the previous owners of this deceased business. Turns out it still exists! Just got off the phone with a woman there who said, "I'll talk to George...he's been here 30 years". I got her excited about the search too...even texted her some photos of "The Turd". Should hear from George soon one way or the other.
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Vintagespeed
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 4:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think it's intresting too. My bus was found on some field where it had been for 15+ years.

I found some old receipts from the earlie eighties and did some searching.

I found her on Facebook, a retired lady, and she was stoked that her old bus was now fully restored and driving across the world in Belgium. She loves it and tells all her friends of this cool story.

We're still in contact from time tot time Very Happy
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Dave K 2
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My 1960 Westy had a stack of old registration in one of the cabnets dating back to the 1960s. I was able to track down several prevous owners and not only got to learn much of the busses history one of the PO led me to the original tent and polls that I was able to purchase.
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kenshapiro2002
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kenshapiro2002 wrote:
kenshapiro2002 wrote:
kenshapiro2002 wrote:
Thank. Just sent my newest discovery PO a letter.


Mailed the letter yesterday, but today, the guy saw an ad of mine on Craigslist down in Virginia and responded! We just spoke on the phone for an hour. I absolutely have a silver spoon up my ass when it comes to this stuff...always seem to find what I'm looking for. That and good detective work. He found the bus in 2000 "nosed up against an oak tree at a small car repair shop in Indianhead MD". It was headed to the crusher after sitting there for over two years...no payment by owner for work. My guy, John, bought it for $200. He owned it until 2011 and was able to tell me lots about its condition when he got it,what he did, etc. He was super excited to hear from me and know its being saved. He simply didn't have the time or money to do it. We're friends now and he says he will definitely take me up on my offer to come see the bus from time to time. He wanted to see all the shots of the work I've done...said he almost cried when he sold it three years ago. Also turns out he was only the second owner. The original owner who bought it in Sept. 1966 was the same guy who left it at that small car repair shop 32 years later in 1998. John is sure he has that guy's name and contact information and promised to followup on that. Nice evening !


Persistence pays off. Been three months and John hasn't been able to come up with anything. Somehow I blew off his mentioning of buying the bus from a place called "Scooter's". Guess because he said it wasn't there anymore and had been paved over. Today I figured I'd do my detective thing and see if I could find the previous owners of this deceased business. Turns out it still exists! Just got off the phone with a woman there who said, "I'll talk to George...he's been here 30 years". I got her excited about the search too...even texted her some photos of "The Turd". Should hear from George soon one way or the other.


Well...Scooter's had no files or memory to help me. Went to my last resort and paid a private investigator. Cost me a mere $60 (worth it to me). I now have every piece of this 47 years old puzzle. Just contacted the original on FB...waiting to hear back. If not I have an address, phone number...
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nyr208
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Any update? Curious to know. Good luck
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kenshapiro2002
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, that original owner I contacted on FB got back to me and we've become friends. Unfortunately, he wasn't the original! He's the second owner. He bought my bus and a panel from the original owner in around 1980. He has no recollection or paperwork of that deal 34 years ago. I'm still running a craigslist ad down in DC asking for information. I'm the sixth owner and so far I know about owners 2-5. Still working on it.
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