Author |
Message |
xoo00oox Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2010 Posts: 2672 Location: East Nassau, NY
|
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:20 am Post subject: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
A professor from Suny Maritime College called my shop, they are searching for it for a project they are working on. Possibly in the south Berkshire County or bordering NY state area. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Clara Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2003 Posts: 12399
|
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:59 am Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
I expect if someone knew they had the Arlo Guthrie bus, they'd have let us all know. Good luck with the hunt! _________________ The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
boulderz Samba Member
Joined: February 05, 2009 Posts: 72 Location: VT
|
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 12:56 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
I read that the bus was scrapped:
The red VW microbus Guthrie talks about in “Alice’s Restaurant” has officially been “relegated to history,” according to a post on his Facebook page this summer."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/08/26/...story.html
"The Microbus that Guthrie and Robbins used to dispose of the garbage was eventually scrapped;[8] the Guthrie Center later acquired a replica that Guthrie occasionally drives.[41]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Restaurant
Although now that I reread those links it doesn't exactly seem clear it was in fact scrapped... |
|
Back to top |
|
|
EmpiGT Samba Member
Joined: January 27, 2005 Posts: 2597
|
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 6:11 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
I saw Arlo Guthrie in concert about 20 years ago. I hung out until everyone left and talked to him. I drove my splitty to the concert and tried to get him to autograph the dash of my bus. He had another show coming up and couldn't. But I did ask what happened to that bus, and he said it was scrapped many years ago. So I'm guessing it was scrapped in the 1980s. I did get some of my artwwork posters autographed. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
xoo00oox Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2010 Posts: 2672 Location: East Nassau, NY
|
Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:14 am Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
I guess there is always the possibility that "scrapped" in this case means it was towed to somewhere and is rotting away under an apple tree.
Does anyone know what the significance was of the orange circle with the red triangle in it? |
|
Back to top |
|
|
FarmerBill Samba Member
Joined: July 25, 2017 Posts: 766 Location: New England
|
Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:58 am Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
xoo00oox wrote: |
I guess there is always the possibility that "scrapped" in this case means it was towed to somewhere and is rotting away under an apple tree.
Does anyone know what the significance was of the orange circle with the red triangle in it? |
According to the movie it was the logo for "Trinity Racing Association" a motorcycle racing organization. It has also been argued that it was a thinly veiled reference to the red triangles that the nazis made political prisoners wear in the concentration camps. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Lind Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000 Posts: 9913 Location: idaho
|
Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:57 am Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
FarmerBill wrote: |
xoo00oox wrote: |
I guess there is always the possibility that "scrapped" in this case means it was towed to somewhere and is rotting away under an apple tree.
Does anyone know what the significance was of the orange circle with the red triangle in it? |
According to the movie it was the logo for "Trinity Racing Association" a motorcycle racing organization. It has also been argued that it was a thinly veiled reference to the red triangles that the nazis made political prisoners wear in the concentration camps. |
Kinda looks like the civil defense logo, but the triangle is upside down and the colors are different. _________________ .
Wanted:
Idaho VW license plate frames or other dealership items.
VWoA literature and early dealership or distributor literature/pictures/information
. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
madcitymcflyer Samba Member
Joined: February 18, 2005 Posts: 134 Location: Madison, WI
|
Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 1:23 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
Well, it was definitely a '66 or '67 Kombi....being "scrapped" in the 1980s was a common end for many splitties. One with a run-out engine, or worse, a bad trans would only bring $150 or so, if anyone even wanted it. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Clara Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2003 Posts: 12399
|
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
madcitymcflyer wrote: |
Well, it was definitely a '66 or '67 Kombi....being "scrapped" in the 1980s was a common end for many splitties. One with a run-out engine, or worse, a bad trans would only bring $150 or so, if anyone even wanted it. |
east coast buses get nasty salt rust _________________ The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/ |
|
Back to top |
|
|
ctrangie Samba Member
Joined: May 07, 2009 Posts: 5 Location: Connecticut
|
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 7:08 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
madcitymcflyer wrote: |
Well, it was definitely a '66 or '67 Kombi....being "scrapped" in the 1980s was a common end for many splitties. One with a run-out engine, or worse, a bad trans would only bring $150 or so, if anyone even wanted it. |
The actual incident was 1965, so it would have been a 65 or earlier bus. They probably used a different bus in the film 4 years later.
I had an older guy stop me to talk about my bus last summer. He said he had a blue and white 67 in the 70s. He advertised it for sale in the local paper and Arlo showed up and drove it home.
They keep a red vanagon at the church now. _________________ 67 Westfalia
68 Meyers Manx 1 |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Blue Baron VW Aficionado
Joined: June 16, 2006 Posts: 24037 Location: Southeast USA
|
Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2021 9:47 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
If you look closely at the bus in the film, you can see it was repainted solid red. On the door jambs it's two-tone red and whitte. _________________ We are striving for perfection, to make our cars run forever, if possible.
Heinz Nordhoff |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Combinations Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010 Posts: 286 Location: Massachussets
|
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:40 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
I live 5 minutes far from the Gutrhie Center, they don't have the split anymore. They have a red vw bus from the 90's now, same red with that same triangle. And yes if the split is somewhere in a field, it must be dead by now. The weather here is no good sitting vehicles. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Znolstein Samba Member
Joined: November 21, 2021 Posts: 1
|
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 1:15 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
To Clarify for everyone, this is a research project which I am conducting for a class at Suny Maritime. The bus must be 65' or earlier because Arlo and his friend were arrested in 65. I spoke with Arlo Guthrie and according to him the movie had two busses for filming that had no relationship to the actual bus which was owned by Ray Brock, Alice's husband of the time. While the ultimate goal is to determine what happened to the original bus, if anyone can help me to identify the exact model and year of micro bus used in the movie, I would greatly appreciate it as well, because they are both important American Artifacts which had a very powerful impact on American culture.
Thanks, Zachary O. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Braukuche Samba Member
Joined: September 03, 2004 Posts: 10997
|
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 1:41 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
Judging by the bumpers 66 or 67. _________________ Go Reds! Smash state!
Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now |
|
Back to top |
|
|
velvetgreen Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2004 Posts: 2744 Location: Canada
|
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 3:39 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
It is hard to definitively say what year Arlo's red bus was given that the original pics provided of it are so grainy.
(Bus nerd alert) Compounding the problem was that back in the day people weren't as concerned if their bus wasn't 100% year correct authentic (even the factory was not that concerned at hard stops and would typically use up old stock (bumpers, rims, innie/outie engine louvers, high hinge vs. low hinge cargo doors etc etc etc) on early models of the "new" year before transitioning to actual "new" features )
So for example if a bus got in a small accident and say needed a bumper replaced it might not end up being replaced with year correct bumper (see point vs. slash bumper ends)
Anyhow based on what has been presented on some grainy 50+ year old pictures the bus does indeed appear to be 66' or 67' based on the pointy bumper ends alone. Whether it is 66' or 67' gets harder to determine, a pic of the gas filler door, dash board or engine lid or back of bus would help get to the bottom of that.
Truthfully 99.5% of people would not know the difference anyway much less care quite likely between 66' or 67' bus or whether that red was factory original paint or a respray. They just want to see a cool old red bus that looks like the one in Alice's restaurant and have a trip down memory lane. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
ach60 Samba Member
Joined: May 14, 2001 Posts: 4139 Location: Santa Maria
|
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
EmpiGT wrote: |
I saw Arlo Guthrie in concert about 20 years ago. I hung out until everyone left and talked to him. I drove my splitty to the concert and tried to get him to autograph the dash of my bus. He had another show coming up and couldn't. But I did ask what happened to that bus, and he said it was scrapped many years ago. So I'm guessing it was scrapped in the 1980s. I did get some of my artwwork posters autographed. |
Here is the rub, a maintained Bus would just keep running, and be used year round, until it rusted away.
Where as a Bus that stopped running, might be pulled into a shed or barn, for repair when ever they get around to it.
Arlo Guthrie likely saw the utility of a VW Bus, and had the money to maintain it,
and he didn't have significant personal issues that would have killed the Bus, unlike Jim Morrison' Blue Shelby Mustang.
So if Arlo said it was scrapped, it was scrapped.
As a kid I wondered around a lot of VW "junkyards" behind VW repair shops in the Northeast, in the 60's & 70's.
Most of those are gone too.
Link
Did he say "the blue bus is calling us"? _________________ Good Luck
Al |
|
Back to top |
|
|
BulliBill Samba Member
Joined: July 09, 2004 Posts: 4572 Location: St Charles, MO
|
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 9:13 am Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
Yep! That's what I hear too. "the blue Bus is calling us"...
Bill _________________ I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton
Thanks for any help! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Lind Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000 Posts: 9913 Location: idaho
|
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:31 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
I have heard that the references to buses from the Doors, the Who and the Beatles Magical Mystery tour are all vaguely related to Ken Kesey's Furthur bus. I have never heard anything relating them to VW buses. _________________ .
Wanted:
Idaho VW license plate frames or other dealership items.
VWoA literature and early dealership or distributor literature/pictures/information
. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
FarmerBill Samba Member
Joined: July 25, 2017 Posts: 766 Location: New England
|
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:54 pm Post subject: Re: Arlo Guthrie bus- Does anyone have any information on it? |
|
|
The only famous songs I know with VW bus references, besides Arlo Guthrie's, are C.W. McCall's "Convoy" and Men at Work's "Down Under". |
|
Back to top |
|
|
obus Samba Member
Joined: March 08, 2001 Posts: 11065 Location: just off Garden State Parkway Exit 81
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
|