Today in Bus hunting history...

[sled]

[swharris]

[pondoras box]

An awesome find for me personally.

On May 1st 1993 my 23 window was stolen from me. Long story short the body shop that was supposed to do body and paint work on my bus closed and the owner disappeared. The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina didn’t do anything to help me try to recover my bus. For 30 years I did not give up hope. I bought weekly copies of penny savers and with the development of the internet I searched constantly for any buses that came up for sale. If I heard of even a rumor of a 23 on the east coast I went to check it out to see if it was mine. No luck. Then almost 30 years to the day it surfaced. I was able to recover it with no drama whatsoever. It is a little worse now but all the windows and sunroof is there the decklid apron and driver’s door is also present unfortunately the middle seat, lower part of rear seat and bumper are gone along with some of the NOS replacement metal along with the bulkhead with original M code plate is missing. But I have my bus back and I am very grateful and glad that the people that had the bus did not cause me any issues with recovery of my bus. I have records of the owner previous to me dating back to December of 1979. He named the bus Bobo so the name stays.

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Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[cdennisg]

Gotta know how you found it back, and what the "owners" said when you told them it wasn't their bus anymore.
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nothing

[pondoras box]

The bus surfaced on here for sale.

Way back when I was using the bus as a daily driver my girlfriend at the time painted goofy and Pluto on the doors and there were various other ways to identify the bus. The “owner” almost did not seem surprised to find out it was stolen as it obviously did not have a title other than the one in my name. I am trying avoid any clues as to who had it because they were a victim as well in this whole story. So if the moderators would refrain from putting the old ad information on here it would help protect the innocent if the person who posted the ad wants to respond to this post and share their part of the story then that’s their story to tell. But i will say they were not ever born when the bus was stolen.
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Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[DanM]

[Braukuche]

If that’s not “Bus Hunting” in the truest sense of the term, I’m not sure what is.
Can you tell us how the other victims ended up with it? Any clues on who the scum bags were that stole it?
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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

[cdennisg]

['64cal lookdub]

That’s wild, congrats on the recovery!

[ryans65]

was it in the same condition as it was when you last saw it? Looks like it was stripped out in preparation for body and paint work? Very cool to get that back after all these years!!

[pondoras box]

No definitely not in the same condition it was running and driving, in fact it was my daily driver when it was stolen. I am going to start an actual thread on this bus that tells the story. It is a long story from beginning to now.
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Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[Graysvws]

I doubt the innocent victim is active on the forums. The bus was bought by said person in a package deal with a bay window off of marketplace. The 23 was not advertised on marketplace. I’m not sure if the seller on marketplace was even 100% aware of the bus being stolen. It was a lady selling her former husbands stuff off… stolen stuff haha. Surprise to everyone to my knowledge. Crazy situation, glad it all worked out between everyone. Cool bus
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Instagram @graysvws
'65 Double Cab
‘62 23 window
‘67 Mustang Fastback
‘82 Jeep Scrambler

[pondoras box]

Just to clear up what Graysvw posted, no the seller was most likely not aware of the legal status of the bus. Her husband was not the guilty party here either. I know the name of the person who stole my bus.
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Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[Graysvws]

This is a find from 2021. The bud has been completely gone through since and is now up for auction on bring a trailer with no reserve.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1959-volkswagen-bus-12/

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Instagram @graysvws
'65 Double Cab
‘62 23 window
‘67 Mustang Fastback
‘82 Jeep Scrambler

[mtnbus]

great story !
congratulations

[LJay]

[LJay]

[dmonger]

Recently purchased this Super Solid 60’ Logo’d SC from an estate in the high desert of Wyoming. The Logos on the front doors are from Laramie County Community College. Sweet Complete Dual Treasure Chest Numbers Matching Truck with OG Motor and Transmission! Hope to have her running and driving soon!

[cdennisg]

Damn that thing is pretty dry. Nice score. Care to share the M-code plate with us?
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nothing

[mtnbus]

very nice SC ! congrats