Buying back my bus, 15 years later...

[Hoodooman]

Hello, all.

I find myself back in the bus community, after a 15 year absence.

In 2009, at the age of 17, I purchased a 1971 VW bus on eBay, which I named "Daphne". I paid $1,200 for it, and drove from STL down to Amarillo, TX and hauled it back home.

It was to be my first major mechanical project, and I had some big dreams about what it would become, and the adventures that I was going to have with it. Shortly after getting it home, I posted on this site:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=390216&highlight=

It wasn't in awful shape, and only in hindsight do I understand how remarkably absent it was of corrosion. It was probably some headwork and a tune-up away from running, but in all the wisdom of a teenager I decided to pull the engine and rebuild it.

I did get the engine pulled, disassembled, and appropriate machine work done. I managed to put the engine together, though in hind sight there was probably some questionable workmanship involved.

Then, the project stalled. I met a girl, started focusing on work, and "Daphne" languished in my mother's garage. She sat, largely forgotten, until several years later. A neighbor asked about her, and I began pondering the idea of letting her go.

I figured I would never get around to working on it. He was intent on a restoration, so he said, and I figured at least she'd get the attention she deserved. I paid $1,200 for it, so I figured that would be a fair price. That, and an ounce of sweet, sticky weed.

He came and collected her, and that was it.

With time, my regret over that transaction built. I've had a fair number of machines over the years. Some of them were simply objects of utility, some of them I enjoyed for a time and let go easily, but the bus kept popping up in my brain. Strangely, I felt more attached to it after letting it go. I missed it, in a rather personal way.

At one point, about five years later, I made an attempt to track it down. I couldn't find the guy I sold it to, but I managed to find his mother. Well, he had gone to prison. (Drugs, kidnapping, and tanning salons- it's a wild story) I asked if she had any recollection of it and where it had gone. She remembered it, but said that she honestly had no idea what had happened to it.

I managed to dig up the VIN. It was nowhere to be found, hadn't been registered in years. The trail went cold.

I hoped that she was somewhere out there in a loving home, restored and cared for. I feared that she was in a field rotting away.

15 years later, I decided to set things right, in some small way- I'd buy another bus in need, and finish that project that I started. Bring one back to life and have those air-cooled adventures I had dreamed about as a kid.

Naturally, I popped on FB Marketplace. Typed in "VW Bus Sunroof". A few results come up. The third one looks interesting- a 1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bus, just like the one I'd had! "How cool would it be to have one that was just the same?", I thought. I click the ad.

She has some dents on the nose. That's weird, so did mine.

She's got speaker holes cut into the panels behind the seats. Huh, so did mine.

She's got a shitty aftermarket steering wheel. Strange, mine did, too.

She's got nasty, roller applied yellow paint. Check. What are the chances?

She's got some "Sierra Yellow" peeking out from under that nasty yellow paint....

At this point, I'm doing everything I can to keep myself from getting worked up. There's no sense, whatsoever, in getting excited- this cannot possibly be my bus. It's been 15 years, do I even really remember these little details?

I message the seller, staying as cool as I can, and I ask for the VIN. But, I have nothing to compare it to. I can't even remember where I had found the VIN on my previous hunt. Maybe an old cell phone pic on a long gone device. The seller says he'll get back to me the next day.

I figure I've hit another dead end. There's no way this is my bus, it's 400 miles away in a town in eastern Tennessee. I'm probably remembering the details of her wrong. I don't have a VIN to compare, anyways. I guess I'll never know.

But then, I remember.... THE SAMBA!!!!!

I manage to recover my username, reset my password, and get logged in. Thank god I've had the same email for the last 20 years.

Eureka! There in an old post, is the VIN. I barely sleep that night.

The next day, the owner shoots me a message. I hear the "ding", and I can hardly contain myself. Genuinely, I'm shaking. I pull up the vin on my computer, and open the message on my phone.

Goddamn, it's her!

He wants $6K, I tell him the story and offer $4K. We meet in the middle at $5K. I would've paid $50K. The deal is done, the bus is mine, again.

What occurred during the mysterious, dark times that we were apart remains unknown. The seller owned an aircooled VW shop, and said he had purchased it from a local. Presumably, it had never been on the road, as there is no record of it ever being registered.

I arranged shipping, and the bus was delivered a couple of weeks later. It was a surreal experience, seeing her roll off the trailer. It didn't seem possible until she was in my driveway.

It seems both Daphne and I came out of the deal, in the long term, worse off: I sold her for $1,200, and she was probably $500 and some elbow grease away from being a solid, running bus.

I bought her back for $5K, with no engine, a stripped interior, and some pretty bad rust. She's not beyond saving, but I think with a few more years out in the elements, she would have been.

So, I get a second chance at this whole thing. The repairs needed, especially the rust repair, are beyond my current abilities. I'm excited to grow and learn as I head down this path, and I'm also looking forward to being part of this awesome community again.

It's funny how certain interests attract a certain type of person. When I was a clueless kid (now I'm a clueless adult), every question that I asked on this forum was met with a great deal of kindness and generosity. Bus people seem like my sort of people, and I'm very happy to be amongst them again!

To all who have taken the time to read my endless rambling, thank you and I apologize. I'm rather excited about this whole thing.

Be Well,
Josh

[aeromech]

That’s definitely one of the craziest stories I’ve read here. Good luck with the project. Sometimes in life we have regrets and it looks like you’ll be able to fix yours.
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[Hoodooman]

Thanks, man! Second chances are a rare thing, huh?

[aeromech]

Yeah, there’s an old girlfriend I keep thinking about. One from 1974.
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[sunnydog]

I smell a legendary thread in the making! Everyone here wants to see you drive this bus around, and is ready to help. There might be some snarky comments, but there is no better resource than the Samba Baywindow community! Welcome back!
sunnydog
_________________
'71 Westy w/ a 1776 singleport, 34P3 & 205Q. Points.

[ImAddicted]

Great story, good luck! This is the place to get the guidance you need. If you know what you don't know, you are ahead of the game. There are people here who not only know what you don't, but amazingly share it willfully. Listen to them. Do not cut corners. Do not listen to anyone who "had one back in the day with a Porsche engine in it." I recommend starting at page 1698 and read back to the present. So much great information in forgotten threads.

[hutmo]

Superb! I had a 71 Westy that I sold in the Erie, PA area in the early 90's. I always wish I could do something like this. Received a letter that it was abandoned somewhere but I was in a bad spot in life (divorce) and I didn't care. The owner never transferred ownership after I signed the title.


HUTMO
_________________
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it is all about?

Samba Member #1115
Joined Feb 6, 2002

[KTPhil]

[Clementine79]

Cant wait to see the progress!
_________________
1979 VW BUS
Riviera Penthouse Model

[skills@eurocarsplus]

wow, that's wild.

congrats on getting it back.
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[dodger tom]

kismet.

good luck, josh.
_________________
1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[Manfred58sc]

Super cool! We will be watching this with great interest and hopes for a ride along road trip.
_________________
Fat chick owner/operator

[timvw7476]

[aeromech]

[Hoodooman]

[jlrftype7]

[KTPhil]

Fun as the old GF thread can be (and I do wish you the best of luck on that one, Gary), I am also eager to hear of the Bus Redemption tale!

I had a Schwinn bike stolen in HS, later recovered, stripped. I restored it like new... then 20 years later it was stolen again, never recovered. Better luck to you and yours!

Keep the thread going, with pics!
_________________
Current Fleet:
- '71 Fastback
- '69 Westfalia
Retired:
- '67 Beetle
- '65 Beetle (x2)
- '65 Bus
- '71 Squareback