Official Swivel Seat Bus Thread

[Aaron]

I hope people will contribute and compile a comprehensive registry of the known Swivel Seat buses and the various details associated the model.
I am by no means an expert on this model bus. Some basics information I have gathered is listed below (please correct me if any of the following is incorrect).

M-code 199
Years of production 1959-1962

-The Bulkhead: Small "Ears" rather then the seat width walk-thru bulkhead or the non existing flip-seat bulkhead. Interesting side note. There are two different Swivel Seat bulkhead profiles. One is wider at the top and the tube meet the B-pillar at close to 90'. The other has a narrower profile at the top and the tube meets the B-pillar without running parallel to the floor.
-Asymmetrical Bulkhead Swivel Seat: Swivel bulkhead on drivers side, walkthru bulkhead on passenger side. My understanding is that there is one period photo and one bus known to exist.

-Double Swivel Seats: Seems like the verdict is still out on this one.

-Factory Passenger Seats in a Swivel Seat Bus: Seems most did not have a passenger seat. My Highroof does have a factory passenger seat belt and the remains of some type of mount. I'd like to see more detailed pictures of passenger side pedestals.

I hope Swivel Seat owner will contribute images and production information about there buses. Thank you.

[Aaron]

Here's a good photo (taken from the gallery) of the Swivel Seat layout. This show the wide profile bulkhead.

Here's a picture (from the gallery) of the narrow top profile bulkhead.

and, "The Seat"

Anyone care to guess how many SS busses can be accounted for?

[splitpile]

I have a 1960 SS kombi and a 1960 SS DD panel. I also USE to have a 59 SS Kombi (went to heaven)

J Dot needs to pipe in, I believe he has 3 SS's

SS high roof is the shitzer though. A very cool find
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[thom]

Here's a 1960 SS DD panel I passed on a few years ago - two weeks later I found a 1955 westy, so I guess it worked out. This one was advertised in the newspaper (remember those days?) for $1000. It had some various hacks, and it didn't have the swivel seat, which is why I passed.

_________________
-Thom
1956 Single Cab
1957 Porsche 356A Sunroof
1957 23-Window Deluxe
1957 Mercedes Westfalia single cab
1963 Unimog 404
1965 E-Type

[powellscooter]

Here are a couple of pics of my 61 SS panel.
30 08 0
360 199
UA 211 blue

[Aaron]

Here is the passenger side seat pedestal from the SS Highroof. You can see the factory passenger seat belt mount and the remains if the mounting hardware. The hardware is attached with Kamax bolts and painted the factory body color. Has anyone seen anything like this before or have an idea of what type os seat might have been installed?

[sled]

Ive been trying to remember all morning where I saw it, but im almost sure I saw a double swivel bus.


also, I seem to remember there being two different kinds of drivers seats, one with a solid frame top/bottom, and one more similar to a later 1/3 front seat that has a hinge.

could be wrong though
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[sled]

hey aaron, that passenger seat belt loop looks originally installed based on the paint, but it seems a bit odd in shape? is that where the buckle latched onto? all the seatbelt mounts I have seen utilize belts similar to those of bugs/ghias etc. The drivers side belt mount on that bus is much different.


very curious.
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[Aaron]

Passenger seat belt and drivers side seat belt mounts are identical. The tool cubby allows you to see the inside of the driver side one. The pass side uses a reinforced captured mount. There is no nut, washers, ect in the wheel well so it's not just a bolt on deal.

[Long-roofs]

Single Swivel Seat '59.

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I have been on a treadmill drinking vodka, maybe more than once.

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[Aaron]

Jake, your right. I've seen 2 different styles of seat frames pictured. One with a solid tubular frame the other with an attached back rest. The solid tubular frame seems to me more common. Could it be early vs late? Maybe someone can chime in on this. Also, are the different bulkhead profiles an early vs late thing? The wide profile is more common. Where are all the '61 and '62 SS busses? Any '63s? Most seem to be '59 and '60s.

[Aaron]

Here's a picture of the second style seat. Not to mention the skinny profile bulkhead and the asymmetrical bulkhead (and a slider but that's for a different thread). If anyone has one of these seats will you please post some pics. The bus in this pic is such a curiosity that it's kind of hard to use it as much of a reference point.

[edmundo]

^^^i need to own that bus^^^
interesting thread, know nothing of ss busses, i like these educational oddball threads. keep it up y'all

[splitpile]

[Nic B-C]

Didnt the guy selling this hightop have the seat though?
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[Aaron]

-no that must have been a misunderstanding. When it was picked up it had a full-on cabin interior. Not camper but cabin. There was a wooden bed/bench rig across the front seats. All that stuff got ripped out and left in the snow. Must have been a few hundred pounds of crap. We were doing everything we could to simplify getting the bus back across the Boarder. God knows what could have been lurking in that interior.

From letters found in the bus while cleaning it out I've gathered the following.
A hippie family had purchased the bus in Alberta in the early '70s, drove it all over. There are '74 Mexico turista permit stickers in the windows. They then drove the bus up into the Canadian interior, squatted on some land and planned on building a log cabin. There were some very cool "inspirational" photos and drawings of cabins on the walls. At some point during this time they had a child.
Well, a winter in the bus with an infant/child was enough to bring about a change of heart. They walked away from it and there the bus sat.
The "frontier" moved further North as the city of Edmonton grew and someone purchased the land and did some developing.
As luck would have it a German car enthusiast moved to the area and thru a series of random conversation ended up hearing about the bus. He had an idea it was something of interest and dragged it back to his place. After sitting on it for a while he put it up for sale.
The pre-hippie history is a little vague and I'm working on getting it sorted out. I'm also trying to track down the family to whom the letters belong. I'd love to return all that stuff to them if they were interested in having it.
More to come........

[Touch Nicks Thing]

Swivel Seat panels are for people with no friends

[Aaron]

Early solid frame swivel seat and the later folding style. The folding seat is different then a regular drivers walk-thru seat but uses some of that hardware. Both of the swivel bases are the same. I'm guessing the change happened at the same time as the bulkhead profile changed, right around '61. If anyone know differently I'd be interested in more details.

I posted some more pics in the bus parts gallery.

[j.pickens]

Nice side by side photo of the seat bottoms.
I gotta check my non-folding seats. I didn't think they had the curved seat back frame.
I'll let you know what I find.
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[Aaron]

I've only seen these two styles of seats, I'd be interested to know if there are others.
On a side note, for the people that have contacted me: Yes both of the seats I posted pics of are mine and no neither is for sale at this time.
The good news is that I don't think these seats are all that rare, they're still floating around out there. I came up with 2 in a mater of months and got both plus another SS bus for about what some people feel a single seat alone is worth.
PS. I have word another ss bus has surfaced, pics should be up some time soon.