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This post will take you on a condensed (really!) version of the journey that we’ve been on for the past couple of months to find our vintage bus.
We’ve had many requests to share pictures and stories of the various buses we’ve investigated. Perhaps sharing our process and top contenders might help others who are also on the hunt.
The Parameters of our Search
As we started hunting, we received sage advice to keep all options open, and to look at as many buses as possible even if we didn’t think in advance that a given bus was likely to be what we wanted. And we quickly discovered how wise this was. Every bus conversion is so uniquely done that every bus toured was a lesson in some fashion or another. Because the buses varied so much in quality, layout, features and condition, only by seeing such a wide range did we begin to triangulate in on what was important to us, and what it is we actually did and did not want in our new home.
It was however very difficult to resist the temptation to jump on the first bus that seemed acceptable, particularly after an unsolicited offer to buy our truck and trailer turned our intended leisurely plans for a year-long bus hunt from the comforts of our roving home into an adventure in being homeless backpackers traveling via an Amtrak rail pass.
With all the flux that was up in our lives (not to mention the needs to keep running our business), the siren song of settled stillness in a “temporary” home almost lured us in. But in the end, we are oh so glad that we waited until the right bus came along.
As we began educating ourselves about buses, we jumped immediately into the Bus Conversions Magazine forums, Bus Nuts BBS and anywhere else we could introduce ourselves to various bus communities. We also tapped into the invaluable wisdom of our bus dwelling friends Ben & Karen, and Sean & Louise.
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The bus nut community offered up a wealth of incredible advice, and we got invitations from several people to come spend time touring their buses and picking their brains. Bus folk love to show off, and with good reason.
Once our hunt was known, we started to get tips about buses that were not advertised otherwise, and we even set up a ‘Sell Us Your Bus’ database on our web site. Soon, dozens of contenders were rolling in.
We started our search fairly certain that 35′ was the max length we wanted in any future mobile home. We wanted more space than our Oliver, but we were coming from a 17′ trailer and knew that 35′ would feel palatial. We also wanted to keep as many options open for public campgrounds as we could, particularly considering that many were built before 40′ RVs were legal. The 35′ length also meant 2-axle buses, which was appealing to save on tolls, number of wheels & tires to maintain and not dealing with a tag axle.
But focusing on 35′ buses focused our search on buses made before the late 1960s, as very few smaller sizes were produced after highway restrictions changed to allow longer (and thus more profitable) lengths.
We were also fairly certain we wanted a parlor style coach – a bus designed for long hauls, geared for highway speeds, and featuring “luggage bays” that can be used for storage for house systems. This ruled out local transit and school buses from our search, and these buses are also harder to insure as full-time RVs as well.
The models of parlor coaches that were most appealing to us included:
- Flxible VL 100 and Flxliner
- GM 4104 & 4106
- MCI 5
- Classic Wanderlodges
At the beginning of our search, manual vs. automatic transmission was a neutral issue for us. Most of these buses started as stick shifts, though many were upgraded to automatic when they were converted to RVs. We knew it would take time to get good at it, but learning to double clutch and shift a big bus wasn’t all that intimidating to us.
But then we started hearing stories about manual transmission buses burning up clutches, having a hard time maneuvering in tight campgrounds, and trouble getting started on inclines. Automatics definitely seem to have an advantage here, and after riding in an auto-equipped GM 4106 down a hilly, windy dirt backroad in Virginia we were convinced it was worth the reduced fuel economy for us.
With a little experience under our belt, we focused on 35′ automatics.
Our Search Methodology
Finding a vintage bus is not as simple as going to your local RV dealer and picking one out. There is no ‘Bus Depot’ to tour many buses at once, unless your search happens to coincide with a bus rally. Most converted buses are individually owned, and the candidates are spread far and wide. It takes a dedicated investment in time and money to find an ideal candidate.
Lucky for us, we both love research and a good hunt.
The resources we used in our search included:
Sell A Bus – The website has great potential, but we quickly found that it was seriously out of date. Many of the sellers we contacted had long ago sold their bus, even though their listing was still active. And just checking the link today, we see no updates since we first started browsing in April. Even so, we did get a couple of good leads here.
Bus Nuts Classifieds – Has a few listings that gave us some leads.
Bus Conversions Magazine – Their online classifieds are very sparse, however their magazine is awesome. You can subscribe electronically, and there are several buses featured in their classifieds every month.
GM Bus Guy – He has listings for several buses. We did find when we followed up on some that they were already sold – so the listings may be somewhat dated.
HB Industries – Honest Bob maintains a list of buses for sale, many of which are parked at his lot in El Cajon, CA that he’s worked on. His listings are fairly up to date as well.
Bye Bye Bluebird – Matchmaker service for Wanderlodges (which are Bluebird buses that were made to be high end luxury RVs right off the assembly line).
Buses for Sale – Google for specific bus models for sale, and you’re likely to come across this site. They have an extensive listing of buses, and make it seems like they are the broker for all of them. But be very wary. What they seem to do is aggregate bus listings from eBay, Craigslist, etc. and mark up the price considerably so that they can then insert themselves into the transaction as a middleman. As best we can tell, they’re hoping that you’ll not be wise enough to find the original listing yourself and contact the seller directly. Kinda icky, if you ask us – but we did check their listings occasionally.
Motorhome Finds – This service also aggregates from Craigslist and eBay, but does so very authentically and transparently. We checked this site every morning to see what showed up on the radar, and we loved their interactive mapping features. The downside is, it searches specifically on the keywords ‘Bus Conversion’ and misses out on a lot of good options that we found on our own.
Claz.org – Another good site for searching all the Craigslist ads around the country at once.
Craigslist/eBay – We spent a considerable amount of time manually searching Craigslist ads in any area we thought we might be able to get to. It was time consuming, but yielded results we did not find any other way. Including the bus we ended up buying.
And of course, it helped a lot just getting the word out about what we were searching for. We had a lot of buses pass our way as tips from readers of this blog, friends, forum participants and more.
We would generally do a surface level nationwide search on a daily basis to see what cropped up, and then a more intensive regional search as we selected potential locations to travel to (generally towns near Amtrak stations).
From there, it was a lot of talking with sellers, diving in deep on research, tracking down the history of individual buses and deciding which were worth investing travel dollars, logistics and time to go see. This process grew complicated as flooding & wild fires shut down major Amtrak routes, forcing us to reroute several times.
The Buses on our Search
This will in no way be a listing of all of the buses we investigated. We actually ended up with a database of about 60 contenders. Yes, we have several hundred hours invested in the search process alone. We’ll only be highlighting the ones that piqued our interests enough to play a role in our routing.
We used Evernote to keep copies of listings and notes from communication with sellers, and tagged each entry with location, bus model, engine type and transmission. This worked out fabulously well – as we always had organized information, pictures and notes with us on all our devices (laptops, iPads and iPhones). If anyone is hunting for a 35′ bus and wants some leads, we’re happy to share.
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We quickly got overwhelmed with trying to keep track of all the buses we were considering, so we ended up making up names for our top contenders. The commentary below is in no way an endorsement for any of these buses, if you’re interested in any of them – make sure to do your own due diligence, interviewing, inspections and research.
“Scripture Bus” 1958 GM 4104 Sanford, FL |
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“The Penguin” 1957 GM 4104 Ogden, UT |
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“Hoover Bus” 1964 Flxible Flxliner Purcerville, MD |
![]() Update: In Sept 2012, we heard from a prior owner of this bus who was tracking down its history. During that search, he let us know that Hoover Bus found a new home earlier in the year. |
“The Gambler” 1973 MCI 7 Cambridge, MD |
![]() Update: In September 2012, this bus finally found its new home and will be moving to Phoenix, AZ with its new owner. |
“Rock Springer” 1967 MCI 5ARock Springs, WY |
![]() Update: In Oct 2011, the owners of this bus brought Rock Springer out on a mini-vacation and met up with on the road. To the best of our knowledge, they planned to keep it. |
“Oregon VL 100” 1959 Flxible VL100 Yachats, OR |
![]() Asking Price: $32,500 |
“Black Rock” 1976 Prevost ChampionRoseburg, OR |
![]() That said.. while we walked away from this being our full time home, this bus is a GREAT find for Burning Man and the fesitval circuit. So, if you’re looking for a sweet desert dweller.. call David at SOD. Asking Price: $20,000 |
“The Radiator”1961 GM 4106 Tucson, AZ |
![]() Asking Price: $32,000 |
“Bus-Osaurus” 1962 GM 4106 Phoenix, AZ |
![]() Update: Right after we bought our bus, in August 2011 we meet up with some nomadic friends in Flagstaff, AZ. They had been contemplating a different setup from their travel trailer – and upon spending a bit of time with us in our bus, decided they needed a bus too! We handed them our research on buses in the area, and they fell in love with Bus-Osaurus. A week later, we helped them pick it up! |
“Taxi Bus” 1961 GM 4106 Yuma, AZ |
![]() We gave it a lot of thought, passed all the pictures and information we gathered by every bus nut we had met along the way who offered advice. She passed muster of all of our trusted advisors. We knew Taxi Bus could be a gamble, as the current owner knew little about buses and the last loving owner was deceased. We’d be in Yuma, where few folks are this time of year – with no local bus support options. But we may have very well discovered a gem. So we made an offer contingent upon a few more tests, and after consideration – it was accepted. |
So, now that you’ve heard the hunt story, seen the asking prices for various buses in our search and seen a video tour of Taxi bus.. we’re taking a poll.
How much to you think we paid for ‘Taxi Bus’ ?
Thanks guys! As always a great source of information. Our minds are wandering… even with our well built “Lazy Daze” it just isn’t ideal for full time use we’re finding. Staples is right!
I started to notice that bus conversions mostly use house grade items/materials etc. Besides the engines that are built for heavy duty use, the house part also seems more conducive to living daily in.
So, I’ve been catching up on your bus posts, searching for tid bits and just discovered the “Wanderlodge” bus line. Really amazing design! I now have a saved search on ebay!
How very cool that you guys are considering buses! There are definitely some huge advantages to consider, as well as a reality check.
There are some very well built/converted ones out there – and there are some that are more DIY that may be of questionable quality. So research is in order. And some incredible deals to be had.
But getting service on these older engines can be a challenging and pricey endeavor. Think about what you’re encountering with the Yeti, and multiple it. So far, we’ve done pretty good with it.. but it something to budget for.
There are some sweet Wanderlodges out there, and we’ve gotten to see some in person now. Very well finished products. One downside to them however is how integrated they are – making them difficult to modify. That may not be a concern if you find ‘the’ one… but that became our biggest concern as we got further into them, as we intended to do lots of modifications.
Feel free to be in touch during your research, we’d be delighted to lend a hand!
wife and I are wanting to get an old bus fix it a little take a short trip come home fix a little take a little longer trip, you get the point. We also have a disabled son we want to see the country one mile at a time. We’re in no hurry just want the adventure with our son till the end of one of us. Hope you have some good advise. Thank you
I have been on the search to find the bus my grandfather converted in the mid 80’s. The bus was a 1960’s model but I’m not sure what make. I remember it was two tone baige and brown which he painted. I know when he bought it, it had all the seats still in it. It was a city transit bus, I would give anything to find it. I spent a lot of summers in that bus as we toured the north Georgia mountains providing music entertainment for the tourist. It was better than any of the travel trailers I have had. Any sugestions on how I might find it?
Cool story. I’d introduce yourself on the various bus conversion forums (linked in this article) and see what happens. If anyone knows of it, it would be them. The more information you have on it, the better. Best wishes.
Hi, I bought the first bus I saw..from a Lot, BUT with the previous owners phone number and support. His father had done the conversion in the early 60`s, and left it to his son(the previous owner) who used it for the last 36 years. Less that $11K and built for full time. Hope the link works for pics.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1972938444090.2115296.1261904063&type=1&l=684b0564bb
We have been looking for a vintage bus conversion for about a month. I’m in Oregon, and have looked at all the local ones, traveling as far as southern Oregon coast to look for ours. Now I personally know the heartbreak associated with not having something work out – after much agonizing a 4104 we had hoped was the right one fell thru yesterday. There were too many little things wrong, and the tires were too old. It is very tough, but it’s probably for the best because I think we’d like an automatic 4106 like you have. Let us know if you know of one under $15k that was done right and kept up properly somewhere in the western half of the US. We’d also consider something other than a 4106, but I think our selection criteria and tastes would be very similar.
Hi Scott – we know the pain well!
I honestly haven’t kept up on what is currently on the market.. but I did see this one being talked about on one of the bus forums recently:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GM-4106-Bus-Motorhome-Conversion-Coach-Class-Diesel-Pusher-?cmd=ViewItem&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D2%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D4829115219827791391&_trksid=p5197.m7&item=180771293684#ht_500wt_1182
It would catch our eye if we were still in the market.
Unfortunately, until you thorough inspect a bus up close and personal, have it checked out by a mechanic and gone over all of the house systems with a fine tooth comb – there’s really know way to know if it was ‘done right’ and kept up properly. Even ours has had lots of issues to tweak out – we’ve already spent the purchase price of our bus in updating the maintenance (new tires, air bags, etc.). Just keep in mind, there’s a reason why these things go for so little money 🙂 It does take quite a bit of effort to bring them back online… and definitely budget a solid $10-20k in addition to purchase price for handling that.
Best bet is finding one that is currently or recently on the road.. and best way to find those is to get involved with the various bus nut communities and start networking. Attend rallies, etc. (up in OR, apparently there’s quite an active community). A lot of buses get sold word of mouth and never actually make it to the open market.
I love seeing all of your research! This is exactly the way that I made my decisions as well, by looking at a ton of different options and then creating my compare/contrast charts.
I know nothing about buses but I had no idea that they could still cost so much for those older years. WOW! A few where more than $25k are they really worth that much are where the interior basically redone? The Radiator and Bus-Osaurus were my two favs.
How about $17,500? Lots of quality, but I’ve been in Yuma in the summer and am also aware of the local economy.
Lot’s of great info on your site. Glad to see the bus hunt story, and I browsed some of your other wisdom too. Will get back to that again, especially the part about getting rid of stuff.
And as a wild guess, $21,000. The interior shows quality workmanship.
We, too, found our 1982 36′ Newell on Craigslist. Again, it had a picture of the exterior and a very perfunctory description. It was in Palm Springs, and we happened to be going down there for a wedding that very weekend, so we made an appointment to see it. The rest is history. It was not our first class A to look at, but Elaine fell in love with it immediately. Fortunately everything checked out solidly, and we owned it two weeks later. Haven’t looked back. We, too, wanted a 34-36′ coach for the same reasons, and it has worked out well.
wow…what a saga! Congratulations (I think) on your new baby! Hope you filmed your trip — it would make a great mini-documentary. =)
oh yeah…20k.
16,499!
Is this like “Price is Right” ? I’ll guess $16,500.
Well, kinda like the Price is Right. Biggest difference being, you don’t win our bus if you guess right 🙂
After your tips of current vintage bus pricing, I change my guess-timate from $25K to $11,900. What a fun journey … thanks for sharing. Vintage RV’s are such a turn-on for us too. Our 1978 Holiday Rambler travel trailer has been a fun remodel project.
Hi Cherie, Chris and Kiki, hope are all well. Thanks so much for the story of finding you new home. Sounds like a great adventure. I could just picture some of the things you were doing in my head as I read it. As for the price you paid, I’d say around 16,250.00. The interior looks awesome and the outside just as great. Any plans to paint her/him? Not that she/he needs it, maybe just a real good shine, HA HA. Enjoy and keep us posted on all you do. Hope to one day see you on the road.
Respectfully, Steve
Thanks Steve 🙂 We had an awesome cleaning crew out yesterday to give her a spa treatment.. and she’s shining up all pretty like! Considering the paint is likely over 20 years old, it’s holding up pretty good… so we’ll probably hold off on painting and concentrate on other projects.
I am guessing you got the bus for $9,000? The guy was motivated to sell, after all… Do I get the time honored no-prize? 🙂