Wednesday, May 11, 2011

'64 VW 21-window bus

The Deluxe Bus that got away... Still tough to swallow after a decade.

Found this barn fresh all original Samba in OH. Hadn't seen the light of day since '72, having only logged 57k miles. Loaded with options and original Empi accessories - this was one sweet splittie!

The owner had the task of clearing dozens upon dozens of his father's cars. The '64 was pinned in by a couple tons of junk in addition to 7-8 inop vehicles and 2 tractors. In other words, it wasn't leaving anytime soon. Came to an agreement and left a $500 deposit. Called monthly to check progress and stopped in periodically over the next 16 months with virtually nothing done. Offers of manual labor were repeatedly rebuffed. Then one unannounced visit the bus was gone! Owner explained someone drove up 3 hours to buy another car and when the '64 Deluxe was spotted, he immediately changed gears. He was leaving with that bus. Ended up offering more money - which can't be faulted. However, that owner had an obligation to call when it was going down and relay the situation. No opportunity was given to match price and the owner was the only reason the bus was still there in the first place.

Lesson learned the hard way.

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