Our 1960 VW Panel bus started it's life in Tucson Arizona. Owned by Bob Brickman of Brickman Dry Cleaners at the corner of 6th Street and 7th Ave in Tucson, AZ. Bob Brickman was a sports promoter in Cleveland and promoted the boxing match between Sugar Ray Robinson and Jimmy Doyle before relocating to Arizona. Number 7 in the fleet, the bus was originally Dove Blue and was repainted white with Brickman's Dry Cleaning logo. The nose was cut off and was being used as a kid's playhouse, when "John Ghia" from California BusBoyz brought the bus back to East Los Angeles, CA where he painstakingly drilled out thousands of spot welds and fitted the nose of a 1960 Single Cab.
John sold the bus to legendary surfboard designer Dale Walker in Orange County, CA. The little bus found a home driving up and down Highway 1, with surfboards hanging out the back. We couldn't even make this stuff up; our tagline has been "go out and surf the web…" since we started our company.
The bus was used to shuttle surfboards up and down Highway 1 in Orange County.
The bus is now number 1 in our fleet, and sports an adjustable front beam with 944 Porsche spindles, brakes and Porsche Fuchs Wheels. We are currently working with Harrison Auto Electric to outfit the bus with a new motor and get all the electrical working as it did in 1960. Hi-Fi USA can't wait to get their hands on this bus to put in a vehicle external camera system so we can see the road around us while we're driving. Since we're based in Northern CA, with the chilly mornings, Emad at HiFi USA is going to add some heated front seats to keep us toasty on those road trips.
Since we like to drive with the wind in our face; Safari Windows are being supplied by Wolfgang International in Redding, CA. Our weekends will be filled with long hours starting the process of straightening out yet another vintage Volkswagen bus. Fortunately, Bryan from Bruce's Body Shop stopped by and gave me a few pointers on straightening out the bus. His tips should shave off quite a bit of time. It's amazing what a difference experience makes.
We have a long road ahead of us for sure, but with help from our customers and our friends, we will finish this bus.