Hi everyone,
Since I am relatively new here I don't know a lot of the old timers. Who is the oldest bus nut on the board? Who is the youngest?
Enquiring minds want to know.......
Frank
I don't know about the youngest or oldest but I am the best looking ................................ Ok the funniest ;D
I vote Gary Labombard as the fastest!
Seen him sprint at a rally when someone pulled out with a hatch open. Amazing speed!
And Ron looks like me :D
I think you might need to clarify your question, Ken. Are you talking about the oldest in years....or the oldest in relation to Bus Conversions?
Inquiring minds want to know. :D
NCbob
Can't run fast like that no more John, back problems have done me in on that, If that situation happens again and to help notify the guy leaving with a hatch open I would have to try to hit the side of his bus with a cow plopping, like throwing a Disc.
Gary
Well, I know I am not the oldest becuse NCBob is older then me. Although I did have an ER nurse tell me once that I was so old I was around when the earth cooled. LOL Jack
I'm so short that my 6 foot plus son calls me the 2000 year old shrimp. Does that qualify me?
Why both of course Bob...........
Frank
Finally I get a chance to correct my friend who is not as speelingly challenged as he claims I am, the phrase, "enquiring minds want to know" has been replaced by "expiring minds want to know", this new phrase has come into practice after many research scientists, after studying the mindset of a busnut over an extended period of time, concluded that we are all suffering from a case of mental clutch slippage, ain't it fun? lol
Im 17 years old and ive got 2 buses. MCI 8 and a 9.
Okay, we have a contender for youngest bus nut, where are the entrants for oldest?
Frank
Well, I started out with a folding type tent trailer sometime in the early 60's. I believe Dodge came out with the first actual motor home about that time also. Pickup shells were starting to be used for campers also.
Richard
::)Oldest Bus Nut?
If you are talking about the age of that person or how long that person has owned his bus conversion?
If it's the age of the person who has been a bus nut all of his life.That likes buses their are quite a few of us old bus nuts around.
And the bus nuts who own a bus conversion some are young and some of us are old.
My self I am 65 years old and have been around buses all of my life starting back as far as the prewar ACF Intercity Brill coaches and the GMC Intercity coaches.
jlv ;D
After riping out the interior of our bus my back sure feels like the oldest........ OK...I know.... we all had to do that, so I guess at 42 I'm stuck in the middle age bracket again.....lol....
hello from tyler tx
i became a bus nut when i was in high school, saw a 54 sceniccruiser with white wall tires. never got to ride one , until i bought one i about 98 .which puts me in the 70 year club. thanks jt.
Quote from: kysteve on September 12, 2007, 01:17:41 PM
After riping out the interior of our bus my back sure feels like the oldest........ OK...I know.... we all had to do that, so I guess at 42 I'm stuck in the middle age bracket again.....lol....
Same here, Steve. 42 years old... But my first ride on a bus conversion came at three months of age in early 1965. I honestly think I have been hooked ever since even though I am just now attempting to do my own conversion.
Well, so far I believe I am the oldest at 75. I bought my first 4104 in the late 70's sometime, but I do not remember for sure.
Richard,
I could be wrong, But the other night I was talking to NCBob on the phone, and I swear he said
that he remembers when Lincoln joined the Republican Party! ;D
Bob, Call my bus an Ole Relic...Hmmmm! LOL :P
Cliff
Sorry Cliff but....
NCBob has already admitted his age and is younger that Richard (noted on Aug. 8,2007)
Out of respect for my elders I'll leave it at that.
I should be so lucky as you two. :)
Skip
I'm just a kid at 55 but my wife claims that she recruited lincoln for the republican party, so does that count? lol Expiring minds want to know lol. As far as owning a bus, my first was a 1936 chevy school bus that I bought in 1965 and used for a fishing and hunting camp for a couple of years until a guy gave me an offer I couldn't refuse for it, a whopping 500 bucks, I had only paid 50 bucks for it and couldn't believe that I could make a profit of that scale. I felt like an absolute criminal taking him to the cleaners like that, until I stop and think about what an antique like that was really worth, it was all original and ran like a top, only changes I had made were to take out the seats and add a bunk and a hotplate to cook on along with a discarded couch and folding table, I still had the seats and he took them too.
I suspect that some of us are old enough that we should no longer purchase green bananas. ::) :D ;)
Actually I'm just an older pup myself.
I can tie Richard, but no matter how long we live I will never pass him. I bought my first highway coach in 1979, a partially converted MCI Courier 96 1957.
Geez where can this thread go?
Might be oldest BusNut that frequents these boards but I know some a lot older than 75.
The Eagles International has a few members in their 80s.
I'm pretty sure somewhere there's a Nut that bought Silverside new.
Joe Laird
Huron, SD
I think Fred Hobe must be a contender for the title?
About 12 years ago I was looking at new sticks n staples to buy............THAT'S when I became a bus nut.
I eventually bought an EAGLE 05, and it should be 90% done by next spring...........I was 76 last may
Just a side note, my wife read the post I did on her recruiting Lincoln for the republican party and was a little miffed and made me promise to correct my post and make it right, so I'm doing that now, she is actually a democrat lol.
I know a bus nut that is 80 (he doesn't get on the BBs). Not sure how long he has had conversions. He has always had at least 1 since we have known them in the early 80's. Jack
Quote from: JackConrad on September 15, 2007, 05:00:23 AM
I know a bus nut that is 80 (he doesn't get on the BBs). Not sure how long he has had conversions. He has always had at least 1 since we have known them in the early 80's. Jack
You don't mean your early 80's do you Jack ??? ::) ;) :D
Sorry Jack, couldn't resist.
Anyhoo, Possibly the question was meant to be the nut with the Oldest Bus. Milicent is the oldest bus I know of, Any body have a bus that is older then Dallas's?
Anyhoo, Possibly the question was meant to be the nut with the Oldest Bus. Milicent is the oldest bus I know of, Any body have a bus that is older then Dallas's?
Not sure if it is older, But Dave Seigel has a beautiful 3751 Silverside. I think his is a 1948
What month was Dave's bus built? if it was Jan, it is older than me!!! And in much better shape I might add.
Just for the record... I ( Michael Kadletz) purchased my first bus at the age of 17... (1970) and have had them ever since... I'm 55 now, so that gives me.... a few years more than some, many years less than others. BUT! I operated buses as a passenger stage service in 1970 (Pink Bus Lines, in Orange County CA) I was the youngest bus operator in the country, which accounts for nothing. Just in case anybody was wondering. I know that the conversion stuff was well under way in 1970. I purchased my first 2 buses (1938 GMC transits) from Dave Carson who owned American International Bus Exchange.... $750 each I think is what I paid. That company was purchased by Hausman, which was taken over by MCI... I guess I could gom on and on, but I'll quit while I'm behind.
Guys, it looks like we're going to have to 'level the playing field' and seperate this into at least 3 categories.
Bearing in mind that Slow Rider, bless his intentions, was no doubt asking the question out of idle curiosity has opened a Pandora's Box which he now wishes he could close.
Why not settle for the Busnut who's been associated with legitimate bus conversions the longest.....and
The Busnut who has the oldest bus...... and
The oldest, in years, active Busnut who has actually done and/or is driving a Bus Conversion.
And not to forget guys like Richard, who have been an active part of our hobby for many years, and though without a bus at the moment should get more than just a mere honorable mention?
So it looks like possibly fours categories.
What are your thoughts?
NCbob
Ok, Time to chime in..
My dad converted his first bus in 1968, he is 76 yo now [dad, I know you will read this, sorry]. It was a flat nose scoolie. By the
early 70's he was allready converting his first of 2 4104's. This is where I became involved in the bus projects! I remember thinking How
Big this Bus is....Funny, a couple months ago, my bus was sitting next to a 4104 at Luke's shop and I said to myself, man, my 102C3 is
way bigger then the 4104 and I thought the 4104 was the biggest bus ever.
Nick-
Great Post Nick! I've had the pleasure of meeting both your Dad and Richard...that's why I thought we needed yet another category for these gentlemen.
We need to recognize the 'Trail Blazers' in Bus Conversions with the same respect we show the Pioneers who settled all of this great Nation.
Be they 'Schoolie's or not. They were Buses. I'm sure that when your Dad did his first Bus Conversion they were more available at a reasonable price than were the Intercity or the Highway Buses.
The Southeast Busnuts ID tag, which Jackie and I (and many others including Jack & Paula Conrad) proudly wear at rallies is a "Schoolie". We aren't ashamed of it!
Thanks for your thoughts.
NCbob
Hi Bob,
Luke Bonaguara [US Coach] is another long time bus nut that catered to the early bus converters. My dad bought his first 4104 [early 70's] from Luke when
he worked for Houssman Bus in Pitman N.J. [now MCI] I'm sure that there is still alot more stories out there...
Nick-
The Southeast Busnuts ID tag, which Jackie and I (and many others including Jack & Paula Conrad) proudly wear at rallies is a "Schoolie". We aren't ashamed of it!
Actually Bob, that club is the SE Cruisers. The bus on our logo is a Mack, The first bus made in this country. When the club was formed, there was much discussion about what to have for a logo. Of course the Eagle owners wanted an Eagle, the GM owners wanted a GM, etc. We finally agreed on the Mack for the reason listed above. And yes, it does look like a school bus! Jack
Quote from: JackConrad on September 16, 2007, 05:04:32 AM
The Southeast Busnuts ID tag, which Jackie and I (and many others including Jack & Paula Conrad) proudly wear at rallies is a "Schoolie". We aren't ashamed of it!
Actually Bob, that club is the SE Cruisers. The bus on our logo is a Mack, The first bus made in this country. When the club was formed, there was much discussion about what to have for a logo. Of course the Eagle owners wanted an Eagle, the GM owners wanted a GM, etc. We finally agreed on the Mack for the reason listed above. And yes, it does look like a school bus! Jack
We had a 1930 Model A Ford bus built on the AA truck chassis in our Model A club in California. Sure wish I had purchased it when I had the chance. It was original and with a minimum of work could have been restored to a thing of beauty. At the time I was too busy restoring my 30 Model A Roadster to be interested in an old bus. LOL
Richard
The first time I heard about bus conversions would have been about 1968 or 9. Cliff Moen owned the Chev dealership & body shop in Shellbrook. He had a conversion which I suppose he must have done himself - it never really occurred to me at the time to think about where the conversion had come from. He gave a few of us cub scouts a ride home from summer camp & I was one of the lucky ones who got to ride on the bus. Midway home his wife walked up to the front, said "is it time?", Cliff nodded yes and she walked to the back of the bus. After a while she came back up front and told us she had just dumped the sewer.
About the same time the local grocery store owner picked up two busses somewhere in BC and brought them home. For some reason it sticks in my mind that they were some kind of mid-engine configuration & I think they were probably transits. Jack got his conversion done & sold the 2nd bus to the local farm implement dealer but I don't think that one ever got finished.
My First Conversion was a 1935 Brill .. A real gas hog, with a straight 8 Buick engine.
My first bus was a 1940 Chevy Skoolie.
(I think I was about 12 years old when it was given to me). No engine or transmission, but it made a great fort and a fantastic place to "camp" in the summertime when the night was rainy. My stepdad towed it home with his nephew helping.
Dallas
Boy you talk about different universes.
Getting a bus in any form at pre-teen leaves me amazed.
At 12 I thought I was big stuff just taking the bus once a week from west Seattle to downtown
for music lessons.
More than once waiting for the bus I was never so releaved to be saved by "here's my bus"
and running into safety.
Though I must say both of my daughters were driving my grain truck at harvest for my by the age of 9.
Yep just different universe.
Skip