merle haggards gray ghost

bigred · April 18, 2016, 04:19:51 PM

Saw where the Gray Ghost has a new owner .Sure hope the person that got her will be good to her !! That bus was darned near as famous as Merle was!!

CrabbyMilton · April 19, 2016, 03:47:34 AM

Was this the J4500? I was never a fan of his but I looked it up after he passed away just to see if he had a bus. He had quite a few over the years.

bigred · April 19, 2016, 05:50:26 AM

I am not that familiar with MCI ,but best I can tell ,he has had this bus since 1999.It was a Hemphill bus .Don't know if it was a lease or a trade in ,but they were the ones that resold it .I do know that it was a 45 footer and it was GRAY. Considering the time frame ,I think he probably turned this bus in before he got sick.Don't know what he traded for.

CrabbyMilton · April 19, 2016, 06:43:22 AM

Try this. Like I said, I'm not much of a music person but my first inclination was to see if he had a bus.
http://www.ampthemag.com/the-real/gently-used-merle-haggard-tour-bus-for-sale/

bigred · April 19, 2016, 04:46:19 PM

Think this may be the one he traded the Gray Ghost in on.Im sure that the Ghost was a MCI ,Super Chief is an IR?

?? coach Then too ,ghost didn't have the Super Chief logo either .One of the guys on here I think drove some for the Hag .Hopefully ,he will straiten us out on this!!

Dave5Cs · April 19, 2016, 05:26:49 PM

Here's the last one he had. did a job for his Father in law who lives 30 minutes from us. Used to see one of his buses pull in from time to time off hyway 99 when I was in the area.
Dave5Cs

luvrbus · April 19, 2016, 05:33:15 PM

His last MCI was a J4500 Dave that is the 1st super chief I believe a model D his last bus was a Prevost. Dale Houston (songman) knows the history of Merle's buses they were friends

Dave5Cs · April 19, 2016, 09:16:09 PM

An Article in Gibson newsletter and the link below said it is being auctioned and starting at $250.000 . It also said that he and his family wanted him off the road because of his health and he went out the next day and bought it and then had some changes made, LOL

http://www.wideopencountry.com/merle-haggards-customized-is-on-the-market/
Dave5Cs

CrabbyMilton · April 20, 2016, 03:43:44 AM

Wonder if he ever drove it himself.

Songman · April 20, 2016, 07:31:00 AM

Hey y'all. Thanks for inviting me over here, Clifford.

Merle's buses since 1984 have been themed after the Santa Fe railroad, and called The Super Chief. Not sure where the grey ghost moniker came from in this thread.

The first Super Chief was a 1984 MCI 9. Merle has always used MCIs, after his first bus which was a Flex. The 84 Super Chief was silver with the Santa Fe Indian head logo on the side. The roof was cut off at the seam and a 12" flat panel was added all the way around for the raised roof. It was a very distinctive look. The band bus was identical, except for the shorter roof raise, and it was called The Chief. In that era, Merle had other buses that were for crew, studio, and video production... They all had SantaFe themes and names. These buses also had porthole windows in the rear lounge to match the theme of the original train.

The next Super Chief was a 1994 MCI DL3. It's the one Dave posted above. It is my favorite Super Chief. Merle still has it, and I talked to him about buying it a few years ago. It's been parked in his bus barn since the J4500 that replaced it was bought. The DL3 Super Chief was a little bit brighter silver than the original, but still maintained the Santa Fe logo and porthole Windows. The extra 5' made a huge difference in the design of the interior.

The 2007 J4500 Super Chief was my least favorite. That is the one that has been currently for sale. I don't want to hurt anyone trying to sell it, but it just wasn't a good bus. It was always breaking down, and the conversion wasn't very good either. It was not a Hemphill bus, as thought above. Merle gave a first time converter a chance, and it just wasn't good. This bus was also the first Super Chief that didn't have porthole Windows in the back.

Merle's final bus was his first ever Prevost. After the bad luck with the J4500, he finally moved away from MCIs after 40+ years of riding them. The new X3 Prevost was built by Hemphill. That's why Hemphill was selling the old bus. Merle traded it in on the new one. This bus is amazing! I was with him on the day Hemphill delivered it. This bus is the first Santa Fe themed bus that is actually grey instead of silver. It still carries the Indian head logo on the side, but for the first time in 30+ years, Merle's bus is simply The Chief, instead of the Super Chief. The reason for this change is kinda funny. All of the Super Chief/Chief buses since 1984 have had a big round light on the back with the logo and the name of the bus. The Chief was red, and the Super Chief was yellow, to match the train. As Hemphill was building the bus, they discovered that it was illegal to have a big yellow light on the back of a vehicle. So instead of having his bus be historically inaccurate, he decided to just go with The Chief and the red light on the back. The bus has a lot of other personal touches for Merle that go back to the train theme. Like a big handle beside his navigator seat up front that allows him to blow the train whistle! Of course, it has all of the electronic goodies that you would expect from an X3 VIP Prevost.

I went to Merle's memorial service at his ranch in Northern CA. They had the bus parked right there beside the chairs, with all of the lights on like it was ready to hit the road. He loved these buses. They were part of the job, but they were also a tribute to his father's railroad days, and a way of life that he loved. Some of you may have heard the rumors that he died on his bus. That is true. The bus was parked in his driveway, but he's spent most of his life on buses, and that's where he chose to finish the story.i

Just hard to believe that there will no longer be a Super Chief carrying the Hag across the highways anymore.

Songman · April 20, 2016, 08:03:15 AM

Merle's last bus - The Chief
2015 Prevost X3-45 VIP

I took these pictures on the day the bus was delivered, all except the last one with my Hummer in it. That was at the studio the day Merle finished up his last recording session.

Songman · April 20, 2016, 08:35:03 AM

Previous Super Chiefs...

The original Super Chief MC9.

This is not a great picture. It was filthy! You can see on the logo on the side that it says Super Chief. Also, look at the square above the windshield. Merle had a camera mounted up there so he could sit in the back and watch the road. This bus was slightly taller than the band bus, the Chief. Hard to tell apart unless you know what to look for.

This is The Chief. This is the only time the band bus ever matched Merle's bus. I share this one so you can see how good these buses looked when they were clean.

Next is the 1994 MCI DL3 Super Chief - my favorite.

And then, the last MCI Super Chief, and my least favorite. The 2007 J4500.

And to answer someone's question... Yes, in the old days, Merle was known to drive the bus! Sure freaked out lots of people to look up and see him sitting there! haha

CrabbyMilton · April 20, 2016, 09:39:21 AM

Thanks for those great pictures and your answer. I figured he must have driven them at some point. They were his after all.
Perhaps that's why MCI no longer offers a shell unless the converter goofed up something. Otherwise most reports about the J4500 are fine. I'm sure the bugs can be fixed. I wonder about that beautiful X3 in what will happen to that one. Hopefully that one will fall into good caring hands too.

luvrbus · April 20, 2016, 09:44:17 AM

Shame about the J4500 problems but he kept it going for 8 years though I heard it sold for under 90K

bigred · April 20, 2016, 01:46:00 PM

The one he traded in to Hemphill was listed for 99,000.OO but don't have any idea what it actually sold for.I am sure that since Merl's death .the value has increased substantially.