Anyone seen this one? 1967 MCI 5A Challenger Bus Conversion For Sale

[Barn Owl]

Whats the status on this one? Price seems right.

http://kevinwarnock.com/2011/01/06/1967-mci-5a-challenger-bus-conversion-for-sale/

[Seayfam]

Now that looks like a real good bus for the price. For someone wanting a low budget bus to use,      it probably won't last long.

Gary

[thejumpsuitman]

Holy Smokes!  What's the deal?  I can understand selling cheap, but unless there is something bad wrong he is not disclosing, that's just an absolute giveaway.  I'd buy it.

[trucktramp]

If that bus is close by I'd jump on it quickly.  I have a 5A that is a 1966 that is "complete" but not nearly finished and I paid just about that same price.  It's a great little bus that drives like a car.  Think of it this way, if you want to get into bus conversions for little money this is a good way to go.  You could get a lot less for alot more money.

[bevans6]

If the running gear is OK, this is a steal.  I love the stainless all the way up to the window line!  Sure it's an older conversion and could use some updating, but a fine looking vehicle!  Must have the Allison 640 series.

Brian

[Runcutter]

I don't think the price is unreasonable, or necessarily indicative of problems.  I actually think he's being quite reasonable.  Once the decision is made to sell, pricing the coach to sell is a very good idea.  Now, that doesn't mean that due diligence isn't called for on any coach.  You also want to plan for the purchase price being only a part of the cost -- anything you want to change/update/maintain/paint, new tires if needed .....  ......  ....... will add dollars. 

The market is extremely down, we're selling the 4107 for a fraction of what we put into it.  Even before we picked it up, we about doubled the purchase price with a new radiator, starter rebuild, and other stuff.  We can focus on the dollars we're out, or we can focus on what we have done with the coach (the main one being that my Mother in Law had her best trip to Canada because it was 13 hours of sitting in a living room, not the backseat of a car).  So, if we price the coach to sell, we stop our ongoing expenses. 

I'm not saying that this is what Kevin is doing -- I know nothing of his bus other than what he wrote.  However, if his bus interests you, don't let suspicion of the posted price alone scare you off. 

Arthur 

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Well, he said that he is 6'2" so that means he only has about 1 & 1/2 inches above his head.  He also said that he has an RTS .  I think that that is a heck of a deal for anybody starting out.

[thejumpsuitman]

Well by the looks of the number of responses on the web page and the fact that it's on Craigslist locally where he is, it's probably gone, but I threw my name in the hat just in case.

[artvonne]

  Man, if it were a few weeks from now I would jump on that one. Anyone who has the means and ability to see this should jump fast. The seller is confident in the bus, as expressed by his willingness to have it checked out, even allowing it to be kept overnight. Doesnt mean it couldnt still have a problem, but whatever it is its most likely minor. This is one you could just about take sight unseen.

[thejumpsuitman]

I just checked Craigslist in that area, and it's not listed anymore.  I'm sure she's long gone.  But that should attest to the kind of deals that are out there if one is patient.

[thejumpsuitman]

It's official...  Kevin was good enough to return my inquiry call.  It is sold.  He said it might have had a mold issue and that it was pointed out by the first people who looked at it.  He struck me as very conscientious in his video...  Maybe he was just trying to make me feel better   Not at all calling sour grapes, but that would have been a heck of a logistical issue anyway.  I an in NC and the bus is in San Francisco.  I would have used up a lot of my savings on plane tickets and diesel, not to mention embarking on a 3000+ mile trip with an unfamiliar vehicle and missing several days of work.  Would have been fun though.

[artvonne]

  Would have been fun though.

  I think about it the same way. The price is only one part of the equation, you have the fuel another, and the unknowns you might face yet another. Its like seeing all those Buses up in the PNW, there are always a bunch around Seatle. Long ways to go to find out you dont really want it, long ways to head home with something you know nothing about, and a lot of mountains between here and there to face. But the adventure of it appears fun. Maybe more so on paper.

[Kevin Warnock]

Hello all,

I'm the guy who just sold the MCI 5a bus conversion. I think the price I got, $5,000, was the right price, as the tires were all at least 8 years old so I advised the buyer to replace all 7 of them. That's a big expense right there. Plus, there was some smell inside. I always believed it was diesel that got tracked in from the pavement in truck stops. I thought the diesel got into the carpet and that's what I was smelling. I still think that's what the smell was. You got used to it in a minute after entering, as it was pretty mild. But a potential buyer and the guy who bought it both thought it was mold, so that might be what it was. The conversion didn't have any water leaks, but it did have single pane windows, and it was poorly insulated, so there could have been moisture from the condensation. The other big issue is the hoses were all old and need to be replaced at some point.

The mechanical side of things were quite good I believe. I drove it from San Francisco to New York and back with no mechanical issues, and it starts easily on the first button press, unless it's too cold out. It used 1 gallon of oil per 1,000 miles, which I found acceptable.

I pointed out every defect I could think of to the potential buyers, as I am very honest about these things, and I don't want to cheat anyone.

Thanks for posting this, which generated a nice amount of traffic to my personal blog at http://kevinwarnock.com

I write about my new conversion there, and recently posted this article about a plan I have to make a quiet DC generator from a Harbor Freight 11 horsepower engine ($250 on sale) and two car radiators to extract the heat from a sealed sound box. I would love to read comments on this idea before I start in on it. Here's the direct link to the article:

http://kevinwarnock.com/2011/01/23/plan-for-generating-electricity-cheaply-and-quietly-on-recreational-vehicles/

To the publishers of Bus Conversions Magazine: A while ago you asked for reader articles describing plans people have for their conversions. Is this linked article the kind of article you might be interested in? I have others on my blog too, including my plan to air condition the sleeping room overnight with water chilled during the day so the air conditioner can remain off for silence at night. The link for that article is:

http://kevinwarnock.com/2011/01/04/kevin_warnocks_plan_to_efficiently_air_condition_a_bus_conversion/

Thanks again everyone,

Kevin