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Beautiful 1969 Type II Transporter/Bus - $32,500 (colton)
24379 S Elwood Rd near 211
VIN:
229096373
condition:
excellent
cylinders:
4 cylinders
drive:
rwd
fuel:
gas
odometer:
85,722
paint color:
red
title status:
clean
transmission:
manual
type:
bus
odometer rolled over
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1969 Type-II Transporter.
Vin: 229096373
Odometer 85,722
Family owned for 45 years.
Completely new interior, headliner needs love in a couple of spots.
Engine is in Like New condition and is a Flat Four with a manual transmission. Rebuilt by Classic Import Repair in Glendora, CA
Bus exclusively cared for by Halsey Automotive in Portland with 1 exception due to living with son in CA. Please see Classic Import Repair in Glendora, CA
New brakes and brake system.
Fresh paint within the past decade.
Have meticulous records, stacks of impeccable repair and service records from Halsey Automotive (Portland, Oregon), from 1993 onward and valued at well beyond $10,000
Records include receipt for the engine rebuild.
Chassis has no observable flaws nor abnormal wear.
Provenance and back story:
This VW Type II bus, which is what we always called it, "The Bus." was our endless home away from home. I could always hear dad on his way home well before he was in site of the farm. I have a warm comforting memory of that sound, which then was, simply, "Dad's coming!!"
Originally, we came by the bus in a very unique way. Initially, my dad's longest friend, Norm, bought it in 1969. At some point, dad borrowed it and he, my sister and me were on some adventure. Apparently my sister declared without flexibility, that we "had to have the bus." Which is exactly what happened. Dad bought the bus from Norm and had owned it until his passing in 2024. Technically, it had three owners, as I put it in my name, but for ease of sale only.
After dad bought it, we went everywhere in the bus. Dozens and dozens of trips. From driving 30 miles to drop me off every day at high school, to dad using the bus for work. He was a realtor for 45 years and the bus carried clients, showed houses and did every piece of business in between. I borrowed the bus and did all sorts of things that teenage boys and his friends do. It took me on my first date. Dad was chauffeur, we went and picked up my date, did date stuff and then that rite of passage was complete. I think I got a kiss. Very exciting.
For trips dad removed the center seat and made a plywood bed with a mattress which was where we always slept. He also built a small wooden seat to go between the front seats so the three of us, my Dad, my sister and myself could all sit in the front together, "Seat belts? What's that?." Together, was everything to Dad. And I'm grateful it was.
Trips to Canada, where we put my Dad's Realtor for sale sign in front of the hotel and laughed endlessly. To Baja, Mex. where we spent two weeks over Christmas of 77 sitting on the beach in Mulege. On that same trip, we had a rubber raft that dad kept tied to within a short distance from the beach. The first time he untied us, I instantly started rowing for the close island, which was much farther than I thought, seeing dolphin fins, I was certain they were sharks and my sister and I were doomed. Luckily that day we survived not being eaten by the dolphin-sharks.
There was a trip to Jerome, ID so I could learn how to ride bulls after being excited from yearly pilgrimages to the Pendleton Round-up from 1976 onward.
At the Pendleton, we would go to cowboy breakfast in the cold fog at 6am after having gone to some nearby creek to wash up. Not that we couldn't afford a hotel, it was always about the journey.
My Dad LOVED the bus. He was forever washing it and taking care of it. A fellow ARMY vet friend, Ron out of Sandy, who my dad would fly to CA with to buy and run cars up to Oregon to fix and sell. Ron was the paint and body man. Which is we're the front comes in, you diehard VW guys will notice the current 1972 front end. Dad had a minor accident at Burnside & Hogan road in Gresham, OR, which wasn't bad, but bad enough to wipe out the front. Ron said, "How about this front?" And dad? "Oh yeah sure that's fine." Which answers that question.
The guts of the thing were in the capable care of Hans at Halsey automotive, then Hans and Willy, then Willy and then the competent hands of Tom and Debbie Caldwell. There was never a complaint they always made it right and kept it meticulously.
The engine was rebuilt at Classic Import Repair in Glendora, CA. I used to live in Pomona, CA and for the longest time after dad's prostate cancer scare, he needed more help, he sold his house and split his time between my sisters house and mine in Pomona which is when he had the engine work done.
Since moving back to Oregon in 2016 my Dad lived with us full time, and the bus was always close by. So many times we tried to convince him to sell for his own monetary benefit and he just couldn't do it. There was just no way. Unfortunately, we're at that very place now. My sister and I have endless wonderful memories of my dad, the trips and his love. Why let it go? We could keep it forever for sentimental reasons, but to what end? Just because? The truth is, we will never appreciate it like he did. I love it, but for good or bad, not like that. It isn't someone else's job to honor my Dad's memory after buying the bus and loving it the way Dad did. Our hope is that we would like it to go to wonderful new home to someone who will love and cherish it in their own way, but hopefully that could also be in the way dad would have.
T. Tom Turner (1938 - 2024)