<TABLE height=83 width="70%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>I know there has been some similar posts about this before, but I still find it an interesting story. January '08....' The Last Ride ' I was attending a Daryl Starbird car show in Wichita, KS or Tulsa, OK with Wizzard's Legends of Pinstriping when we got the news about the Von Dutch bus being auctioned off at the Barrett/Jackson classic car auction in Scottsdale, AZ. The price that the bus sold for was far below what everybody expected. This text is being written nearly a year later and after the Last Ride before restoration so a lot of new information has become available about the bus. Several stories and evidence are much clearer now and I will make this information available on this site. Now back to the acquisition of the Von Dutch bus. After returning from Starbird's show to my office in Phoenix I retrieved a voice mail that asked me to call a man about an item pertaining to my profession, and that they found me on the internet when they Googled 'pinstriping artist'. When I called the number given I talked to a man named Paul Goeke, living in the valley but from Ohio. He and two partners had one mutual bidders pass at the Barrett/Jackson auction and ended up with the Von Dutch bus. I asked, 'Do you know what you have?' He answered, 'Not really.' I said, 'From my standpoint and relative to the entire hot rodding industry you have Tutankhamen's Tomb and the Holy Grail all rolled into one. What are your plans?' He said, 'We kind of thought so and our immediate plans are to sell it.' I said, 'How much?' He said, 'Two hundred thousand dollars. When can you come out and look at the bus for us?' I said I would come out the next morning with longtime friend, Steven McComiskey, a drag racer/hot rodder for many years. (I videoed the entire process but due to a new camera and lack of knowledge, after showing the film to my wife Pam, accidentally erased the entire film.) We approached the bus with a great reverence. This was the home and workshop of Von Dutch, friend to Steve McQueen and many, many others. We looked in drawers and tool cabinets, under the bed and in unlocked tool boxes. We saw a drill press that initially was labeled a fraud, put in by a restoration company in San Diego, like many other items for effect. Symbolic Restorations had claimed to rebuild the 6 cylinder GMC 292 cu in engine and hydramatic transmission. The air brake system was repaired, a new gas tank installed, some of the bullet riddled glass replaced, wheels powder coated orange, and new tires. Then, for some reason, the outside was pressure washed, blowing off not only the flat white paint but Von Dutch's hand painted logo on the curb side. Then they went over everything but the roof with a DA sander, hitting and flattening all the rivet heads and reveling the true origination of the so called Long Beach transit bus. There on the curbside of the bus was a McDonald Douglas logo, barely visible except to me! I saw this logo about 10 seconds into my examination, nobody else had noticed it! The bus had been registered and sold as a 1950 GMC. Fast forward 11 months later. My close friend, Paul Schiloski, emailed the Ohio Dept. of Transportation museum with the VIN on the bus and the information came back as: 1953 GMC 32 passenger transit bus, 1st with hydramatic transmission and delivered to Douglas Aircraft in El Segundo, CA in 1953! Obviously used to transport workers from one end of the assembly line to the other. Long Beach, CA would never procure a used bus to transport people on city streets. Back to the first day inspection of Von Dutch's bus. We viewed a Crosley refrigerator pinstriped with a ram design on the door. This was reported to be the shop beer fridge at the Brucker ranch where Von Dutch lived and died. Bob Varsha commented at the auction that the fridge was worth the 40 thousand that the whole bus sold for. The emergency exit door, which was also the shower/toilet area had a flying eyeball etched into the glass and was removed and sold for $10,000 by Jim Brucker. There was a new glass installed in it's place. The dash board and side panels inside were striped in a lighter green, all the louvers were also striped. The aluminum sliding doors on two cabinets had been engine turned but the green pinstriping had been removed. The electrical box lettering 220 volts was in perfect condition and now looks excellent after cleaning. Now that we have complete access the bus has been vacuumed, pressure washed, and vacuumed again, then cleaned carefully with a scotch pad and 409 liquid cleaner. The bedroom area paint was flaked off and will be put back to the condition it was in when Von Dutch occupied it. There are problems with the hinged door that are being addressed currently. Both hinges were broken during heavy winds and piercing rain on the day of the Last Ride which I'll go into later. There is a hole in the floor outside the restroom which will be fixed, but other that light body work the bus is in excellent structural condition. The bullet holes were reportedly done by vandals at the Brucker ranch which I believe is partially true. Many of the side windows had large caliber bullet holes in them, several panels on the side are also perforated with bullet holes, all from the outside. There are several bullet holes in the top front area that Bob Spina, a longtime friend of Von Dutch and Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth and a fantastic pinstriper/painter from Vegas said he saw Von Dutch shoot into the bus when he was a little inebriated so they will be left alone. I don't think Dutch would have shot holes through the windows of his home so the glass will be replaced. After the initial inspection by me and my friend an offer was made and five days later accepted, making my wife, Pam, nauseous but supportive (Pam is the President of Kafka, Inc. and Kafka's Kool Tie, our Phoenix based company.) I set out to try and run down some of the missing machinery for the restoration. Earlier in 2006 an auction was held at the Peterson Automotive Museum and anything Von Dutch that was put on the block sold for many times the predicted value; a yellow plastic handled screwdriver for $750, and Von Dutch's wooden paint kit for $315,000. Certainly out of range for pinstripers but not for collectors. They bought everything they could find related to Von Dutch. This restoration will be an accurate depiction of the place Kenny Howard aka Von Dutch lived in and worked in for many great years of his amazing, legendary life. When authentic items can be obtained, they will. Otherwise we will reproduce as close as possible facsimiles of the original equipment and disclose and differentiate that which is not authentic. No reproductions will be made for any purpose other than this restoration. The Last Ride of the Von Dutch bus before the restoration was one of the best times had by all in attendance despite unfriendly weather. The prediction was cold temps and up to 4" of rain. The move could not be postponed. I had been paying $450 per month to store Von Dutch's bus at the Tim Bennick home in Cave Creek, AZ for 11 months where only brief access was available and only occasionally. It needed to be more accessible and in my possession where work could be started. Paul Schiloski and I spent 4 hours underneath the Von Dutch bus getting the shift linkage to operate. We were in dusty, greasy, and hot conditions so that I could shift it without the help of someone doing it for me at the rear. It was the dirtiest, hottest fun I've had in years! It shifts like glass! The special guests in attendance were Sheila Harlen, Von Dutch's ex-wife and mother to their daughters Lorna and Lisa. Lorna couldn't make it for the ride and hopefully will come by at some time in the near future. Sheila is probably the cutest 71 one year old around and was extremely supportive of the entire project. She posed for pictures and gave interviews for newspaper and magazine articles. She and longtime friend Nancy brought many photos and collectibles to display, as well as contributing helpful information to everyone's questions. The youngest of Von Dutch's daughters, Lisa, looked like a younger version of Mom and actually rode the 30+ miles inside the bus to my shop which proved to be an emotion-filled experience for her. She had been denied entrance to the bus at the auction and hadn't seen the inside since she was eleven years old and rode with Dad from California to Arizona. A long hug helped out a lot. Lisa had a photo album with a small photo of the driver's side in some detail. Up to the point of seeing this photo plans were made to replace the faint logo in black. Now evidence of a much more intricate hand painted Von Dutch logo were documented. The actual lettering was white with a 1/4 inch gray outline and a red surfboard style background. Below this was a scroll with a roll on either side and the words 'Originator of Modern Pinstriping' on the top line. The second line reads 'Cars Motorcycles and ?' and below that was pinstriping and lettering with address and phone number. We are currently trying to clarify the legibility. Our sponsor list grows steadily as the word gets out: The Eastwood Company, Pottstown, PA, said that they would like to supply anything I need from their catalog. Devilbiss paint gun company are supplying all spray equipment and will be the only spray equipment used for the entire restoration. One Shot Paint, the pinstripers choice world wide said they would be proud paint sponsors and the only paint used. Earl Mich Company, Wood Dale, IL has agreed to help with a vinyl banner, lettering, and technical help from Joe Balabusko, national sales manager. Optima Battery will keep the juice flowing with a supply of the fabulous 'red top' battery. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Doesn't matter if you like him he probably wouldn't have liked you. I wasn't very old but he wasn't a real plesent man as I recall.
</td></tr></tbody></table> I think dutch would have slapped those guys.. no scratch that.. I don't think he would give a shit. A friend of mine knew dutch.. I'd tell him about this but.. he too has passed. but seriously.. I think that statement covers about 99% of the bidders at BJ.. and they pressure washed the fucking thing.. god.. that kind of ignorance really really really pisses me off!!!!!!!!!
I agree with all of the above....despite what people say or who he may have liked and disliked it's still a piece of history that I'm excited to see brought back to life! On the other hand, it is really disappointing when people get there hands on something that they have no clue about and then powerwash history right off of it.
Interesting story.I like his craftmanship bent and that he "made things" and held his work in high regard. It's prophetic that Robert Williams stated once that "Whenever Von Dutch is discussed,strong opinions always arise?"
Just goes to show that most of the idiots driving up the prices on shit don't even know what they're doing. I have no problem with some guy making a few bucks, but that is absurd. Bought it for 40, flipped it for 200 with no idea what it even was? Pure BS. Any beyond that, if it weren't for the twits TRYING to sell it for big money and make it presentable, it would have been a lot more authentic. I'm not a fan of Dutch as a person, but as an artist he was a pioneer. Glad to see that someone who appreciates that has saved that bus.
glad to see this in the hands of people who care and not just a quick barrett jackson flip.If you like von dutch or not it is still history and should be saved so the factual history isn't warped any worse than it already has.
Ive read the suicide letter.. never saw a picture of where dutch spent the last hour of his life.. interesting, looks like a nice place under that tree.
Regardless of whether or not Dutch was an asshole is irrelevant. What IS relevant is his contribution to the hobby that has brought us all to the HAMB and the Jalopy Journal. Von Dutch was an artist that even other asshole artists respected. SO what does that tell ya? I'm glad that such a huge piece of his legend is being treated with the respect it and the man it belonged to deserve. Regardless of the fact that he prolly wouldn't have given a shit either way
I'm not sure that anyone said anything about respect, I just mentioned that he wasn't pleasant. His bus was a work of art not for the crappy sign work on the outside but because it was a rolling machine shop. He was a machinist extrodinaire and he pulled lines for a living.
Suicide note???? WTF? As I understand it, Dutch died of natural causes exacerbated by a lifetime of alcohol abuse. And I'm pretty sure it was at Brucker's home, not in that bus under the tree.....What in hell did I miss?
There has always been the rumor floating around the Dutch commited suicide. Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. If he did he just managed to check out before it was time. Like leaving a hotel before eleven.
He was an icon of car culture to a lot of us. I remember seeing him in real old car magazines when I was a kid and some interesting articles from his declining years. So he means a lot to a lot of us and irks me when I see his name splashed around on products you know he'd never endorse. It all boils down to the almighty buck. Bob
It reads like a suicide note, though the Ventura County medical examiner ruled he died of natural causes.
Hear! Hear!! Seeing his name bastardized so profusely makes me sick. A very close good friend of mine is the son of Bob Burns, who spent a lot of his time with Dutch doing sign work. I remember visiting Bob, and him pulling out his letters from Dutch, complete with hand-drawn postage stamps - all of which had been properly canceled by the post office...
They should do it on their own dime just like the rest of us. Sorry that's just the way I feel about it. When all is said and done unless someone lives in it or uses it in the fashion it was built for it will have been a wasted effort anyway. That's not a personal thing against Mr Howard, I see old race cars restored and sitting behind a rope and also think that is a total waste. None of the things that we revere are worth anything if they are not used in the fasion that they were intended for.
There is more than one Von Dutch paint/striping kit out there. A paint/pinstriper in Arizona has one.
And if I'm not mistaken, it's been mostly restored back to it's original condition, as close as possible anyway.
Dutch would not have committed sewer-pipe why would he ? He new being himself pissed-off the mear mortals and he found great joy in that.
He was like any Hand Sign Painter in the game - LOOK AT THIS!! and when you factor in his Demons he became someone you had to LOVE because he was not going to let you like him. The story of the ride - about the daughter is moving - She Loved Him!
"I have been suffering with this liver disease for a year now and it has been an up & down thing day by day I am now no better than I was at the beginning. "I am not willing to go through it anymore only to emerge in a place flail of.... The alleged letter goes downhill from there. It could have been a drunken diatribe or a final note, however he was not known for mass mailings
Did anyone on the HAMB buy the 63 Cadillac that was on eBay that belonged to a Dr. neighbour of Dutch's that he striped? It was a stock 4 door still in original paint that he striped when fairly new.
The Jalopy Journal
