Once upon a time you could see a lot of VW buses on the road. It was the minivan or the SUV of its time. However with the passage of time and due to lack of spares the buses were phased out of the fleets. These were picked up by people who used them as rugged work horses, delivering everything from cement to iron bars and even used as stationary roadside kiosks. Most, unfortunately were scrapped as they yielded good German steel for recycling.
Still later, when the dieselization of vehicles was in vogue a lot of the remaining buses were butchered to fit a 1C or a 2 C engine and used as delivery vehicles or school buses. The diesel conversion really wrecked the vehicles through and proper as not only the transmission was wrecked but also the suspension. To make room for a diesel engine a lot of sheet metal was removed (read, hacked) and even new holes were cut in the sides to allow for more cooling air or the installation of radiators.
Once the buses died they were packed off to the wreckers to be scrapped. Some served as storage after all saleable parts were stripped off.
The story I am about to share with you is of a 67 split window bus that was rescued by Romano. I was told the bus was waist deep in buffalo manure when she was pulled out of its resting spot. I am sure the buffaloes miss their laterine but fate had something better for this survivor bus in store.
If you have followed my other threads here on PW you can be sure that there won't be a dull moment in the days to come as I bring you up to date on the restoration of the bus. She is still un-named but lets just call her Phoenix - a mythical bird that rises from the ashes..(even though this real bus rose from buffalo manure.. )
Stay tuned..