Post by Mike B on Apr 29, 2009 8:16:33 GMT -4
MY FAVORITE RIDE
Every day he gets to use his 'Magic Bus'
By Laura Lane 331-4362 | lane@heraldt.com
March 28, 2009
Over the past eight years or so, this column has featured modes of transportation ranging from a 1969 Jaguar XKE convertible to a 1948 Buick roadster to a horse called Popeye. This week, I landed my first Volkswagen bus. Finally.
Growing up in the 1960s and ’70s, these things were everywhere. My parents spoke of the peace-stickered vehicles with disdain, called them “hippie buses.”
I thought they were cool. But I don’t see many on the road these days.
Last week, several photographs of Ryan Ludwig’s 1978 Volkswagen bus, one with a giant sunroof and panoramic front windshield, appeared in my e-mail. It’s known as a bay-window model because of the wrap-around windshield.
And Ludwig claims he and three grown men can stand comfortably in the bus with their heads poking out of the sunroof. That’s a good-sized sunroof.
My first car out of college was a shiny red Mazda hatchback. It had no extras, not even air conditioning. But all I wanted was a sunroof. So my dad had one cut into the car for me as a graduation present. My next vehicle, a second-generation Honda Accord, was loaded with extras, including what Honda called a “power moonroof.”
Ludwig had wanted a VW bus since he was a child. His relatives drove Volkswagens, but none owned a bus like he wanted. He vowed to someday buy one.
He located one while studying fine arts at Indiana University in the mid 1990s. “I was at the IU library and a guy for my Spanish class drove up in it. I said I had to have it. I tell you, it was love at first sight. He said it wasn’t for sale.”
He pestered his classmate until the guy finally agreed to sell in the spring of 1996. “I said name your price, and he said $3,000.”
It wasn’t easy for a college student to secure a car loan, especially for a vehicle that then was close to 20 years old. “Several banks laughed at me,” Ludwig recalled. “But I finally got it financed.”
The deep yellow gold bus (Volkswagen calls the paint color Panama brown for some reason) took on a moniker: The Magic Bus, after the 1968 song by The Who.
“I was 21 when I bought it, and at the time I was afraid I paid too much. But then my friends and I used it for hauling things, transporting people . it was a utility vehicle you could use for just about anything.”
He lied to his mother, telling her the bus cost $2,000. But when she praised the vehicle when he drove her to Mexico to visit her brother, Ludwig confessed.
“I said, ‘Mom, I actually paid $3,000 for the bus,’ and she said, ‘I think you did good.’ Looking back, I know I would do it all over again. And I know I would never find one in this good of a condition.”
The engine, with nearly 300,000 miles on it, has been overhauled several times. He has replaced the brakes and tires as needed, and the bus runs pretty well.
“Mom says it rides like a motor coach,” he said.
The other woman in his life, his wife Christy, shares his affinity for the old bus. It’s actually responsible for bringing them together.
“We were both employed at the same place and she looked out in the parking lot and said, ‘Is that your bus?’ She said bus, not van — I couldn’t believe it — and then she said I should show it to her sometime.”
A Volkswagen car show was coming up in Illinois, and he asked her to go along. She agreed. “I thought, ‘This girl is all right,' ” Ludwig said. They got married a few months ago.
“Let’s just say she is an automotive enthusiast,” the newlywed added. “Between us, we have seven cars.”
Got a story to tell about a car or truck? Call 812-331-4362, send an e-mail to lane@heraldt.com or a letter to My Favorite Ride, P.O. Box 909, Bloomington, IN 47402.
Every day he gets to use his 'Magic Bus'
By Laura Lane 331-4362 | lane@heraldt.com
March 28, 2009
Over the past eight years or so, this column has featured modes of transportation ranging from a 1969 Jaguar XKE convertible to a 1948 Buick roadster to a horse called Popeye. This week, I landed my first Volkswagen bus. Finally.
Growing up in the 1960s and ’70s, these things were everywhere. My parents spoke of the peace-stickered vehicles with disdain, called them “hippie buses.”
I thought they were cool. But I don’t see many on the road these days.
Last week, several photographs of Ryan Ludwig’s 1978 Volkswagen bus, one with a giant sunroof and panoramic front windshield, appeared in my e-mail. It’s known as a bay-window model because of the wrap-around windshield.
And Ludwig claims he and three grown men can stand comfortably in the bus with their heads poking out of the sunroof. That’s a good-sized sunroof.
My first car out of college was a shiny red Mazda hatchback. It had no extras, not even air conditioning. But all I wanted was a sunroof. So my dad had one cut into the car for me as a graduation present. My next vehicle, a second-generation Honda Accord, was loaded with extras, including what Honda called a “power moonroof.”
Ludwig had wanted a VW bus since he was a child. His relatives drove Volkswagens, but none owned a bus like he wanted. He vowed to someday buy one.
He located one while studying fine arts at Indiana University in the mid 1990s. “I was at the IU library and a guy for my Spanish class drove up in it. I said I had to have it. I tell you, it was love at first sight. He said it wasn’t for sale.”
He pestered his classmate until the guy finally agreed to sell in the spring of 1996. “I said name your price, and he said $3,000.”
It wasn’t easy for a college student to secure a car loan, especially for a vehicle that then was close to 20 years old. “Several banks laughed at me,” Ludwig recalled. “But I finally got it financed.”
The deep yellow gold bus (Volkswagen calls the paint color Panama brown for some reason) took on a moniker: The Magic Bus, after the 1968 song by The Who.
“I was 21 when I bought it, and at the time I was afraid I paid too much. But then my friends and I used it for hauling things, transporting people . it was a utility vehicle you could use for just about anything.”
He lied to his mother, telling her the bus cost $2,000. But when she praised the vehicle when he drove her to Mexico to visit her brother, Ludwig confessed.
“I said, ‘Mom, I actually paid $3,000 for the bus,’ and she said, ‘I think you did good.’ Looking back, I know I would do it all over again. And I know I would never find one in this good of a condition.”
The engine, with nearly 300,000 miles on it, has been overhauled several times. He has replaced the brakes and tires as needed, and the bus runs pretty well.
“Mom says it rides like a motor coach,” he said.
The other woman in his life, his wife Christy, shares his affinity for the old bus. It’s actually responsible for bringing them together.
“We were both employed at the same place and she looked out in the parking lot and said, ‘Is that your bus?’ She said bus, not van — I couldn’t believe it — and then she said I should show it to her sometime.”
A Volkswagen car show was coming up in Illinois, and he asked her to go along. She agreed. “I thought, ‘This girl is all right,' ” Ludwig said. They got married a few months ago.
“Let’s just say she is an automotive enthusiast,” the newlywed added. “Between us, we have seven cars.”
Got a story to tell about a car or truck? Call 812-331-4362, send an e-mail to lane@heraldt.com or a letter to My Favorite Ride, P.O. Box 909, Bloomington, IN 47402.