VW Bus Plays Role In Civil Rights Movement

The iconic VW Bus always seemed to be involved in doing good (See Below). I try to continue that tradition by donating or discounting my services when I can afford it. So book us for an event and help us “keep doing good”.

From: https://www.historicvehicle.org/2019-cars-at-the-capital/

DATES & EXHIBITS: The 5th annual Cars at the Capital - September 12-27, 2019 in Washington, D.C.

LOCATION & DETAILS: The National Mall - The exhibit is located between the National Gallery of Art and the National Air & Space Museum

1966 ESAU AND JANIE B. JENKINS VOLKSWAGEN TYPE 2 DELUXE STATION WAGON

Esau and Janie B. Jenkins were pioneers before and during the civil rights movement. As business owners, community organizers, and founders of organizations and institutions, together they dedicated their lives to providing opportunities, and hope, to the people of Johns Island, SC and beyond.

In the 1940’s, using money from farming and selling produce, they would purchase buses to transport children to school and workers to jobs in Charleston, SC. During the bus rides, Esau and Janie B. would teach their adult passengers the information needed to pass the literacy exam so they could become registered voters. Along with others, they were responsible for The Progressive Club, a co-op started in 1948 that housed a grocery store, gas station, day care, and classroom space. Leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, participated in workshops there.

The 1966 VW Deluxe Station Wagon they drove was an icon throughout their community and throughout the South. On the back panel of the car was painted the infamous saying of Mr. Esau: “Love is Progress, Hate is Expensive.” In 2014 the family donated the back hatch, along with the engine cover, to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture where it remains on permanent exhibit.

“The automobile has left an indelible mark in our culture and we believe America’s automotive heritage should never be lost nor forgotten,” said Diane Parker, Vice President of the Historic Vehicle Association. “To support that belief, our mission is to share America’s automotive heritage and to tell the human-interest stories behind the horsepower, share their cultural impact, and to ensure their histories are captured in perpetuity.”

Happy 4th of July from Jeff & Jerry.

Thanks to those that sacrificed for our freedom.

Woodstock 50th Anniversary Music Festival Cancelled! Say it isn’t so…

SO! - BUT NOT in Chicagoland! We have your Woodstock party bus ready to go.

Can you spot the VW Bus that was not at Woodstock?

See below story from Rolling Stone. So…you don’t have to cancel your own Woodstock 50th Anniversary Celebration since “Spicoli” our iconic 1967 VW Bus is available for use as a photo booth at your Woodstock party or any other party. Call to book us now as dates are filling up fast.

Invite 400,000 of your best friends.

Woodstock 50 – scheduled to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the legendary music festival – has been canceled.

Although the all-star lineup – featuring Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus, Dead & Company, the Raconteurs and dozens more, including acts from the original Woodstock fest were booked to play the Watkins Glen, New York festival on August 16th through 18th, exactly 50 years after the original festival the investors have now back out of the festival. There is ensuing controversy between the promoters and investors as the promoter continue to try and resurrect the event and deny it being cancelled.

The Kentucky Derby only has 19 horses running. That ain’t nothin!

My photobooth bus, Spicoli, has 54 horses running. It will blow them away. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow but don’t worry, Spicoli loves the slop. It's in his bloodlines. His father was a mudda', his mother was a mudda'.

So place your bet on Spicoli to be a winner at your next event.

Fun Facts for Gearheads, History Buffs & The Inquisitive:

• Volkswagen 1500 engine (Single Port)

• Production: 1961–1971

• Displacement: 1,493 cc (91.1 cu in)

• Power (Or lack of): 1500S: 40 kW (54 horsepower)

Type 2 T1:
The Volkswagen Type 2 T1 was the first generation of the split window bus. It is commonly known as the "Splittie." Production began in March, 1950 & lasted until 1967. 

• Imported to U.S.: 29,049 (1967)

• Price Range New in “67”: $2,300 - $2,700

• Electrical system changed to 12 volts

• 10.6 Gal. gas tank/28 MPG. ($0.28/gal.in 1967)

• 14’ long, 5’-7” wide & 80” high.

• Weight; 2,282 lbs. (Before camper conversion)

• Payload; 1,830 lbs.

Body style: Started as panel vans. 1967 was the last year of production for this iconic design and replaced with an uninspiring bay window design.

Life in the right lane.

VW Bus Movie Sighting - Do you know what movie?

Can you guess what movie this VW Bus made a celebrity appearance in?

What's cooler than cool?

The Volkswagen Bus’ long, strange trip from hippie van to hot collectible

https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-col1-volkswagen-bus-vwbus-20190328-htmlstory.html 

What better year to rent our VW Bus than during the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock

Check out this cool project being done for the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock. If they tour through Chicago on the way to Woodstock, we just might join them! Note: I do not believe that my 1967 VW Bus was at Woodstock but you never know.

All info is taken from: https://www.woodstockvwbus.com

The Bus

The Official Vehicle of Peace, Love, and Understanding​

The original

The Restoration Bus

By the time the 1960's counter-culture movement reached its peak the Volkswagen Type II, or microbus, had been around for nearly  20 years. The simple cheap bus was the perfect vehicle for bands, hippies on the road, communes and intentional communities, to transport the belongings of their simplified lives, and the message of their philosophy - peace, love, and understanding.​

With an air cooled engine of less than 100 horsepower, box-like design, and flexible open interior, no vehicle could have been more different than the high horsepower muscle cars of the era.​

Dr. Bob Hieronimus was commissioned to paint the Woodstock Light Bus for his friends in the great Baltimore-based rockband Light. In the summer of 1969 Dr. Bob designed and painted the bus by a lake outside Baltimore. Its first great journey turned out to be one of America's greatest journeys - to the music festival known  today around the world simply as Woodstock.​

The VW bus became a classic design icon, rich in romantic associations, symbolizing fun, freedom and adventure. At Woodstock the Light Bus captured the spirit of the event and the whole counter-culture movement.  Parked in poll position near the main stage the Light Bus was photographed by Associated Press, Rolling Stone and Life magazines. 

The symbol covered bus became the symbol of an event that in turn became the symbol of an era. Music, art, cinema, radio, social action, technological change, and new experiences combined to point to an open road headed in a new direction that could be summed up in one word - Peace. 

In the decades since then the promise of peace has waxed and waned. The innocent hopefulness of the counter-culture has evolved into movements, more new ideas, and ideology. There have been backsteps and great leaps forward. But through it all the Volkswagen Type II Bus has continued to be the official vehicle of Peace. Tens of thousands of them, filled with the spirit of Woodstock wander the open roads of the world, kept running by young mechanics and new generations of people filled with hope for a better future.​

Getting to Woodstock

​Bob Grimm remembered arriving in the “Light” bus with Light’s drummer, Rick Peters, singer, Trudy Morgal, and his girlfriend at the time, Lynn. They got there the day before the first performances only to discover that cars were already being turned away. When a policeman told them they had to get out and walk, Grimm thought fast and said, “We’re taking this bus to the art exhibit.” 

They were allowed to drive through. But in reality there was no art exhibit. As the rain and mud increased over the next three days, the bus would prove an invaluable shelter to them, and many other passersby. Several famous musicians were said to have huddled inside for a few minutes. Grimm and friends parked the bus up the tree-lined dirt road, near the portable toilets on the hill to the left of the stage (“stage right”). The first day offered them a great view of the stage from the front window of the VW. Later they took to sitting on its roof, which is where Trudy and Ricky were sitting when the Associated Press photographer captured their famous image.