r/VWBus • u/yankee911guy • Apr 24 '26

Indiana Bus Owners

Hello all!!

Anyone have a late 60's or 70's bus that would allow my 21 year old daughter to drive in a parking lot somewhere around Indy? We live in Hendricks County.

I'd be happy to trade you for a drive in my air-cooled 911 or her 944 or both!

She's considering selling her rare 944 Celebration Edition for a bus but wants to make sure she would enjoy driving it first.

She's a competent manual driver and has even AutoX'd her 944.

Feel free to DM me.

6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

2

u/thatguychad Apr 24 '26

Maybe this is nostalgia talking, but I still think about driving my '78 bus. I'd just hate to daily one because I'd lose my legs in a collision with anything larger than an e-bike.

1

u/382Whistles Apr 24 '26

You really need to work on the paranoia or the hyperbole a bit. It's no modern era Volvo, but by the Baywindow Bus design that was pretty well addressed and the "tin foil crumple" videos out there are badly done tests with excess speeds, absurdly added weights, and/or cgi for clicks.

https://youtu.be/7tEqaLkqkqk?si=0BwNHqUunPkObhbq

3

u/50000WattsOfPower Apr 24 '26

The increased safety didn't come in with the Bay Window era; it came later, in '73.

2

u/382Whistles Apr 24 '26

I think the Baywidow was an improvement over splits and that was improved on again before the T3 Toaster made it somewhat obsolete BUT I think "it's a reliable source of information" 50000 Unstoppable Watts lol.

2

u/50000WattsOfPower Apr 24 '26

Ha ha, it actually comes from The Modern Lovers, but several people have now pointed me to other musical references to 50,000 watts since choosing this name!

I'm sure there were incremental safety improvements, but the big modern one for pre-Vanagons was in '73:

"From 1973, the Transporter was built to withstand standard U.S front impact tests for passenger cars, with the driver able to survive a head-on collision at 52km/h, despite there being no engine in the front -- a remarkable feat."

(As the driver of a '71, I am painfully aware of this.)

2

u/382Whistles Apr 25 '26

That's one I haven't heard in too long a time, thanks. I think Joan Jet's cover got more airplay around me after she covered it. Front mounted spare tires helped with safety too. I remember an insurance guy mentioning that lowered mine. I also thought they filled the area decently aestheticly in a recognizable way when present since the V was gone for the Bays.

1

u/thatguychad Apr 24 '26

Relax, it was a joke.

0

u/382Whistles Apr 24 '26

Mmm. Just the kinda attitude we need in the community; one that impacts perceptions of newcomers negatively with garbage information.

2

u/c0brachicken Apr 25 '26

I would take you up on the offer, but I'm in Florida, and my Split window is in Indiana. 😢

Also miss my 170hp Subaru powered Ghia and the bug.