A Volkswagen Bus With No Junk in Its Trunk

[Watercool]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Joe Ingram, a high school teacher of history and government, learned a welcome lesson here on Saturday. The Barrett-Jackson auction still has room for the little guy.

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Mr. Ingram, who teaches at Twentynine Palms High School in California’s Mojave Desert, threw his weight around with help from his 1963 Volkswagen Microbus and matching trailer.

The Deluxe Samba 23-window bus, a rolling testimonial to automotive fenestration, towed a 1971 Eriba Puck camper across the auction block on Saturday before selling for $128,700.

A Westfalia roof basket holding Samsonite luggage, a rack with a Schwinn Twinn tandem bicycle, a cargo hold filled with Coleman camping gear and a dashboard hula girl completed the ensemble. The bike and trailer were painted in the van’s turquoise and white.

Mr. Ingram, who afterward said he had expected $125,000, was jubilant after the sale. “In a volatile market, we hit it right where we wanted it,” he said.

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Jennifer and Joe Ingram, on Saturday at the Barrett-Jackson auctions.

His wife, Jennifer, who accompanied him onto the dais before several thousand spectators, didn’t share her husband’s glowing assessment of the experience. “It was horrible, actually,” she said.

Even at such a significant price, the transaction, which included 18 percent in commission fees from the seller and buyer, did not set a record. Last June, another Samba bus, albeit without a trailer, fetched $217,800 at Barrett-Jackson’s Orange County sale in Southern California.

Mr. Ingram said he paid $11,500 for the Samba bus 10 years ago. Not counting the middleman who quickly sold the vehicle after finding it in the California desert city of Barstow, he was the third owner.

By 2006, Mr. Ingram had repainted and retrimmed the bus. None of the original glass needed to be replaced. The 1.5-liter engine was rebuilt and the electrical system converted from six-volt to 12-volt.

The 800-pound trailer was acquired in 2007 from its original owner in Tustin, Calif., and restored, although the information sheet that accompanied the bus and trailer indicated that the propane in the stove’s supply tank was original.

Mr. Ingram said he decided to sell the van and all its accoutrements to make way for his next project, a 1958 Volkswagen single-cab pickup.

“We enjoyed it for six years,” he said of the Samba when reached on Sunday evening by phone at his home in Joshua Tree, Calif. “I do have some other projects lined up behind it. This is a hobby, and you really can’t keep everything.”

[Stütz]

... and you really can’t keep everything.”

Oh yes you can!

[fig]

... and you really can’t keep everything.”

Oh yes you can!

And even if I can't I'm certainly going to try ...