Though the ersatz NGV bus was destroyed and five other cars damaged, there were no passengers at the time and the bus's driver was standing a short distance away. The only person injured was the gas station attendant, who didn't seem to take it as odd that the bus driver didn't want to stand anywhere near the vehicle while it was being fueled. [Bangkok Post via GCC, Photo: Getty Images]

What's doubly funny about this effort is the fact that when all was said and done, they took it to the drag strip to have a go. Despite our best efforts, the quarter-mile times for the "Vancake," or as we like to call it, "The World's Most Literal Shortbus," could not be found. While hilarious in its own right, we think they should have swung for the deep seats and gone with a pop up camper in the back. [JustKampers and VWBug.co.uk]

I found these pictures while sorting through my electronic picture files on my computer. I took them a couple of years ago when I saw this great combo parked in one of Cooperstown, NY's tourist parking areas. The combo consists of a 1945 Flxible Clipper, a Volvo 544 as a "toad" back-up and a Sears Allstate bike (which I believe was made by Puch in Austria). All of the vehicles are painted a matching paint scheme of oxide red and white. They must have been running because they have California plates and they only made a one day appearance in Cooperstown.

One goal of The Connected Bus is to show that public transportation isn't just for the poor, as the stereotypes often conclude. Including Wi-Fi and other gadgets provides the bus riders with a more desirable experience. Included on each individual screen on The Connected Bus is information like bus schedules, routes, times, advertising and even a "green meter," which is a cheesy schtick to show the environmental impact from the bus at any given time.

It's a pretty smart idea by MUNI and CISCO. We'd be more likely to take a bus chock full of gadgets, what about you? [The Connected Bus via TH]

This '60 parks very close to the 1960 Studebaker Lark and the 1955 Plymouth Savoy.


Vintage VW Type 2 owners will spend the rest of eternity screaming about how they're not hippies. Hell, real hippies haven't been able to afford these things for many years- they're driving 20-year-old Tercels now.


These vintage travel stickers are great, but I can't help but wonder if they've been there all along or are reproductions.

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Recycling as much as he could, and using common materials, Jake seems to have created a pretty comfortable setup, heck, it may even be bigger than our apartment. Plus, if you don't like the view or the neighbors are yelling at their kids at 7am to "GET ON THAT POTTY", you can simply pick up and move again. We'll be bookmarking this one for that time when the lashings raining down on us from our Wertian overlord become too intense to bear. [Jake's School Bus]

Whereas batteries are a chemically based storage medium subject to longish charging times, ultracapacitors can charge and discharge much more expediently. So here you have the fuel cell acting as a power source, the ultracapacitor acting as an electric load manager, and the battery as the storage medium for overflow. All that high tech is good for a range of about 150 miles at a breathtaking 55 miles per hour. While we'll sit on out hands and wait for the beta model, but that's still impressive for a roadworthy vehicle, even if it costs $190,000. [Yahoo! Finance]

Unfortunately, this bus still has to be plugged in, even though it's solar-powered due to a lack of available roof space to hold the huge number of solar panels necessary to independently charge it. The bus station will be retrofitted with solar panels that will charge the bus when docked.

Adelaide, the city down under host to this bus is no stranger to the sun. It was also the finish line for the 2007 World Solar Challenge back in October. Crikey! [Treehugger]

Who doesn't secretly wish he or she owned a wheelstanding school bus? It's a goddamn wheelstanding school bus, after all. You hear? A school bus that does wheelstands! Think of the fun to be had! The mirth to be made! The wheels to be stood upon! Admit it. You totally want one. – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
Fun With Econolines: Grenaded Pickup [Internal]

Just the thing for hauling your best buddies, livestock, vodka distillery, and Ekranoplan parts! Those resourceful Russians have done it again, this time taking a Soviet-era LIAZ bus and adding a truck bed. Check out the original LIAZ interiors- that was back when men were men and bus seats were steel benches! – Murilee Martin

What Can Be Done With an Old Bus [English Russia]

Related:
Rebel Yell: The El Busamino of the South!; El Busamino! [internal]

Pack your magic murder bags, minions, and hop your eyes on over to this Volvo articulated bus chassis. There's all type of mechanically wacky madness going on here. Click through, thrill to the sight of hydraulics, air springs and large diesel engines designed to vibrate away beneath the load floor of a public transit vehicle so mighty, even the glorious Red Flag limo shall cower in its presence. What magnificence or joy can you find in these photographs? – Davey G. Johnson

Related:
The Bus Always Wins [Internal]

Pudong literally means "East of the River Huangpu." Until a decade and a half ago, this area of Shanghai was nothing. Since then, it's exploded into a teeming mass of high-rises and boulevards. And as the home of the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Jin Mao Building (where we're writing this from the 81st floor), the area along the Huangpu is ground zero for tourists. As such, the Toyota Coaster, unknown in the US, is a common sight. Think of it as a short bus with a Cialis scrip. We like the one with the snorkel, allowing maximum flood-fording mass-transit potential. – Davey G. Johnson

Toyota Coaster [Wikipedia]

Related:
Mercedes Gets on the Short Bus [Internal]

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Knight Bus Tour' Schedule Announced [Associated Content]

Related:
Peter Horbury: Still Has Big Balls, Now Believes In Magic [internal]

You want to know what's thee last road vehicle you want to tangle with in a crash? Other than nitroglycerine tankers and such, it's your typical American transit bus. They're made to withstand decades of bad roads, indifferent maintenance, and near-daily impacts with concrete and/or steel opposition; the chassis is built on a huge-ass pair of I-beams that would make most bridges feel inadequate and the lower bodies tend to be more armor plate than sheetmetal. I spent a few years working for a bus manufacturer, where we had a Hall Of Fame wall with photos of the most inspiring "Bus Wins The Battle" wrecks. Here's one I hung onto: this is a 20-year-old veteran bus that veered off the freeway, through a guardrail, down a steep embankment, through several office parks (taking out numerous fences, various landscaping items, and a dozen or so parked cars), then glanced off a warehouse, jumped a hill, and landed atop an Olds Ciera. Passengers suffered nothing worse than minor cuts and bruises (unfortunately, the driver was dead of the heart attack that triggered the impromptu freeway departure), and the bus was back in service within a week. – Murilee Martin

1982 Grumman Flxible 40' Transit Bus [eBay]

Related:
The Death of the Bus/Cliff Item? [internal]

I spent a few years working at a bus factory, and every so often some guy would show up with one of our buses he'd converted into something unusual (computer store, gunsmith shop, bowling alley, etc), so I thought I'd seen it all. But no: here comes the story of Rabbi Aaron Winternitz of Spring Valley, New York, and his solution to the Passover dilemma facing his congregation, the members of which had to go an hour each way to a bakery in Brooklyn in order to make their matzo. Winternitz picked up an old school bus, plopped it in his back yard, and converted it into a complete matzo bakery, with wood-fired firebricked oven, sinks, counters, and a bicycle-powered wheat grinder. It's nice... but come on, a bakery bus needs to be drivable! – Murilee Martin

From Rabbi, the Eclectic Shul Aid Matzo Test [New York Times]

Related:
Yet Another El Busamino? [internal]

Just wait until 58 seconds in. Up to that point, the video is your standard 996 GT3 tailing an Aston Martin DB9. But then... I am not going to ruin it. You will laugh. And scratch your head. Sorry about all the German. A Merry Kwanza to you. Enjoy. – Jonny Lieberman

Related:
Ridiculously-Extra-Stupid-Fast VW Type 2 [Internal]

Mitsubishi Fuso is simply one of the most entertaning companies on the planet. Plus, it's just really fun to randomly exclaim "FUSO!" followed by some sort of completely arbitrary Engrish statement. What's more, the website encourages prospective purchasers to "Rely on the Rosa take your valued guests to the next stage in riding pleasure." Do with that statement what you may. Also note that is available in a "Super Long Body" style. Luxurious! Amusing! – Davey G. Johnson

Product [Mitsubishi Fuso]

SUPER GREAT POTENTIAL! Can This Truck Solve the Woes of DCX? [Internal]

After our old roommate's Space Shuttle-themed Hayabusa went up in flames, taking a truck with it, he painted his next GSX 1300R in "School 'Busa" livery. We told him that he'd better stay away from cliffs. The bus-into-a-ravine meme is so well-embedded in our collective consciousness, my French roomie got the joke immediately. Slate's Jack Shafer explains its popular genesis as well as its imminent demise. Oh, and by the way, that 'Busa nearly did go off a cliff.

The Rise and Fall of the "Bus Plunge" Story [Slate]

Related:
In Soviet Russia, Ice Skates YOU! [Internal]

Once upon a time in America, in an epoch known to geologists as "the fifties," arable land was a scarce commodity. Most inhabitants lived on mobile plots known to ancients as the "Chevy Bel Air." Such a paucity of space meant there was no room to build prisons, so leaders of the time confined society's degenerates on buses. Drivers would travel their routes, picking up violators and felons at designated stops. Only trouble was, the device that signaled when a passenger wanted to get off was broken, and talking to the driver was prohibited, so the degenerates just sat quietly reading the newspaper. Then the driver would park the bus and just leave it for 50 years. True story. [Thanks to Jtebo for the tip.]

Moral: STOP THAT CRIME YOU CAN'T WIN

[via Hank's Truck Pictures]

Related:
Volkswagen Bug Camper: Please Don't Blame it on the Drugs [internal]

Hide your copy of Led Zeppelin I: Ford's become the first automaker in the world (read: F-U, BMW) to put a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine into production. According to a release, the company's made good on its threats to build an airport shuttle that runs on hydrogen. The E-450 buses will be powered by the product of Ford's labors in this regard, a supercharged, intercooled 6.8-liter V10 engine that burns hydrogen in a manner similar to that of gasoline, only with near zero emissions of regulated pollutants and greenhouse gases. They've beaten the only other carmaker to say they'd bring a hydrogen-fueled ICE to market, BMW, which indicated earlier this year that their own hydrogen-fueled entry was two-years off. Their corporate buddy, Mazda has already started leasing dual-fuel (gasoline-hydrogen) RX-8s in Japan.

Related:
Mazda Starts Leasing Hydrogen Dual-Fuel RX-8s in Japan; Ford to Produce Hydrogen-Powered Airport Shuttle [internal]

A Los Angeles MTA bus mechanic was so drastically unthrilled about losing his job that he hopped into a bus and started crashing it into things. Namely, other buses. Midway into his impromptu demo derby, he hopped into another bus, drove over to the employee parking lot and began taking out cars. The final tally? four buses and 13 cars for a total of $100,000 in damages. Any other disgruntled MTA wrenches wanna try to top his score?

Mechanic Loses Job, Smashes Up Cars [CBS2]

Related:
Teenage Girl Steals Bus, Crashes it into 16 Cars [Internal]

A friend of ours, who is now a mother and a fine, upstanding member of the community, was a bit of a miscreant as a teenager. More specifically, she was known to smoke cigareettes and steal cars. But still, we wonder what compels a sixteen-year-old UK girl to steal a freaking bus, drive it around for a bit, and then smash it into a row of sixteen parked cars. Actually, smashing a bus into a row of parked cars sounds kind of fun. Who's gonna be the first one to blame this on Clarkson?

Teenager arrested after stolen bus smashes into 16 cars [Times, UK]

Related:
Trading the Short Bus for the Double Decker in London Town [Internal]

Since Vancouver's "Big Bus" tour vehicle features a hacked off back but retains its seats, "Camino" is really the proper suffix for such a machine. It's more like a steroidal BRAT with a thyroid problem. You can click over for info on their tours. We're going back to conjuring up ways the combined Fall Guy/A-Team stuntmando force could take down the Transformers now, eh? [Thanks to Darryl for the tip]

Big Bus - Vancouver Sightseeing

Related:
More El Caminos [Internal]

Yes, we know that surplus schoolbuses are rampant and ripe for customization. After all, Ken Kesey, thousands of smelly, Jerry-Garcia-obsessed people and the Partridge Family can't be wrong, right? But who knew so many people were into the Busamino concept? This one's a bit different than the previous two, in that it still retains the original bus rear, thus making it more of a free-ranging observation car than a true Camino conversion. But what the hell, it's still weird, yes?

The really weird part is that a mile ago it was full of children. Bumpy road [College Humor]

Related:
More El Caminos [Internal]

Because it's warm in Georgia, El Busaminos in the Peach State don't require additional cab space a la their Minnesotan counterparts. Everyone just piles into the bed, taps the keg and rolls leisurely through the countryside where Yankee madmen like the Classic Car Club Manhattan's Michael Prichinello go buzzing by in a Z06 at 140 mph.

Related:
More El Caminos [Internal]

All we know is, the man who created this amazing piece of work is named Doc and he lives in Minnesota. Apparently, he built it as a tractor hauler. We so want to see the school where the special-needs kids have to bring a tractor to class. That would be the best school ever. [Thanks to JRX for the tip.]

Bus Conversion [Yesterday's Trucks]

More El Caminos [Internal]

VW Van Jump [YouTube]

Related:
Ach! Select a Bug, Bus, Porsche [internal]