As you’ve seen here before countless times, school buses make for an interesting blank canvas for an RV conversion. But turning a vehicle meant to haul kids into a comfortable home takes skill, and not all conversions look that great. Here’s a bus conversion that’s not just small, but it looks so good inside that you might just forget you’re camping in a school bus.
Facebook Marketplace has been strange for me lately. Instead of RV conversions and obscure cars, I’m getting Camaros on fire and overpriced Smart Fortwos.
Thankfully, you can still sometimes fall into the warm embrace of Craig and check out his list. That’s where you’ll find this 2010 Chevrolet Express skoolie. This bus checks a lot of boxes from its small size to what appears to be a stellar conversion job.
Check this thing out:
The seller for this bus says it’s their sixth conversion, and I’d believe it. The fit and finish looks pretty good, and the interior makes sense.
There’s a lot of attention to detail in the bus. Black adds contrast to the white furniture and lighter wood grains and you can tell the builder committed to it. The outlets are black, as are the backing for each of the steps. I also like how they didn’t block out the windows, so the interior looks pretty airy.
The small size also doesn’t mean losing out on features. It does have a toilet and a shower. It also has a stove, running water, air-conditioning and heat.
Electricity is handled by onboard batteries charged by the alternator and by solar. It can also connect to shore power. And with 30 gallons of fresh water and 21 gallons of gray water onboard, you can dry camp at least for a few days.
I do have a couple of nitpicks with this build. This is a great bus if you’re camping solo, but not so much if you’re a couple. Your significant other is stuck sitting on the little seat or the couch. And you better not stomp on the brakes because there’s nothing for them to hold onto.
To fix that, I’d probably remove that single seat for something more comfortable on the road.
There is also a gasoline Vortec V8 under the hood. Of course, I’m a fan of diesel engines, so I see this as a downside. Others might see it as a plus since upkeep costs should be lower with the gasoline engine. You might get about 10 miles to the gallon with this bus, which could be worse.
The seller says that this bus comes from California and that they drove it across the country to Orlando, Florida where it is now. The bus has about 98,500 miles on it and measures in a little over 24 feet long. So it should be easy to drive and last a while.
And you’ll want it to last a while because for $59,000 you can get a lot of really cool purpose-built RVs, even a Class A coach. But if you’re specifically looking for a skoolie that hasn’t even been slept in yet, this looks pretty sweet.