I was taking a stroll through the Cohort when this shot posted by mincholandia in El Salvador caught my eye. Wow; how do they get this bus in and out of this spot?
I had to download a high-resolution version of the image, which allowed me to read that plaque on the wall there. Turns out it’s some sort of memorial to a Padre Flavian Mucci, OFM. So I’m guessing he used to drive the VW bus, as it clearly seems to be part of the memorial. Did he perform good deeds with the bus? I wonder what they were?
Maybe he’s still in the bus. 😉
How do you know that this is a parking spot? Could it be an altar and the owner worships his VW Microbus?
Well, it is a parking spot, of sorts. Anyplace a car sits is a parking spot, right? 🙂
I thought I made it quite clear that this bus is obviously part of a memorial to the deceased priest, as per the plaque on the wall. And obviously, the bus doesn’t move anymore. And its former owner is departed.
Appears to have no engine, probably is a tribute to it’s owner.
A memorial was also my first thought before clicking “read more.” Although this probably isn’t any tighter than the typical downtown Chicago parking spot (when you can find one).
Very carefully. Although I agree that it appears to have no engine.
how do you discern it has no engine? Does the rear ride a bit higher?
You would be able to see the exhaust and valve covers from this angle.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c5/91/c3/c591c3b4be2e47e6402f269cb6598567–vw-minibus-camper-vw.jpg
You can see the engine in this camper image.
My god, this isn’t rocket science Paul, and the rest, they got about 40 El Salvadorian dudes to pick it up and carry it there! The damn thing doesn’t run! There is no engine, and they had a tow truck drop it off! They only had to carry it about six feet! When I was 19, I got 14 guys together to see if we could move my 1975 VW Scirocco. We were all in good shape, of course, since it was 1978, and we could easily pick it up and move it! we carried it about 15 feet!
Go jacks would how you get it there and out again.
A nice memorial IMO .
-Nate
Google Translate tells me: The Agape Association of El Salvador was founded on March 4, 1978, by Father Flavian Mucci, a Franciscan priest living in El Salvador since 1967, with the aim of helping the most unprotected people of the country through the charism of his work. society.
More on father Flavian Mucci and his labor in El Salvador. No further clues about the bus though. http://catholicphilly.com/2017/07/news/world-news/nonprofit-keeps-mission-to-serve-the-poor-through-war-disasters/
Reminded me of an earlier post……
You have a spotter or just look out the window. It’s all overhang, the apparent intimidation. It’s the wheelbase and wheels that count, not the far corners of the vehicle. To get out, back the vehicle up till it’s just teetering at the edge (not too far now…), spin the tires to the right, and out she goes. Vice/versa, to come back in. Simple.
As a commercial driver, we do this all the time in such tight quarters especially yanking 53 footers (soon to be 60′, ugh) around in tight city quarters. It’s the tires, not the body that counts (of course, assuming there’s nothing in the way of the body, such as what’s shown above and that the ground is stable enough to hold the weight, etc.)
Somehow I feel this is a rhetorical question I took a little bit too seriously, I mean come on, this is manoeuvring 101… jeepers 😉
And this gentleman ^^^ has 100% won the interwebZ with that beautiful explanation.
What I find interesting is that it looks like a 1973-76 but it still has the signals at the bottom instead of at the top. Maybe it’s a Mexican version? I have never seen one like that unless it was a 1967-72 version.
1972 U.S. model Typ II’s had the later taillights with the earlier lower mounted front park/turn lamps, a one year only deal .
-Nate
That pedestal made me think of the Memphis Belle on a pedestal at the Memphis airport. There is also the Mayfield Belle VW Bus, which isn’t on a pedestal as far as I know.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/my-ex-curbside-classic-1971-vw-bus-the-mayfield-belle/
100% park-able there if done carefully. No need for ramps.
About father Mucci, he was actually a native of Boston and did a great deal of work in El Salvador even throughtout the Civil War years lived in the country. He was in charge of the Salvadorian chapter of SOS Children’s Villages, and later on founded his own non profit, Agape, still active to this day. The VW bus is actually part of a small museum at Agape and besides the one photo, there’s scant detail on the vehicle’s history. One can easily assume it was his daily driver for a number of years.
It was quite exciting to see the photos on the blog.Cool.