The school bus was built by the Wayne Corporation in Richmond Indiana. There were only around 600 buses made that year, with most of them being built to further our war efforts during WWII.

This one, however was bought by Idaho’s Gooding School district in 1945. Years later, the bus was sold as surplus and was converted into a camper in the late 1950s, then used by the same owner as a home workshop and storage in Hagerman, Idaho. In 2011, it was listed for sale on Craigslist, after many years of neglect, and rusting next to the home of the previous owner. I looked it over, and a short time later, excited but apprehensive, bought it and began an extensive restoration and reconstruction under the creative talents of Bill Ruby of Dream Ride Builders in Twin Falls, Idaho.

After 5 fun years of restoring and replacing the Chevy school bus’s old running gear with a more current Dodge D350 with a Cummins diesel engine for reliability, we are proud to have brought it back to life for many more years of enjoyment.