[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, I think we're in the middle of nowhere, Ry.
That's about right for Texas.
Ain't you from Texas?
I'm Texas proud.
But let's do this.
We're not leaving until we get barbecue on the way out.
You know what happens when you eat barbecue.
I don't care, man.
I want barbecue on the way out.
RYAN: We've got a client who wants an old school
Volkswagen bus restored into a modern/retro crazy street
cruiser.
Volkswagen buses are not normally in our wheelhouse.
But when the client said they wanted
a Count's Kustoms-style bus, there's
no way we're saying no to that.
We've heard about this place in Texas
that supposedly is a literal field
of up to 100 Volkswagen buses.
We tracked down the cat that runs the place,
and he and his dad have been collecting
these buses for years.
He invited us to come down and check
out his Texas-sized collection.
Shannon, being our resident Volkswagen freakazoid,
was definitely going to be riding shotgun on this one.
Up there.
I see something.
This is a Volkswagen bus ranch.
Holy cow.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Ooh, there's another batch of them out there.
Just control yourself, man.
I know how you get around Volkswagen buses.
SHANNON: I'm just taking it all in.
RYAN: Play it cool, though.
Ready?
Yeah.
Dude, this is like a retirement fund right here.
Look at that.
I am speechless.
Just bury me right here.
All this over there.
He's got, like, one of every bus.
Hey, how you doing, man?
I see you found it.
Yes, sir. Ryan.
Nice to meet you.
- Bryce Dishman. - Hey.
Shannon.
Nice to meet you, Bryce.
Ooh, look at this.
Look-- this is insane.
This is like Bugtopia.
BRYCE DISHMAN: I'm a VDub bus enthusiast.
I don't do it for the money.
I've got a-- I got my own job.
I got-- I teach and stuff.
So, you know, I just do it to buy more buses.
You've got, like, one of everything here, don't you?
I think so.
I-- you never have enough, though.
Because I don't know--
I don't know what enough is.
And, you know, it's almost like a VDub disease, you know?
RYAN: Right.
OK. - This is the shiny one.
Damn!
Do you want me to pull it out for you?
Please.
I'm going to worry about rust and Bondo.
You worry about all the other stuff.
Wait, look, there's a plus. It runs.
We can drive it back to Vegas.
It's in amazing condition.
Dude, it's in amazing condition.
Wow.
Phew, man, look at this.
Nice.
Mind if I touch?
You can touch all you want.
Like I said, if you're coming this far to look
at it, by all means touch it.
You playing a song?
If the metal tings, there's no Bondo.
If it goes thud, there's Bondo.
I'm not hearing a lot of Bondo, dude.
There's a lot of tings.
That's a good sign of the body.
All right, all right.
Mind if I ask you where you got this thing from?
I bought it from a lieutenant colonel that
called me about moving some--
three other restored buses.
And I said, what is it?
And he said, it's a '60 bus.
And I said, with air conditioning?
I said, hmm, Texas bus with air conditioning.
I might--
That makes sense, right?
Makes sense.
SHANNON: Can we look inside, check it out?
BRYCE DISHMAN: By all means, shoot.
Wow.
Oh, look at that.
It's got the old lock shifter.
It's safe to say, when you're a Volkswagen person, you're--
it's a whole cult. It's a culture.
It is.
It's a sickness.
It's a-- it is, unfortunately.
With AC, little compressor.
So what size engine is in here?
This has got an 1835 Single Port with the dual--
That--
--40.
I was about to say, that manifold looks pretty old.
I haven't seen one in a long time
with the NP intake runners.
There's a few rust blisters here and there.
Yeah.
The body is solid.
I don't feel a lot of Bondo.
Are we buying a bus or what?
Man, I think we-- you know, if we can negotiate on a price,
I think we found the right one.
I mean, it's still an early split
window bus that's affordable.
Dude, I think the bus is cool as hell.
What's your-- what were you asking for her?
I was asking 37 for it.
It's not I'm trying to beat you up on the price.
Don't-- don't get the wrong impression.
But we are doing a full color change.
We are definitely going to have
to strip the bus because we got to give
our clients what we know.
So I can't give a client a paint job
that's on top of another paint job
that I don't know anything about.
Right.
So there's rust that has to get cut out, paint needs to be
stripped, everything re-sealed.
I mean, we're going to have a ton of hours and money
into this thing just getting it painted
the color it's supposed to be.
Man, 33,500 and you can have it.
Dude, you know what?
That's a great price, man.
Thank you.
Well, pleasure.
It-- it leaves a little room for us to, you know,
have it shipped back.
All right, Bryce, thank you, man.
Pleasure.
Our shop coordinator will get back with you
with the details, a check, and let you know
when we're going to pick it up. - All right.
Like I said, it's--
Barbecue, man.
- Wire transfer. - Thank you.
- Quicker. - All right, thanks, guys.
Thank you very much, Bryce.
Thanks, man.
I know your stomach's growling.
I know my stomach's growling.
All that talk about barbecue, of course.
That's right, man.
RYAN: Well, all right, that worked out great.
That place was insane, and we found the perfect bus
to start restoring.
Now all the hard work starts.
VWs really are their own rare breed.
Back in the day, they only cost about $2,000.
But by today's standards, they go anywhere from $50,000 all
the way up to over $100,000.
It all depends on what the buyer's willing to pay.
Shannon really knows his Volkswagens.
Years ago, we built one for the shop,
and he guided us through it.
Hopefully, this insane custom comes out perfect.
Otherwise, it just might be the last one we ever do.
I can't wait to get started on it.
I can't wait to come back.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
DANNY: You know, except for Shannon,
we really don't do a lot of, you know, Volkswagens around here.
But when we got this 1960 VW 11-window bus in to do,
that was cool, man.
But when I found out that the client
wanted to make it this high-end luxury beach cruiser,
I was stoked.
Man, my team kicked into high gear.
We took this baby down to bare metal.
Restored every inch of this thing.
Added all kinds of goodies to this baby.
She's ready to cruise, ready to cruise
the beach, ready to cruise the mountains,
ready to cruise the country.
She's ready.
Come on out.
I can't wait.
Bryce, how are you doing today?
Man, I'm doing outstanding.
DANNY: Clients couldn't make it out to the shop,
so we wanted a stamp of approval from VW expert Bryce
himself, the guy we bought the VW from.
He's here.
He wants to check it out now.
Can't wait to hear what he thinks.
Bryce, you, my brother, are a VW man,
and you're a VW bus man.
I am.
Got a lot of them.
Got a couple.
My boys referred to it as a bus farm.
It's--
You're growing them down there.
No, it's-- we're hunting them--
You're hunting them.
Why you got so many buses?
Well, I got into them about 12 years ago, and just--
it's the Volkswagen addiction.
Here's the deal.
We built this beautiful '60 VW bus.
These clients, they're Back East folks.
And before we ship it back to them,
you being here means a ton to us because we would love
your stamp of approval before this thing gets
loaded up on a truck and gets gone.
Well, if it's anything else like y'all built,
I'm sure it won't be hard to give it the stamp.
You know, pssht.
You are-- you are a gentleman.
I think we should just look at it.
The problem is, is getting Shannon out of it.
He's already threatened to steal it two or three times.
All right, we ready to bring this out?
BRYCE DISHMAN: We are. - You ready to bring this out?
Oh, I'm definitely ready. BRYCE DISHMAN: All right.
All right, let's bring this baby out.
All right.
Shannon, my man, bring that baby out, but stop!
Don't keep going!
That sounds a little more than 40 horsepower back there.
DANNY: Might be a little bit more.
Oh!
It looks awesome.
Dang, did you happen to put a clutch in on that thing?
DANNY: [LAUGHS]
BRYCE DISHMAN: Oh!
This man is paying attention.
Uh-huh.
The brakes work good.
God, that paint is ridiculous.
DANNY (VOICEOVER): My guys always
knock it out of the park, but this baby
is truly a work of art.
Our clients wanted to keep that classic VW old school style
but give it a high-end luxury overhaul.
We updated the engine and suspension
and added brand new disc brakes for
maximum modern driveability.
Next, Ghetto Bob created a gorgeous custom leather
interior, providing the kind of luxury you
really don't see in a VW bus.
Ryan did his magic on the outside, an insane two-tone
Turkish blue and white with a blue pearl paint job
that just beams under the sun.
This thing is so cool.
I never really wanted a VW bus, but I think I do now.
This bus, OK, she's 1960.
She's an automatic and air conditioned.
Yes.
Everything--
That's awesome.
--in the rear had to be relocated to make it all work.
Because they never made a split window with an automatic.
- Nope. - So this is--
I know the engineering work underneath this thing must be--
It's amazing under there.
Yes.
And you got that church key, man.
I got the church key.
Let's take a-- let's take a look at this engine.
So I want you to check this out, how factory this looks.
Yet it is so custom.
What kind of beast did you put back here, Shannon?
SHANNON: It is a 2276.
BRYCE DISHMAN: God!
SHANNON: Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
So how's it push this automatic transmission?
It's a little different, you know,
because I've never driven a bus with an automatic.
So do you sit there with your-- your foot,
your left foot, trying to reach for the clutch
every time shifting?
Yes.
DANNY: It's one of a kind.
Oh, it's going to be--
I mean, I foresee it being in magazines or something
down the road.
Amen.
I mean, the purists would like this thing because it's subtle,
you know, but it's clean.
It's nothing extravagant, but yet it's got
all the amenities of a new car.
I cannot thank you enough for coming out and looking at it.
Oh, it's awesome.
Total stamp of approval?
- Oh, no doubt. - OK.
I mean, it's--
anybody would be thrilled and happy to--
to get something like this.
Bryce, I can tell you this, brother,
the next time we need a bus for a client, we're calling you.
I know the place we can all go eat, and we can--
we can stare at some buses out in the field.
We're going to have a good time.
If you got a few minutes, man--
Sure.
--let's go bum around the showroom.
- Yes, you got awesome-- - Perfect.
--awesome stuff. Let's go.
Just back away.
[LAUGHS]
DANNY: We get so many classic American muscle cars and hot
rods here at Count's Kustoms.
It's just what we do.
But every once in a while, it's so cool
to do something completely different like this VW bus,
which came out so wicked.
I personally love it.
Bryce is a VW expert, man.
If he's digging it, I know my clients are going to dig it.
I'm so proud of my team and my boys
for taking on this challenge and knocking it out of the park.
[MUSIC PLAYING]