Is it a VW Bus? A Milk Truck? A Motorhome? It’s all of those put together and more – becoming the Hyper-Hippy Magic Bus. This intriguing vehicle is designed by Randy Grubb, a creator of exotic, eccentric vehicles.

Double-Decker Deco Bus is Magic

In his article for Car and Driver, John Pearley Huffman declares

This Double-Decker Deco Bus is Magic. Automotive sculptor Randy Grubb goes hyper-hippy with a GMC Motorhome/Volkswagen Microbus combo.

Hippy-dippy lunacy that it is, that Magic Bus makes perfect sense for its intended purpose of taking members from San Francisco’s “The Battery” social club on communal excursions. It’s nudging up against nearly sensible in that sense, more practical than many Grubb creations.

Frappéd in an Art-Deco Blender

So, here’s Randy Grubb’s “Magic Bus.” It’s a mix of milk truck, Volkswagen Microbus, GMC Motorhome, hand-formed aluminum, and sci-fi all frappéd in an art-deco blender with some pastel paint. For those who remember a time when Volkswagen vans weren’t collector items, it’s a throwback to the hippy contraptions of the psychedelic era when cast-off school buses would be expanded into double-decker crash pads by welding VW shells atop the roofs. Think 1968, when The Who first released “Magic Bus.” 

Magic Bus was Commissioned Artwork

Grubb’s bus is also an evolution of his Decoliner, which C/D featured in the February 2013 issue. It takes many of the ideas built into that split-level road vessel and refines them for specific
duty. Specific because, while Decoliner was built to Grubb’s whims, the Magic Bus was commissioned by one of Grubb’s patrons. And that language is precise because Grubb views himself as an artist and vehicles as his medium. Suitably, then, the Magic Bus is making its official public debut at the 70th annual Grand National Roadster Show January 25-27 at the Pomona, California, Fairplex. Formerly known as the Oakland Roadster Show, it’s the celebration of hot-rod craftsmanship where the top award is called America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, or AMBR.

Read the full article here  – it’s fascinating to learn the components that make up this Hyper-Hippy Magic Bus.

Another article in HotRod Network by John Gilbert, with great photos by Stephanie Carlson, provides another fun perspective of the Magic Bus.