1991 Chevrolet C60 School Bus

Fitted with the 8.2-litre Detroit Diesel ‘Fuel Pincher’ V8 engine, this left-hand-drive Thomas-built Chevrolet C60 school bus (“We have high standards based on a simple philosophy: build the kind of bus we want our own children to ride”) was built in November 1990 in Woodstock Connecticut before being imported here from New York State in 2019.

It then set off almost immediately for Spain driven by the vendor – with his mum on board – where it served as a prop and school bus at his film school. Now back in the UK, it is MOT’d until March 2023.

This fantastic vehicle has had a lot of recent work undertaken on it, making it the perfect base for a mobile business or campervan as it has much more space than any van that ever rolled out of a European factory.

First of all, this thing is BIG! It’s 9.51ft/2.9m high, 8ft/2.44m wide, and 23ft/7m long. That means there a lot of metal to check. That’s okay though because it’s all still in good shape.

Sure, there’s some patina to the yellow paint but it’s solid and all the panels fit as they should, which means you could either leave it as it is or repaint it in whatever colour takes your fancy; this is a vehicle in which your vision can be made real, no matter how big your dreams might be.

And it really is a very special thing, with lots of little Easter eggs there for you to find. For example, the lights on the roof flash amber when they’re switched on but turn red when the door is open. How cool is that?

There’s more: The rear-view mirrors are domed and convex, which is a lovely touch that is as practical as it is aesthetically pleasing.

The bluff front with its gargantuan front bumper also means you’re not going to have any fears when it comes to jostling for space in the city, and the foreshortened bonnet makes judging distance a breeze.

The matt black, five-spoke wheels are a whopping 22.5 inches in diameter and shod with proper truck tyres, which means you’ll be rolling over just about any obstacle you might encounter.

The work that needs doing is going to be entirely dependent on what you want to use the bus for. However, there is a patch of rust on the roof (#225) that’s going to need sorting out sooner rather than later. Other than that, there doesn’t look to be anything that will require your urgent attention, so you could live with it for a while to let your thoughts percolate before embarking on whatever conversion tickles your fancy.

With 17 seats, including the driver’s, there is a huge amount of space inside the C60, something the removal of the rear hydraulic lift helped (it also saved an enormous amount of weight, with the owner estimating the whole kit ‘n’ caboodle weighed somewhere in the region of half a ton in total…). The space this freed up could be put to many uses: As an example, the owner put an editing suite in the rear when he was in Spain, which shows just how versatile this old bus really is.

We can see the whole lot being stripped out though and the seats replaced with a bed, sofa, kitchen and bathroom. Even with this little lot installed, you’d still have enough space and payload capacity for your bikes, kayaks, and a dog or two in addition to a dedicated workspace.

The driver’s seat is comfortable, if a little basic. Still, that just means there’s less to go wrong, an ethos that extends to the remote door handle, which is resolutely manual and likely to survive anything up to and including a nuclear detonation.

The dashboard is basic and there is a plethora of switches to the driver’s left operating things such as the lights, wipers, and heater.

Other than that, what can we say? It could be used as it is if moving people is your thing or completely stripped out and reconfigured to suit whatever shape you’d like your future to take.

Oh, and have we mentioned how much space there is inside?

Recent work includes two new front tyres, a new brake master cylinder, a dimmer switch, an exhaust system and hanger straps, plus an electric pump and hoses.

It’s here with us and once we’d fought over the keys to see who’d have the honour of driving it we discovered that this four-ton bus drives well, with no issues that we’ve identified.

The combination of that lazy diesel V8 and Quadco shifter and automatic gearbox make it much easier to drive than you might think and it fairly shuffles along without apparent effort; sources are sketchy but most sources agree the Fuel Pincher V8 engine develops around 350lb/ft of torque.

It has a speed limiter on it, but that could be removed easily enough we imagine.

Workmanlike best describes the engine bay, which leaves the new owner free to decide the direction to take: To leave ‘as is’ and enjoy driving and using it or to spruce it up as part of the joy of living with an icon. Whatever you decide, the front-hinged bonnet makes access an absolute joy.

The underside looks amazingly clean. The chassis is, of course, substantial and looks to have survived its 30-odd winters with equanimity. We’ve seen far worse on a ten-year-old vehicle.

Everything under there looks to be easily accessible too, even if the scale of it all means you might want to consider upgrading your half-inch socket set to something bigger. Still, your local tractor dealer should be able to help with that.

NB: The owner tells us that parts are still readily available for it via the Internet, which should ease any worries you might have on that score.

As is common with imported vehicles, the bus’s paperwork is a bit sparse. Aside from some fascinating stickers and plates in and around the bus from its time ferrying schoolchildren, there’s a period photo of this type of bus in use as well as some bits and bobs from the Classic American Auto Club (GB) that are worth looking at.

It has a current V5 registration document and a valid MOT until March 2023.

Please note that the Chevrolet requires a D1 driving licence. If you passed your car driving test after 1st January 1997 you may not entitled to drive it without taking an additional driving test.

Look, this isn’t for everyone, we know. But, if you need to move 16 people around on a regular basis then there are few cooler ways of doing it than this.

Or, it could be converted into a mobile café, with plenty of space for a kitchen area plus a few seats. Maybe selling American breakfasts all day before switching to home-smoked BBQ at night? (If so, put me down as your first customer…)

Or, can you imagine what an amazing liveaboard campervan this would make? Remember, the utility engine and drivetrain are capable of racking up astronomical mileages and the heavy-duty suspension would soak up the weight of just about anything you want to install short of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Once converted, you’d be free to roam with enough interior space for all your toys and the sort of reliability that would enable you to to focus on your journey, rather than fretting about finding the nearest garage.

Resale values should be good too because when did you last see one?

Speaking of which, we think the hammer will finally drop somewhere between £17,000 and £22,000 and the owner has such faith in you lot that he’s listing it with a very sensible reserve, so you might just be able to snaffle a bargain.

So, if you’re fed up with your current lifestyle and fancy a change, why not get ahead of the coming Apocalypse and buy this? After all you’re going to want an off-grid home to call your own when disaster does strike - and until then you can roam the planet in considerable comfort and style…

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the seller in Bicester, Oxfordshire. To arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions.’