Western-Star

Hot rodders from the '50s and '60s know that Von Dutch is the father of the art form of pin striping. His designs graced the sheet metal of hot rods and motorcycles, and as the years went by, he became a living legend.

He was also, to put it mildly, very eccentric. His real name was Kenny Howard, and he started pin-striping motorcycles in the '50s under the name Von Dutch. He did some work for a woman who was short on cash, so she paid him with an old GMC Long Beach city bus. He gutted the inside, turned the rear portion into living quarters and created a machine shop area in front.

The bus languished in the weeds in California until last year, when the owners decided to sell it at auction. Howard's pin-striping toolbox brought $310,000 last year at an auction in Los Angeles, which caught the attention of local auto aficionado Doug James.

James and buddy Don Phlipot head to Scottsdale each January for the Barrett-Jackson auction, where they catch up with former Daytonian Paul Goecke, who now lives there. "It's just a car guys' weekend. We've gone five or six times, and we always get a bidders pass, but we never bought anything before," James said.

This year was a little different. When the Von Dutch bus was brought in, James and the gang were in the skybox, and James said he got a little crazy.

"I told Don we had to buy that thing. I told him about the price for the paint box, and he thought I was nuts. Then the bidding started, and it was pretty cheap, so I started waving my hand, and pretty soon, well, the hammer fell, and we owned the bus. We got it for $46,000," he said.

"Thank God Paul Goecke was there. We had no idea what we were going to do with it, and we sure weren't driving it back to Dayton," James added. "It was running and had brakes and all, but I wouldn't drive that thing across the parking lot."

The gang made arrangements to have the bus stored in a local warehouse. James sells BMWs at Voss Village BMW every day, so he figured there must be someone who would want the bus. That's where Goecke and Phoenix/Scottsdale came into serious play. Goecke did some checking, and discovered that legendary pin striper Steve Kafka lives there.

Once contact with Kafka was made, things changed quickly. "Kafka wanted the bus right away, so we struck a deal, and now he has it. He is planning to restore the bus back to the way it was when Von Dutch lived in it," James said.

According to Kafka's Web site, he has located the original air compressor and other pieces, and work is starting.

"We owned a piece of history for a little while, made a couple bucks on the deal, and we have a great story to tell," James said.