Words & Photos: Chadly Johnson
I was hanging out with friends at the Woodburn VW Show’s Friday night camp out. We were chatting and watching swappers and show attendees filter into the show grounds. I was keeping an eye out, as my buddy Eric Carlson had told me a Smooth Gate Barndoor Single Cab might turn up at the show.
Near sunset, I spotted a Bus making its way through the gates. “Sweet,” I thought, “a Single Cab.” I watched the Bus slip through lines of parked R.V.s and trailers, catching glimpses in each opening. I realized it was a split Bus, then I spotted ribbed bumpers indicating an early model… then no fresh air overhang above the windshield. “Holy crap, it’s a Barndoor,” I thought. Then, the fading sunlight reflected down the side of the commercial truck as it turned to approach me, revealing its drop gates. This was it… the Smooth Gate Barndoor! I had a million questions and immediately started following the Bus without making it too obvious that I was freaking out.
By the time I reached the Bus the owner was already away from it talking with friends, so I started checking it out. I had never seen a Smooth Gate in person before; very few people have. After several laps around the Bus, simply taking it in, I was introduced to the lucky owner, Andy Wooldridge. We chatted a bit, but the sun had set so we planned to talk more the next morning.
I was up before sunrise and hitting the swap meet with all the other early birds; then the day got busy absorbing all the show had to offer. Each time I made my way to the Barndoor, Andy was not around… and then it was gone. Luckily we had exchanged information and kept in touch. The next time I saw the Bus was at the Vintage Meet in Shoreline, WA, where it looked radically different, as Andy had paint stripped it back to its incredible Dove Blue paint. This time we chatted more and set up a photo shoot shortly after. During our photo set Andy told me the story of the Bus and how it ended up in his possession. It’s a classic tale of being at the right place at the right time while trying to sell a Bus.
Andy was set up at the Portland swap meet trying to sell a 1959 Mango Bus. A passing gentleman mentioned that in the backyard of his Grandmother’s house was a VW pickup truck, and he thought it was a late 1950s model. The man said he’d take some photos and send them to Andy. It took a few days for the photos to arrive and when they did Andy recognized it as a rare Barndoor model, but not a Smooth Gate – until he showed the photos to his good friend John Jensen. The original owner of the Bus had passed, and it took a painful year and a half of on and off contact with the executor of the will to set up a date for Andy to see the Bus. Once Andy was able to see the Bus in person, a deal was struck.
The idle truck had been sitting in the same spot at the family’s nursery since 1964! Andy said it was under a tree similar to a weeping willow and that massive branches had fallen all around the Bus, but none had hit it… if they had, they surely would have crushed it. The Bus was painted a greyish color and wore Alameda Nursery logos, but hints of Dove Blue were showing. The Barndoor was parked in ‘64 when the youngest daughter’s boyfriend was driving it to community college and the transmission went out. Unfortunately the original engine and transaxle were discarded. There was an unsuccessful attempt to install a later model transmission into the Bus that was never completed.
Once Andy had the Bus at home he located a 1952 Barndoor engine off thesamba.com, and picked up a ‘50s era split case transmission. The Bus was pretty complete, only requiring him to locate a 3 tab front emblem and new windshield glass. Andy sent the semaphores out to be rebuilt by John Henry, who stated they were the nicest set of ribbed semaphores he had ever seen.
The Barndoor was soon moving under its own power, but not venturing very far from home. The Woodburn show where I first saw it was its longest journey to date… about 50 white knuckling miles. Andy said he was scared to death, not because of how the Bus drove, but of being hit by another car in a vehicle that is nearly impossible to replace. Shortly after the Woodburn show Andy summoned enough intestinal fortitude to paint strip it using ZEP oven cleaner. The paint strip process also removed the nursery logos, but revealed a 2nd set of logos in the Dove Blue paint… Sadly they, were illegible.
Andy admits he would have been happy with any year VW truck, but the fact that he now owns such a rare specimen is a true honor. A special thank you goes to John Jensen, who volunteered his knowledge, research and mechanical genius to get the Bus to where it is today. Just to put things into perspective with information from HotVW’s own Lind Bjornsen: Smooth gate Barndoors were produced from 1952 until the pressing versions were introduced in 1953. The trucks did not come with rear bumpers, and fewer than three dozen are known to still exist today. Crazy rare…crazy cool.
