Words & Photos: Chadly Johnson

Have you ever had a car you obsessed about? Daydreams when awake, tormenting dreams while you sleep… a true obsession! Gino Untalan’s overwhelming need for the bus you see before you resulted in a long persistence that paid off in the end – a bus he missed out on once, only to land the second time around.

Part of the Single Cab’s story has already been told in the feature of Gino’s double door 15 window bus in the April 2018 issue of HotVWs, but we’ll catch you up. The story begins with Preston Frank during a trip to his home town of Bryant, Texas. He spotted a forgotten Single Cab parked under a tree while cruising with his buddy. Preston inquired about the idle Transporter with the property owner and found she was willing to sell the bus if he named a price. Preston offered up $1,500, to which the owner replied, “Go get the money.”

Preston tore into the Bus immediately and it was soon rolling on air ride, a fresh coat of primer and a hoop set… it had a good look. After a bit of driving, Preston was not happy with the front air ride setup and decided to sell the bus. This is where Preston and Gino first met, as Gino was hot for the Single Cab – but another buyer beat him to the punch. Though Gino was initially very upset with Preston, a friendship grew out of the just-missed purchase of the Single Cab. The pair ended up trading VWs shortly after and Gino acquired the 15 window double door for a pair of early convertible Beetles he owned. Funnily enough, Preston would later trade one of the early convertibles to get the Single Cab back… How many of us have played a similar game of musical VWs?

This time Preston really went to town on the reacquired Single Cab, leaving no panel untouched. Let’s start with body mods. Preston shaved the door handles, front turn signals and windshield wipers. The drop gates were capped off, along with the truck’s bed floor and treasure chest floors for a smooth look. The bed was also raised by 3”. The front doors were given the suicide treatment and semaphore turn signals were grafted in. To accommodate for the massive wheels, 6” tubs were added up front along with 5” tubs out back. The panel between the front cab and the treasure chest opening was removed; a custom rear hatch was constructed at the back of the cab encompassing the rear window. Finally, a shortened Beetle ragtop clip was added to the roof along with a pair of deluxe skylight windows.

For the inside of the Single Cab, Preston wanted a Barndoor/hot rod inspired interior. The basic lack of a dash leans towards a Barndoor feel, and the tractor seats with hand made seat backs, radially extended shifter and chrome GM steering column bring out the hot rod effect. Preston states that the unique arm rests, overhead glove box and custom instrument cluster near the floor are things that just happened while working far too late at night. If you look closely, you will see the controls for the air ride are cleverly concealed inside the driver’s side headlight bucket.

The sound system is db Audio, consisting of Pro Components and a 12” sub woofer in a one-off suspended encloser that uses the space between the frame rails in the treasure chest for air space. There is no radio, just a Bluetooth receiver that connects to your phone for a clean appearance.

Selling the Single cab in the past, due to the lack of proper air ride performance, resulted in it being a point of focus for Preston the second time around. Up front, Preston completely eliminated the factory front beam and welded a Mustang 2 suspension into the front frame rails with a custom cross member. The new independent front suspension is 9” narrower than stock and features rack and pinion steering. The rear suspension was raised an inch and again is a replacement of the factory, consisting of Heim joint rear spring plates with custom upper and lower bag brackets. Air ride components inlcude Slam Specialty bags, a pair of Viar 444 compressors, eight 1/2” SMC valves, a 5 gallon tank and manual 6 push button control switches. Disc brakes handle the stopping duties, with drilled and slotted rotors up front and cross drilled rotors in the rear.

Gino was a fan of the Single Cab when he initially attempted to purchase it and his obsession only grew during Preston’s second rendition of the bus. During the transformation, Gino kept reminding Preston that if he ever wanted to sell the bus, he wanted first dibs. Preston states that he was unable to bring his whole family along with him to events in the Single Cab. With the lack of room and the fact that Preston simply woke up one day and decided he was done with the bus came the realization that it was time to move on. Preston was aware that Gino wanted the bus and he was also aware that Gino had a more family-friendly Double Cab… So a trade offer was made, and Gino jumped at it.

Preston is not a fan of stock vehicles, as is very apparent in his style of builds. If you’d like to see what is happening with his newly acquired Double Cab, check him out at @pfrank67_dub_obsessions. As for Gino, he now owns a pair of Preston’s amazingly unique buses and couldn’t be happier. Watch for him at events all over the Mid-West.