Words & Photos: Chadly Johnson Lighting Assistant: Keeth Colton
If you follow the bus scene, you are aware that bay window buses are starting to make a big push into the spotlight. Once shunned by the majority of split screen owners, these buses are now creeping into acceptance. Perhaps bay windows will never surpass splits in styling, but once you’ve driven one, it’s hard to deny their driveability in comparison to their older siblings. Back in 2010, before bays started to catch on, Mike Gregory picked one up for $600, largely due to the great condition of the bus. Little did Mike know the radical transformation that lay ahead for his latest purchase.
You may recognize Mike’s name, but there is a better chance that his business will ring a bell… the House of Ghia in Salem, Ore. Mike purchased the HOG in 2005 from Jim Patterson while still working full time, mostly utilizing the business for parts sales. Two years later, Mike quit his job and went full time with the HOG, adding restoration work to the shop’s list of services. The restoration work took off quickly, and soon Mike was hiring talented crew members to help him create some amazing builds. Now as the name suggests, the shop’s main focus was on Ghias – so how did the House of Ghia turn out such an amazing bus, you might ask…well, let’s find out.
As I mentioned, Mike picked the bay up in 2010, right around the time his buddy Paul Iozzio started building his beautiful 17” Fuchs wheels. The wheels were so impressive that Mike said he needed to build the bus around a set of them. With Wagens West being right in town, Mike picked up an air bagged front beam along with rear suspension components. The bus was given 2” tubs and was soon slammed out on air ride, tucking the 17×7” and 17×9” Fuchs perfectly.
At this point in the build Mike decided to drop a split screen dash into the bay, replacing the plastic dash. The install required the use of 2 split dashes and partial trays as the dash had to be stretched 8 inches. The dash turned out so well that it inspired the use of additional split screen bus components, but Mike was careful to not implement too many. The objective was to add split bus styling to the bay, not to convert the bay into a split window.
Unfortunately, just about the time the bay window’s build was really taking off in late 2012, so was the HOG’s restoration work. So, like many projects of shop owners, it was pushed into the corner of the shop so the crew could focus on customer work. Nearly two years later, in 2014, it was becoming clear that Mike was not going to have time to finish the bay’s build, so he put the project up for sale with the understanding that it would only go to a customer who would allow him to finish his vision for the bus. Well lucky for us all, Mark Salisbury from the United Kingdom stepped into that roll and took ownership of the project. Mark is a self-proclaimed petrol head, having owned many VWs and Porsches over the years. He was once photographed on his BMX bike soaring high over a Karmann Ghia Cabriolet build by Karman Konnection for a VW Trends magazine feature. Once again the bay was a project that the crew at HOG could focus on, and the ball got rolling, resulting in the gorgeous build you see before.
Taking a walk around the bus, we see its perfectly massaged body was shot in a 2 tone combo of Savannah Beige (the bus’ original paint color) and Texas brown. On a side note, the bay’s OG paint still remains on the front floors due to their impeccable condition. Gorgeous and one-off split bus style deluxe trim was built by John Alba of Grumpy’s metal. Mike then modified rocker spears for the ends of the door trim. Custom arms were crafted by John Capello to mount and relocate the bay mirrors. Lurking inside the Fuch wheels, you can see 944 Porsche brakes all around with red Wilwood brake calipers accenting perfectly. A subtle change is the smoothed bumpers, with the front bumper fused into a one piece from its factory three piece design. Since the bus was bound for the UK, Euro taillights were utilized, which made for some tricky wiring. The perfect shade of window tint was applied by No Limitz tinting out of Salem, Ore. And finally, the ONLY Ghia components utilized on the bus are the low mounted early nipple turn signals on the nose.
Moving inside the engine bay, we find a nicely detailed 1915cc mill built from the bay’s original case by Mike’s son Alex… Always cool to hear about father and son shops. The engine wears body color matched tin, and spent fuel exits through a Vintage Speed exhaust system. The bus retains its stock transmission, with a SCAT shifter selecting the gears.
Last but certainly not least, we head inside the Sick Bay’s amazing interior. When Mark took over ownership of the bus in project state, the interior was not yet planned out. Mark suggested plaid, and luckily Mike was in mutual agreement as he loves plaid as well. Mark had material sent over from the U.K. in a combo of Texas Brown for the top color and Savannah Beige for the bottom color. Mike created and installed the interior panels as well as the headliner. Two chrome trim interior kits from Wolfsburg West were utilized to accent the interior custom made panels.
The Sick Bay’s dash is an absolute masterpiece that utilizes a pair of split bus dashes and partial trays, which were stretched eight inches. The fitment and design of the dash is so perfect, it appears to be factory.
It should be noted that the pattern of the door panels by HOG match front to back, a subtle and amazing detail carried out by Mike. Mike also custom fit German Square weave carpet, then turned to Commercial Seat Covers in Salem, Ore. to assist with stitching custom seat covers.
Other interior touches include a CIP1 steering wheel, billet grab handles and jail bars by Air Cooled Accessories, radio by Retro Sound and an ISP West deluxe clock and speedo in kilometers. One thing you will not notice in the interior are any signs of the air ride. HOG took pride in hiding all the components by mounting the controls and dual batteries under the rear seat, along with the custom air tanks and Via Air compressors underneath the bus along the frame rails. Eliminating any signs of the air ride keeps the interior very clean and uncluttered, allowing your eyes to focus on its beauty.
From the body color matched engine tin to the perfectly stitched plaid interior, the Sick Bay is well thought out and executed on all levels by the team at the House of Ghia. The whole crew at the House of Ghia takes great pride in this build. The thought has always been to keep absolutely everything possible “in house” to monitor quality control from fabrication, to paint, to upholstery. The guys at HOG definitely have restoration and custom building down to a science, and the Sick Bay is driving proof. Now, if you think the Sick Bay bus is impressive… just wait until you see what they can do with a GHIA!
