1998 Chevrolet Suburban – Ricky Laughlin
‘The Bus’ – I found my ride on EBAY in March 2010!… I was looking for a new ride due to my 97 T-Bird having been totaled by a driver who was texting when he hit me HARD…
So, one night I’m looking on EBAY & there it is… this really ‘pimped’ out 1998 Chevy Suburban.
It had everything; VERY CUSTOM SKULLED / PHANTOM PAINT JOB, Lambo Front Doors, Ostrich Skin Interior, Custom Subwoofer Cabinet with 4-15″ Audiobahn Subs & Two Audiobahn A2200HCT 1600w 2 channel amps to run the Subs as well as Two Audiobahn A4401T amps to run the other 10 speakers & 4 tweeters, 4 Video Screens, Ground Effect Lighting (interior & exterior); Custom center console, Electric Button Controlled Rear Cargo Doors, Two Electric Systems (1 vehicle / 1 stereo & other upgrades), Train Horns, Prestige Platinum Alarm System,
Rolling on Customized 24″ Dub ESINEM Wheels, currently wrapped in NEXEN 305/35R24 112V.
I watched it for a month or so on EBAY & not one bid hit it… “So, I showed it to my wife, she asked if I really wanted, “That?”… I said, “YES!”… then she said, “Okay, get it”… And I didn’t ask again!
The next day, I contacted the dealer in Houston, TX & made him an offer which he agreed to.
That weekend I took a Trailways bus ride to Houston, signed the paperwork, gave him the money & drove it home!
It is honestly the BEST deal I ever made on a vehicle & the BEST vehicle I have ever owned.
When I take the family on vacation, we just pull the Subs Cabinet out, hook up the XBOX, let the family watch movies & play games & I just enjoy the drive.
I found an article about ‘The Bus’ online which I thought was quite interesting from when it was for sale on EBAY at this website:http://jalopnik.com/5772924/for-13980-canadian-roll-big-willie-style
Since bringing it home I have had to take out the entire interior, including the entire dash, all the way to the firewall & everything from there to the rear cargo doors, in order to rewire EVERYTHING, including a lot of the wiring that had been done under the hood.
Whoever had completed the previous wiring did not have a clue as to what they were doing & it was basically a fire trap waiting to happen constantly shorting stuff out. Now that I fixed all that everything works fine, the sound system has an awesome clarity, so you hear every note. from lowest to highest, without any distortion even with the volume kicking it loud enough you can hear me coming from quite a ways away.
I have entered it in a couple car shows & sound competitions. The Bus has won a couple of trophies, 1 sound competition & 1 car show, and I plan on winning more in the future.
I drive it EVERYDAY to the office & for all my business travel as Risk Manager for the company, which really surprises the associates when I pull in at one of our locations around the country.
The Bus is a great way to meet people & have awesome conversations. Even today when I stopped at the Shell station to get gas a car pulled off the highway just to get a good look at it & take some pics! This happens regularly & my wife thinks they are all crazy for liking it so much.
I’ve been pulled over several times for extremely minor ‘infractions’ & still no tickets! With the dark tinted windows the cops are quite surprised when I roll it down & they see a 50+ year old grey haired WHITE GUY in the driver’s seat, jam’in to Pit Bull & the like.
One cop asked me one day, “is this your vehicle?”… I told him, “No! I stole it!”… And for what I paid for it, along with the money I have put into it, I may have actually stolen it! I know I made on heck of a deal.
With all the driving I’m always tinkering with it, but even with it now having over 222,000 miles on it, it runs beautifully. I love my ‘Bus’… Drive On!…
