Rolling Donut bus rich in local history

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By Skip Peterson Updated 1:33 PM Friday, September 11, 2009

For many people, the term “Concours d’Elegance” equates to Packards and Duesenburgs, but the fact is, Concours celebrate all type of automobiles. A current trend revolves around “survivors” or unrestored cars and motorcycles.

The Preservation class at the third annual Dayton Concours d’Elegance at Carillon Park will feature a local entry that served coffee and doughnuts to local GM factory workers in the early 1960s.

“We heard about this at the Dub Dash last year, so we headed to Xenia for the auction, and we got it,” Centerville resident David VanArtsdalen explained as he stood next to the 1960 Volkswagen bus, outfitted as a rolling doughnut factory.

“A fellow from Xenia, who owned some Dairy Queens, decided to invest in the sort-of franchise in 1960, and bought the Volkswagen from R.B. Kuhn in Xenia. The original sticker shows a total price of $2,269,” VanArtsdalen said.

“Then he had it outfitted with the counter, the serving windows, generator, doughnut maker, and all the stuff and started selling the coffee and doughnuts,” he added.

“Turns out the guy who he hired to do this was stealing from him, so after only a few years, he got mad and parked it,” Van Artsdalen said.

“When we got it at the auction, it had been sitting for like 45 years,” he said. “All we did was change the oil and plugs, and clean up the engine a bit and it started right up. It only has 9,000 miles on it and it’s pretty rare. We’ve heard of a couple of other ones, but none around here.”

The VanArtsdalen family is into German cars, having a number of Volkswagens and Porsches in their collection.

“We don’t go to a lot of shows, but this doughnut van has really attracted a lot of attention, and it’s a local piece. We have no intention of letting it get out of Dayton and actually, we’re anxious to learn more about it,” Van Artsdalen said. “A guy came up to us a few weeks ago and said his father bought doughnuts from it.”

The condition of the bus is surprisingly good, considering its age.

“We had the guys at RedZone Motorsports fully detail it. It took them a long time, but the paint really came to life, and we just cleaned everything up. Even the v-belts are original, but we did have to put new tires on it — the old ones were too flat-spotted to be safe,” VanArtsdalen said.

The rolling doughnuts bus will be one of 200 classic automobiles and motorcycles to be displayed Sept. 20 at the Dayton Concours d’Elegance at Carillon Park.

Marmon, Morgan and Mini are the featured marques for the event that opens to the public at 10:30 a.m. Admission is $10 for adults, and $5 for children ages 3 to 17. Members of Dayton History are admitted free. The parade of class winners will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday.

For more information, visit www.daytonconcours.com or call (937) 293-2841.

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