A Diamond In The Rough: 1970 GMC Buffalo Bus
The seller of this 1970 GMC Buffalo Bus refers to his people mover as A Diamond In The Rough, and by all accounts, it does look like a nicely preserved and ready-to-roll example, especially to now be over 50 years old. These motor coaches were built by GMC beginning in 1966 and produced all the way up until 1980, and while many of them have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles and served their purpose, this one looks like it’s still got some good life left to go. The bus is located in Fort Worth, Texas, and can be found here on Craigslist with an asking price of $17,900.
Rocco B. has been spotting lots of cool finds lately and sending them our way, and we’d like to thank him for the great tip on this one! The seller says this bus is all original and has only 74,680 miles on its ticker, which seems quite low for a vehicle known for frequently traveling hours at a time. Not too much information is given about the Buffalo’s background, but if it has been primarily privately owned and maintained that could explain the condition and lack of too many miles. The exterior is said to be all original, and while it could use a paint job the body looks to be in overall well-preserved condition. I’m not sure what happened to the back bumper, but maybe it was removed at some point for towing something behind the bus.
The interior is also stated to be all original and looks to be in pretty good shape for its age, including most of the seats and inside metal surfaces. Even some of the overhead lights appear to still be functioning, and this really does seem like one of those long-distance travelers with plenty of comforts that last for the duration of the trip. There’s also lots of room down below to transport all of the luggage from Point A to Point B.
The seller says that the engine starts right up instantly and purrs like a kitten, with oil changes, tune-ups, and other maintenance having been performed as needed. There are also new tires all the way around plus 2 new batteries, and the sale also includes copies of many of the original owner’s manuals. We’ve seen several buses over the years on Barn Finds that don’t look nearly as well cared for and maintained as this one, so the owner may have hit the mark by calling it A Diamond In The Rough. What are your thoughts on this 1970 GMC Buffalo Bus?
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Comments
Would make a great band bus. It reminds me of the bus our band leader owned in the ’70s after he got
rid of the reworked school bus he was using then. As I recall, it was very comfortable on long trips– especially if you had to sleep in it if
you got stuck in the snow somewhere. Party bus? Why not!
Ours certainly was.
Amazing.
I would like to see it working.
speedometer is not original.
76k. Miles, 52 years, 28 miles per week. Driven by a little old lady to church every Sunday. And she picked up the congregation on the way
😂 that’s a new one to me!
Engine? 871NE Detroit with 4-spd manual?
That storage space under the bus is bigger than my 1st apartment……
Say what some will, for an old fart to learn something new, well, a tip of the hat to Jim, it doesn’t happen often these days. I’m not being smug, it’s just the “slugs” I come in contact with where I live, teach me nothing. I never heard the term “Buffalo”, and spending so much time on the road, you’d think I would. Running with these “stagecoach “drivers, many had CB radios, for while, their V8 Detroits and long legs ( highway gears) would leave us in the dust, but never heard the term Buffalo. The speedo is what’s called a “tattletale”, or “pimp”, and an early version of EOBRs, or Electronic On Board Recorders, but was mechanical. Many times, they could be “jimmied” by drilling a hole in the plastic face @ 55 mph, insert a pin, and hammer down. A sharp safety dude would know, as it still recorded time and quite frankly, I rarely drove a truck that would go over 55 anyway. It’s possible it belonged to a church, in Texas, maybe, but probably, like said, the speedo is not original. A good whallop would screw them up too. Cool find, if you’re into buses, for a bus, the “ring-ding”( looks like a 318hp, later turbo models pushed it to 350hp) did a fantastic job in these. I think these were last before the Scenicruiser with 3 axles, that some say was for extra weight, but more like it eliminated “pogo sticking” down the road, a phenomenon I’m well aware of with early air ride suspensions.
I was guessing local church group, mid level athletic program etc
When I saw this I thought wow, a low mileage of “only” $17,500. But the photos say otherwise. I think it is missing the 7th figure on the speedo. This is like saying my Kenworth only has 4800 miles. I think Buffalo refers to the hump in the roof. I visit in person would be a must to determine the value, it could be worth it. Or not.
It would make a nice camper with plenty of storage for your camping accessories. However to turn this into a camper would require a heck of a lot of work.
If you really wanted a coach to convert to a RV, you can get one pretty already converted for probably less money without the hassle of gutting this.
You mean , Coach Works Are Us , I Know A Retired School Shop Teacher Who Restored And Remodeled The Interior To His Liking And Needs , Roger Titus From Andover Ct , Taught At Bolton High School Nice – Smart Guy
Ideal for transporting illegal immigrants in style!
Style? Hell they FLY them now! :)
“All come, to look for Amer-ica……..”
That odometer has probably been turned over at least once, making that mileage an additional 1 million miles more.
This model bus was nicknamed “Camel back and/or Humpback ” I must have put hundreds of thousands of miles on these busses during my 28-year career with Greyhound. The Scenicruiser (double Decker) was out way before this model came out.
That 8V71 is a monster of an engine, easy to work on, parts are still available and they pull like a freight train
As you enter the coach, on the right side of the stairwell is a builders plate. It will have a model number and serial number. With that information, records are available to find the original owner. My guess is this bus has 2-3 million miles on it. It does look to be in very good shape. Being a seated coach, to someone who wants one, the price might not be all that bad. If you want a RV coach, cheaper coaches are out there. The rear bumper shouldn’t be that hard to source.
It looks like the rear bumper is laying in one of the under bus storage compartments.
Thanks for your post. I hadn’t looked at the link. The baggage bays look pretty good, for its age.
The red digit on the odometer indicates it is a replacement.
I would say the future was yesterday, since they also don’t make anything like it’s exotic cousin anymore either! …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PD-4501_Scenicruiser
You people are too critical. The bus is worth it just for the condition it’s in . The mechanical aspect can always be addressed