Western Flyer restoration project expands to include bus
SALINAS >> An art deco-style bus that was once used in Hollywood movies is being restored and will operate in tandem with the return of the Western Flyer fishing boat to Monterey.
The 1947 Flxible bus is being restored by Todd Gravelle, who operates Gravelle Manufacturing on Chamberlain Street in Salinas. Gravelle received the bus a year and a half ago. It was purchased from the Warner Bros. lot in Hollywood by John Gregg, who saw it on the Warner Bros. sales page. Gregg also purchased the Western Flyer.
Gregg is the founder and director of the Western Flyer Foundation, which is restoring the 70-foot boat in Port Townsend, Washington.
The Western Flyer gained fame in 1940 when John Steinbeck and his close friend and marine biologist Ed Ricketts chartered it for a scientific expedition to The Sea of Cortez. Steinbeck wrote the book “Log From the Sea of Cortez” based on the journey. And Ricketts gained a mountain of research on the sea’s marine life.
The Western Flyer is expected to return to Monterey in the fall of 2021. It will be used as a floating classroom for the study of science and the humanities.
“John Gregg had a vision of taking this piece of history (the Western Flyer) and bringing it back to life,” said Chris Chase, project director of the Western Flyer Foundation. “The bus kind of parallels that,” he said.
The plan, Chase explained, is to use the restored bus to transport students to and from the Western Flyer. “Transportation is a challenge,” Chase said. “If we can help move eighth-graders, 12th-graders and adults, it goes with our program. … I don’t see it as a daily driver, but it definitely draws attention,” he said.
Chase is not exactly sure in which movies the bus appeared. It may have had cameos in “A Star is Born,” starring Judy Garland and in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” starring Cary Grant. The bus also was used in the film “Rocky.”
Flxible buses were widely produced and were popular with musical groups. Willie Nelson had one as a touring bus. So did
the Grateful Dead, Chase said.
The company was founded in 1913 in Loudonville, Ohio, by Hugo H. Young and Carl F. Dudte as Flexible Side Car Company. It began as a manufacturer of motorcycle sidecars, funeral cars and ambulances, then moved into intercity coaches and transit buses. From 1953 to 1970 Flxible was one of the largest transitbus manufacturers in the United States. The company closed in 1996.
“There’s something special and unique about it,” Chase said of the bus. “It just ties in nicely.
“The crosshairs of the foundation is the intersection of art and science. I think that the bus brings humanity. It’s deco, it’s beautiful. Everything about it is a conversation piece.”
The bus sat on the Warner Bros. lot for many years. The outside shows traces of several colors and rusted spots. But
the interior was in good condition given its age, Gravelle said. The original engine had been replaced by a Chevrolet big block power plant.
It will be the biggest restoration project Gravelle has ever done. He specializes in restoring cars and trucks and has three other projects in the works in his shop. He is working on the bus, which sits outside, piece by piece, taking parts off and working on them in the garage.
“It’s a challenge but I like challenges,” he said.
He has stripped out the interior, which also has an art deco theme. Those parts will be reinstalled.
“It’s one of the coolest looking interiors I’ve ever seen,” he said. “The luggage racks and the overhead lighting, that’s cool and it makes it really fun.
“The upholstery is two-toned
“The crosshairs of the foundation is the intersection of art and science. I think that the bus brings humanity. It’s deco, it’s beautiful.” — Chris Chase, project director of the Western Flyer Foundation
green, like jade, and a lighter kind of goldish green with a light metallic look to it, and this really cool vintage cloth,” Gravelle said. “Those old materials are really hard to find now. They produce a lot but it’s really not the same.”
Chase said the project is not a priority (the boat is) and that the foundation is not currently raising funds for the bus project. “There’s no urgency. If it takes a little longer, it does,” he said.
The project, he said, is the largest and most difficult he has ever worked on. It is expected to take quite a long time to complete.
Chase said the project is not a priority (the boat is) and that the foundation is not currently rais
ing funds for the bus project. “There’s no urgency. If it takes a little longer, it does,” he said.
Restoration of the Western Flyer continues, although the project was shut down for six weeks in April due to COVID-19 restrictions. The project restarted in mid-June, Chase said.
The shutdown came after all the new planking had been installed on the hull. “It couldn’t have been better timing,” Chase noted. “We’re definitely entering into the classic home stretch.”
In January the Western Flyer’s wheelhouse or cabin will be lifted back onto the hull. It was removed to aid
the hull restoration and to make it easier to work on the cabin. “That will be a huge turning point,” Chase said.
T he foundation, he said, will have a big funding push in January, as the project is not yet fully funded. The goal is to return the Western Flyer to Monterey in the fall of 2021. But it won’t be fully functional when it arrives. “There’s still lots of moving parts and lots of money to be spent,” Chase said.
Another goal is for the boat to retrace the 1940 expedition to the Sea of Cortez by Steinbeck and Ricketts. “We hope to have it in the Sea of Cortez by March 2022,” Chase said.