Over the years I built four buses, actually it may have been five total, if I include the 35’ BLITZ RTS Limo conversion. There was always another bus that I thought would be the last one, the perfect bus to build.

It was the ride of the Eagle that sold me on that bus; also nobody will mistake the Eagle for a motorhome. Unlike my second bus, the RTS, most people thought it was a stretched GMC motorhome. In a way it was just that. It was based mainly on the lines of the GMC Motorhome. The RTS started its life about the same year GMC Motorhomes were not being built anymore.

When the GMC/RTS came out in 1977 it was years ahead in looks compared to any bus being built at that time. In 1983 Ford came out with the T-Bird that had the same streamlined looks, not to mention the 1955 Citroën DS (Goddess in French), considered by many the first real new car ever built. Maybe the RTS is best compared to the DS, because the 1955 Citroën DS was 30 years ahead of its time. The RTS was as futuristic as the Monorail at Disney World and, because of that, Disney was one of the first users of the RTS and so were Hertz and Avis. They were so popular and well built, making them an excellent bus to be remanufactured by BLITZ and TMC many times, and as of now, no city bus has come out with a better look than the RTS.

The GMC became too expensive for a relatively small motorhome while other brands became much larger and sold for a lot less money. Maybe the RTS had the same problem; it became too expensive to build.

I had a GMC motorhome and it had its drawbacks. For example, there is zero storage space under it and the vacuum brakes stop working if the engine dies. Some of those issues were solved by adding large storage pods on top of the roof and installing a vacuum pump to the braking system.

The RTS had similar shortcomings when it comes to storage and brakes. The 730 Allison could use another gear, but with the right rear end it was never a problem for me. Maybe a little more power from the 6V92 would be nice. I had around 350 HP in mine with 90 injectors, a larger turbo and a 100% bypass blower. It performed about the same as my Eagle with the same 6V92 setup and an extra gear in the 740 Allison. One of my main concerns was the wedge-brakes on the RTS. They are applied by air and if air is lost the brakes are lost too. The small spring brake on the rear end can barely hold the bus on a steep incline.

Also there was the ride I really missed from the Eagle. Owners of RTS bus conversions call it the sports car of buses and I must agree. But the IFS has small donut-style airbags and does not incorporate an air-beam like older GMC buses do, making the RTS ride hard. Maybe if I never drove the Eagle I would not have noticed it as much.

But it was the beauty of the RTS that overcame all those shortcomings; it was a lot like a beautiful woman who is a bad cook — it is easier to change the restaurant than to change the woman.

I built the RTS alongside the Eagle, but the Eagle was finished first. I had sold my Fleetwood Limited and I needed the Eagle to take a vacation while my wife was still on summer break from her teaching job. I took a month off from work and got the Eagle drivable within just four weeks. I still worked on it for many years, because there is always something to change or add to it, including rebuilding the 6V92, adding a one-piece front door, and a Webasto boiler.

I used both the Eagle and the RTS together for a few years and I did keep the RTS a long time after I sold the Eagle. I always wished the Eagle had the good looks of the RTS, and the RTS rode like the Eagle.

When I was offered three Neoplan Spaceliners for $10k, it was a deal I could not refuse. I sold one of the buses for seven times as much as I had paid for all three. One was too far gone and was a parts bus only. One was in great shape but needed an engine and transmission, because both were gone along with some other pieces. That was the bus I converted. For what I spent on the rebuilt 8V92 and a 740 Allison without a core, I could have bought a 60 series and a B500, like I have in my Eagle.

The 4-cycle 60 series is light-years ahead of the anemic 2-cycle engines. But that was a long time before I drove my Dina. Also I knew a lot more about the 8V92 and unless it was blown to pieces, it would always get me back home. It was easy to fix on the road, but if the 60 series stopped working I could only look at it. Nevertheless, the engine in my Dina gave me zero problems. The few problems I had were self-inflicted.

I got the Spaceliner for nothing, but it ended up costing the most to convert. I think we bus-nuts like our buses large, and the Spaceliner was just that. Now there was a bus that had the great looks of the RTS and was a “real” bus like the Eagle. I put a lot of work and money into that Spaceliner. Did a lot of structural modifications and cosmetic changes too, to make it look like a newer bus. It turned out beautiful, but it ended up being all wrong for me and what I wanted out of my bus.

Things like the driver’s area — that I thought was great at first — did not work out well in use. To get upstairs, the driver had to climb over the center divider console or go to the rear area and upstairs. It was easier for the copilot, but the driver was like in a cage — at least for an old, fat, out-of-shape driver like me.

In the Eagle or RTS all you have to do is get out of the driver’s seat and walk back. In the Spaceliner you have to get out of the driver’s door, walk around the bus to the side door, and go up the stairs. Not much fun in the cold, snow or rain — especially if you are driving in your underwear and bare feet, like I have done many times.

The 8V92 had plenty of power, and it rode and handled very well. I ended up selling it as a brand-new conversion for about half of what I had in it. Maybe it was not just those seating arrangements that made me sell the Spaceliner, but the fantastic deal I got on my Dina.

After my friend Bill Lowman, R.I.P. (Writer of “How to Convert Buses into Motorhomes”), came to visit me in a converted Dina that he was using as a demo bus for Hausman Bus Sales — I was in love with that bus.

But its selling price of about $500k for that Dina conversion was out of reach for me at the time.

If there is the right bus for a fickle Bus Nut, it would be the Dina. Everything is just right. It has the same DNA as the Eagle and therefore the same fantastic ride. At 43’ long and 102” wide it is just the right size; with zero rust; and it is a truly modern bus. Also, the integration of the bulletproof 11.1 Series 60 and the B500 Allison is just the perfect combination.

I got 10 MPG if I kept it at the speed limit at about 1600 RPM at 65 MPH. It has only 25 HP more than the 6V92 but it only needs 1200 RPM to make usable power. For the same power the 6V92 needs 1800 RPM. Those are just the major things. Little things included the giant double-slide driver’s window, the recessed lighting, the modern interior and all those nice things that are part of newer buses.

Now I finally have the bus that would be a keeper — and if it was not, I would be too old to build another one. This would be my dream bus to retire in.

But there is no retiring in my near future and my priorities have changed. The Dina has not gone anywhere in two years and is parked in my garage taking up room that I could use for all my other toys.

It will break my heart to sell this bus. Not only because of selling my last bus, but selling my dream and basically stopping being a Bus Nut, which I was for 25 years. It was a large part of my life and a part of many dreams. Regardless, it hurts me seeing the Dina sitting there and not being used. Therefore, I have decided to sell it and move on to other hobbies.