Esther was born in Germany in 1969. From there she migrated to the state of Florida where she resided with her first owner in Orlando. From what I gathered when we purchased Esther roughly 15 years ago, this gentleman used her for daily tasks like grocery shopping, going to the bowling alley, and heading down for some sun in the sand.

Fast forward to 2003 when the second owner purchased Esther and brought her to the Midwest in Youngstown, OH. This gentleman tuned old Esther up and used her Westfalia features with his family on multiple camping trips and journeys throughout the Midwest. As his family grew, he decided that they needed something with a bit more space.

This is where Jeff (Pearl, as many know him), Esther’s current owner, comes into play. Pearl was freshly back from teaching abroad in South Korea and looking for adventure. What better thing to do than ride his bike to Florida in anticipation of the birth of his niece (mind you this is from Vermilion, OH). Well this wasn’t Pearl’s brightest idea as he made it just inside Tennessee when the weather caught up to him (it was also December).

To entice Pearl back home, his father reminded him of a childhood dream of owning a VW Bus. That’s all it took for him to head back home! Pearl, his father and their good friend Lorne put Esther on a flatbed and the rest was history. For roughly the past 15 years Pearl has worked on this bus, temporarily lived in this bus, traveled throughout the United States, and had endless adventures. In keeping a promise to his late VW mentor and friend, Glenn Angney, Pearl has spent the last two years fully restoring Esther to full glory with many friends and family. She is a part of the family.

To say this is a dream would be an understatement. We are so proud of the work we’ve accomplished and are beyond excited to share it with the world.

“Don’t, worry. Be Happy Bus”