I am still wondering what a "Dancing Dumpkins" is?
"Vehicle Description
There has never been a vehicle quite like this and there never will be again! This is a 1966 converted school bus. A twenty year custom project of a now 60 something hippie, the bus has been around the country to protest events from Washington to Maine and California to Florida.
Where ever there was a reason to gather in protest for some civil injustice, some wrong that needed to be righted, some friend in need or just a plain old need to party, Dr Doom and the Dancing Dumpkins were there.
Designed to draw attention to worthy causes, this bus features a Rocket launcher that raises and lowers, a stage that drops down with a covered canopy, a sound system and a generator that will power a big screen TV. The rocket is fake of course as are the corner mounted machine guns; actually kerosene pumps. And there is plenty of room for protest signs of all kinds.
But the neat part about this bus is the outrageous stories that go with it. Like the time that Ronald Reagan was flying into Denver on Air Force One . The bus was poised at the end of the runway with it's rocket raised because a photographer for a Denver newspaper thought it would be neat to get a picture of Air Force One coming in for a landing with a rocket pointed at it. Needless to say, the secret service saw the "action" and shut it down before the plane landed, "interrogating" the bus driver and anyone within shouting distance in the process.
Or the time the bus challenged the KKK in a game of chicken down South. If you want to know who won that little contest, you gotta buy the bus and get that story and a thousand more from the owner and builder.
And there have been celebrities who have performed on the drop-down stage. Peter Yarrow played on this stage. Graham Nash was on stage at the Dr Doom bus as was Ram Dass. Others as well but the most famous are all the unknowns who got on this stage and spoke out for what they believed in whether it was politically correct or not; most likely not!
As I enter this bus for sale on eBay, the owner/builder with a few of the Dancing Dumpkins are in New York City to participate in some protest events at the 2004 Republican convention. The Dr Doom bus stories aren't over yet and with only a twenty year history, this bus is just getting warmed up; ready for chapter two, the Next Owner.
The bus is clearly one of a kind; the idea of a true to life, dyed-in-the-wool hippie from the 60's. The stories are real and a fascinating look into one small part of our American culture viewed through the eyes of someone who has spent the better part of 20 years cutting, welding, scrounging and designing something that would make for the perfect protest vehicle for future generations.
The auction should be completed by the time the Republican convention ends so it will be on the East Coast. But no matter where the buyer lives, the seller will deliver the bus to the new owner anywhere in the lower 48 states, Free. That way you can meet the designer and builder and get all the stories from the source.
If it doesnt sell on eBay, there is one other option; the Smithsonian has expressed an interest in acquiring the bus for its museum."
I have NO idea. Crazy, eh?