Willie Nelson’s Old Tour Bus Up For Sale on Craigslist
***All photos courtesy of owner
Want to own a piece of country music history? Well you can if you have at least $65,000 to get in on the bidding of a 1983 Eagle Greyhound-sized tour bus originally owned by Willie Nelson up for sale right now on the East Texas portion of Craigslist. The bus is one of two identical buses that were made for Willie’s road crew, and has had three other owners before the individual selling it now purchased it.
As can be seen in the pictures below, it is in very good shape, with velvet and wood interior—a top-notch touring coach when it was purchased and customized in 1983, including a 92 Detroit Diesel, a picture of Jimmie Rodgers, a plaque commemorating Paul English—Willie’s long-time drummer, manager, and right hand man—and airbrushed designs on the sides and back.
When the ad was posted, they had no idea the response would be so big. “It’s been non-stop,” the poster tells The Village Voice. He posted the ad for the non tech-savvy owner. “I’ve gotten calls from as far as Washington state and New York.” The current owner purchased it ‘three or four’ years ago after hearing about the bus being up for sale in Alabama, but is now ready to ‘give up the hobby.'”
The original asking price for the bus when it was initially listed on Sunday was $29,999. Since then a bidding war has ensued, and current high bidder is at $65,000. The owner says he will sell the bus this weekend.
It’s not Willie’s famed Honeysuckle Rose tour bus, but it is the next best thing.
UPDATE (5-4): According to owner Tom O’ Leary, the bus sold this weekend for over $80,000.
May 2, 2014 @ 6:48 pm
I thought it was the same bus that sold on ebay a few years ago but the painting on the side is a little different. did willie actually ever tour with the honeysuckle rose bus or was that just used for the movie?
http://stillisstillmoving.com/willienelson/he-found-it-on-ebay-honeysuckle-rose/
May 3, 2014 @ 12:04 am
Willie bus is always known as Honeysuckle Rose. There have been multiple Honeysuckle Rose’s (I think he’s on #3). The one in the movie I believe was the first one.
August 26, 2014 @ 3:22 pm
yes willie pretty much lives on honeysuckle rose
May 2, 2014 @ 7:58 pm
Some bro country bro will snag, tear out the picture of Mr Rogers and replace it with a photo collage of Garth Brooks with America and Seals and Crofts.
May 2, 2014 @ 8:46 pm
No, they’ll just airbrush a backwards baseball cap onto that picture of Rodgers.
I honestly don’t know what most of the bro-back-country “artists” would do with a tour bus, anyway. It’s not like they need somewhere to rest… they go to the spa and the nail salons in every city.
It’s not like they need transportation… they have their pink Prius for that.
OHHH… I get it. It’s for their “image”; I forgot. They have to LOOK like they’re actually on the road PERFORMING and not just lick-stinking to a bunch of jungle-music drum loops and fuzzy guitar noises.
That bus sure is gorgeous. When a band has worked as hard for as long as Willie Nelson & Family, they deserve the luxury of a sweet ride like that.
The idea of some bro-cuntry poser owning that bus makes me nauseous. I think it ought to be purchased by someone and then loaned to the Country Music Hall Of Fame or some other worthy organization so that it can be displayed for Willie’s millions of fans to appreciate.
“We received our education in the cities of the nation…” him and Paul.
God bless country music, America’s music, and God bless America.
May 4, 2014 @ 4:03 pm
Best comment ever. 10 extra thumbs up.
March 12, 2022 @ 3:00 am
RIP BOBBY NELSON . WISHING THE FAMILY STRENGTH IN THIS SAD TIME ..
May 4, 2014 @ 7:31 am
What a cool old bus look at those details (stained glass / how floors & doors / etc) k saw the Florida coach logo on the genset / battery controls – is that not the company where Randy Rhoads died in the plane crash at the owner (of Florida coach’s) house? Could be mistaken but I thought that was it….
If I had the $$$ I would totally buy this rig….it’s tough to hang a number on its celebrity status. ….because I don’t imagine that a normal bus of similar age / condition / etc would be quite that much but I haven’t looked in some time….
May 5, 2014 @ 6:29 am
Oddly enough, when I saw the picture of the bus I thought of Randy Rhoads also. The bus he was travelling on before his untimely and tragic passing looked a lot like this. I don’t know how many folks here are metal fans, but that was truly a sad, sad day, and the world lost a talented guitarist who had not hit his stride yet. Just tragic.
All that aside, what a cool touring bus. Willie does like to travel in style, it appears.
May 4, 2014 @ 8:10 am
“Randy Rhoads played his last show on Thursday, March 18, 1982 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. The next day, the band was headed to a festival in Orlando, Florida. After driving much of the night, they stopped on the property belonging to Jerry Calhoun, owner of “Florida Coach”, in Leesburg, Florida. On it, there was a small airstrip lined with small helicopters and planes, and two houses. ”
Those guys built a lot of big time rigs and we’re THE company you got to build your tour bus if you could afford it
May 4, 2014 @ 11:47 am
I’m surprised the DEA didn’t buy it to use for training drug dogs.
I think I remember seeing this bus outside a show at some point.
May 5, 2014 @ 7:18 am
the eagle and the jimmy rodger’s picture rule
May 6, 2014 @ 7:31 am
I’ve been on the other one. It was in northern Virginia at a concert and had a ton of middle aged guys on it, drunk as shit. It smelled like straight weed but it was cool as hell, they let us go on and take a look around. Not sure how it ended up in Virginia, but it was cool to see.