The Lost History of the Partridge Family Bus

Recently, while we were playing around with Joost, Telstar Logistics happened upon the 1970 pilot episode of "The Partridge Family."   We were never really fans of the show -- it was too contrived for our tastes, even when we were small. Not surprisingly, however, we've always had a soft spot for the De Stijl school bus that the family drove to get from gig to gig.  The Partridge bus is basically what Ken Kesey's Furthur would have looked like if he'd dropped acid at RISD after watching a few reruns of "The Monkees." But it played a big role on the show. Second only to David Cassidy, the bus is what gave "The Partridge Family" it's visual identity:

So how was the bus introduced to the show? In a satisfying little bit of backstory, the pilot episode includes a scene that shows the family purchasing their bus -- a 1957 Chevrolet -- from a used car dealer:

In reality, apparently, the studio purchased the used bus from the Orange County (Calif.) School District... but never mind. More troubling is the scene that shows the family giving their ride its distinctive  paint job. The design is obviously inspired by Mondrian's Composizione 1921, but we never learn why a middle class family in Southern California was moved to create a rolling homage to Dutch proto-modernism. Must've been something that happened off-camera:

The visual transformation of the bus mirrors the rising stardom of the Partridge clan, and before long the family takes its act all the way to the bright lights of Hollywood — with David Cassidy hanging out the window in a not-OSHA-approved sort of way:

And mom (played by Shirley Jones) behind the wheel:

We all know what happened next, of course: Fame, Fortune, and much Getting Happy. But what became of the bus after the show was cancelled in 1974? This Partridge Family fan website tells the tale:

After exhaustive research with a highly reliable source, we have uncovered the following...the actual bus lived for years behind Lucy's Tacos on Martin Luther King Blvd, right by USC. When Lucy's repaved their parking lot, circa February 1987, the bus was sent off to a junk yard. It was in horrible shape -- windows broken, tires flat, all identifying type (such as the family name on the side and the "Caution Nervous Mother Driving" sign on the back) was painted over in white and the rest of the bus was miserably faded. So, the upshot is that the orginal bus is long gone.

Pity we'll never get to see the bus on display in the Smithsonian, but that also means that we should be way of impostors, such as this replica which was spotted on the side of a road in 2007:

Or this horrible copy, which lacks all the appropriate period details:

Accept no substitutes!

LINKS:

David Cassidy's Official Website (Really. David Cassidy's official website)

PREVIOUSLY:
Touring San Francisco's Double-Decker Bus

Three Reverential Photographs of Buses

The Civilized Way to Go Greyhound

Comments

[randell stevens]

1). >>> Does anyone have good pictures of - ALL - the sides
of the original 57 P bus ? Was there any variations to the exterior paint job over the show years ?

2). >>> Is there - ANY - pictures of it behind Lucy's Taco stand ?
There - HAS - to be some out there !
Someone call Lucy herself please !

[Rob L]

If the original was painted over in off white right after the show in '74 for the WB series, how does everyone know the bus behind Lucy's Taco stand was the PF bus. All accounts of the bus behind Lucy's clain he bus was still in the PF paint job, not the off white has described above? Hmmm...

[Ari Ross]

It's almost two years later (since my February 2009 post) and indeed, this sounds exactly like where my Dad was driving us -- to get to the "10 freeway" most probabaly: ... "the actual bus lived for years behind Lucy's Tacos on Martin Luther King Blvd, right by USC."

Ari
(Feb '09 post)

I lived in LA back as a kid in the 80s and recall seeing what I think now was indeed .. THE BUS!!!

I have memory of it being far south in the city and seeing what looked an awful lot like the Partridge Family bus beside a building (off-street). I figured it was an imposter because "How could the ACTUAL bus be down HERE, out side in the elements, away from Hollywood proper, etc, etc."

If only I could have fortold the 10 years later or so desire for "Boomer" retro, etc... and later on...eBay!! Maybe could have bought it for a couple grand and flipped it later for a few grand more!? :-)

[joey]

I bought the original bus from a wrecking yard in Fernando valley, the bus is just a shell, I was able to remove a few layers of the paint and have discovered some of the partridge paint underneath.