SEPTEMBER 14, 2005 – After years of neglect, the newly refurbished original tour bus belonging to The Grateful Dead went on display at the Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Illinois. The museum is home to the world’s largest collection of muscle cars and The George Barris TV & Movie Car Collection, featuring Grandpa Munster’s Drag-U-La, the original Batmobile, The General Lee from “The Dukes of Hazard,” and other famous vehicles. The 1965 Gillig bus, which Jerry Garcia and the rest of the Dead dubbed “Sugar Magnolia” was used by the band on their frequent tours across the US between 1965 and 1985. The ceiling was lined with hundreds of vintage rock posters featuring The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin and others who had visited the bus.
“She was the sound bus, the caboose, number five in a caravan and unofficially the party bus where the guys relaxed with their friends after the show,” said Butch Patrick, owner of the bus and former child actor best remembered as Eddie Munster on television’s “The Munsters.”
