The story of the dino bus
In 2018, when planning the launch of Dinoski, we had the wacky idea that we should buy an old school bus, ship it over from America and turn it into our mobile show room. Obviously, at the time, with minimal cash in the bank, no idea how to convert a vehicle and without yet selling a single item, it would be a terrible idea to spend almost the entire marketing budget on an old American school bus, but that’s exactly what we did.
Step 1: Find a bus
The only way that this would be possible would be to team up with somebody who actually knew what they were doing.
Enter Jim Stewart and his team of vehicle-converting ninjas at Shred & Butta. It is very rare that exactly the right person appears at exactly the right time, but that is exactly what happened at this stage of the story. We met Jim at his yard just outside London - Imagine Aladin’s cave, filled with converted vehicles in all shapes and sizes - and we told him our big idea. Jim twizzled his beard and said it just so happened that he had a contact who could source American vehicles (a Youtuber called Jax Austin) and another contact who could ship them.
We would become Jim’s first yellow school bus of many (he is now the biggest importer in the UK!) and Jim would become a good friend of the company and one of our Rad Dad ambassadors, testing all of our clothing on his little 2 year old explorer.
Meanwhile, fast forward a few weeks, and this bad boy turns up at the dock.
This is Jim
This is a young Dino Bus
A typical day on Jim’s yard in 2020. Now the biggest importer of American buses in the UK!
Step 2: Design the bus
We had got ourselves a 2000 International Bluebird, complete with tinted windows and a matte black bonnet and it was love at first sight. However, as a business aimed at kids, we knew it needed to look a little more family friendly so we got to work designing some options. We agreed that it would have a chalet inspired interior and a white bonnet and roof, to resemble the snow of our skiwear, but we were undecided on the body.
We photoshopped lots of different colour options before choosing a nice pastel orange, although once painted and dried, we realised we’d painted it the exact same colour it already was.
“Yellow school bus it is then.”
Step 3: Build the bus
To see the bus come together so quickly was pretty unbelievable. Within a day, the interior was totally stripped and within a week it had new flooring, lighting and the reclaimed wooden structure of the bunks and living area. We also had a ski/boot room at the back, a coffee bar and an astroturfed driving range on the roof, complete with rubber golf tees. Leisure batteries are charged off the engine and topped up via a solar panel. We can also plug the whole bus into a typical plug socket to run it off the mains. The only things we don’t have are toilets, showers or cooking facilities as we knew there would be those things wherever we went, and also, at least at this point, it needed to feel more like a showroom than a tour bus.
“We were stoked when the Dino boys came to the Shred and Butta yard! From the offset we knew that we were on the same page with how to create the vision of the bus.
The project flowed so easy from start to finish, and we used an awesome mix of paint and vinyls on the exterior, and reclaimed wood and industrial fixing on the interior! To be able to look back at mock ups and then look at the finished project, it is awesome to see how we were able to bring their drawings to life.
It is a pleasure to be a part of the journey that the Dinoski bus and brand are taking. It is definitely one of the coolest builds we have done and we are excited to continue working with these guys on future ideas!”
Jim Stewart, Founder - Shred & Butta
Step 4: Tour the bus
It is very true that the priority for getting the bus was to act as our mobile showroom and to impress kids clothing buyers at trade shows, however, those main trade shows are in Paris and Florence and to get a big American school bus to Paris and Florence, you need to take the old girl out on the open road. And to really let the old girl spread her wings, you need to make sure that you take the longest, windiest and most scenic route possible. So, we have driven the bus across Europe and over the Alps twice and have written about both of those epic trips in separate blog posts here and here. Worth the read when you have time!
Step 5: Rent the bus
That brings us to today. We now have THREE converted Skoolies, which we’ve made available for family staycations. Click below to see where they’ve been and to book your own trip for 2022.
