FEBRUARY 2025: A 1958 GMC TDH 5105 BUS HAS AN UNUSUAL POST-RETIREMENT GIG

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A brand-new GMC TDH 5105 bus went to work for the City of Edmonton transit system in 1958 and hauled people for the next 20 years until its retirement in 1978.

The old GMC people hauler was sold this past spring to Adrian Friesen, a self-described “fan of old busses”, in his words. The vintage bus is 40 feet long and has plenty of space for creative use as a camper unit, a game plan that will continue under Adrian’s watch.

The former owners wanted a self-contained unit with motorhome amenities like a kitchen and a bathroom with self-contained storage tanks. The bus’s walls were insulated (including a vapor barrier) to keep it warmer inside during cooler weather and colder in warmer weather with its air conditioning unit, an add-on feature that still blows ice cold, according to Adrian.

The former owners built in residential skylights to give the bus more interior light during daylight hours because they eliminated many of the bus’s passenger windows during the transformation. One of the changes is a wall between the passengers and the driver, a barrier that agrees with Adrian, and something he compared to an “airplane cockpit” when he described it.

The old bus still has it original 6-71 “Screaming Jimmy” two-stroke diesel engine, a famous powerplant know for its brute power and durability during a bygone era. Adrian told MyStarCollectorCar the bus fires right up and can handle the road like a champ.

As mentioned earlier, Adrian had only owned the bus for a short period of time when we interviewed him this past summer, but he was confident enough in its powertrain to take the bus on a 3 ½ hour road trip with his son riding shotgun along the way. 

Prior to the trip, Adrian repaired the bus’s air brake system because the front brakes were forced to stop the big beast and were strained to the max because the rear brakes were not operational. His repairs were a solid improvement and now they work great, according to Adrian.

Highway travel in the big old bus was very comfortable, although it had a huge drinking problem when it came to diesel fuel consumption and had already used about 400 liters (roughly 105 US gallons) according to Adrian. The upside was the air ride suspension on the bus, a creature comfort that undoubtedly took the sting out of its fill up costs.

Adrian has a solid future game plan for his 1958 GMC passenger bus, and it was in the early stages of the transformation when MyStarCollectorCar interviewed him. His vision meant Adrian had to tear out much of the former owners’ work before he could rebuild the interior to suit his needs.

BY: Jim Sutherland

Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section. 

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