(La Porte, IN) - One of the featured attractions of this year’s parade was the iconic 1939 maroon school bus used in the movie Hoosiers.
It was brought to town by Darryll Baker of Greenfield, who says the bus had an interesting life even before the movie. “We’ve had this thing in our family for 75 years,” Baker told HTNN before the parade. “It was a school bus for ten years, before my grandfather bought it,” he said. Baker’s grandfather Jack found it in a junkyard near Crawfordsville. “Then for 36 years it was an RV for us, when I was a kid.” Baker said his grandfather outfitted the bus with a couch, bed, stove, and icebox, and the family toured the country. “My dad and grandfather went everywhere in this thing— 39 states, my grandfather said.”
The Bakers often loaded up in the bus to visit family and National Parks. “They’d shoot some varmints somewhere, legally I’m sure,” said Baker with a wink, “put them in the icebox, then drive home.”
On one of his many trips out west, Baker’s grandfather even took the 1.5-ton bus to the top of Pike’s Peak back in the ‘50s. His first attempt was unsuccessful, Baker said; the truck’s original 216 “stovebolt” engine wasn’t up to the task. So he came back home, put in a 235, and tried again.
In 1985, the Bakers were approached about using the bus in a movie about an Indiana high school basketball team. Baker joked that his grandfather didn’t exactly drive a hard bargain, accepting only $500 for use of the bus. It was featured in several scenes, as the Hickory Huskers traversed the Hoosier state en route to their improbable state championship victory.
A year later, Baker’s grandfather sold the bus. It was shown at the State Fair and in some parades, but eventually became unused and began to deteriorate. When Baker got out of the military, he tracked it down, bought it back, and restored it.
Now he travels all over with it. He’s recently been to Washington, D.C., the NBA All Star Game, the NCAA NIC Championships, and Milan, Indiana. The “Milan Miracle,” which inspired the movie, happened 70 years ago, this year. Baker has partnered with the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, home of the Huskers in the movie, where he displays the bus for special events. He said his friend Bob Brown owns the 1951 Chevy that Gene Hackman drove in the movie, and they often display both vehicles together.
Baker was happy to share the bus with basketball fans here in La Porte. “It’s been a labor of love,” he said. “We’re thrilled to be up here. The Kiwanis Club asked me to bring it up, so here we are.” Baker had the bus parked at La Porte’s Civic Auditorium on Wednesday evening and said he will return to the Civic in January for the La Porte Invitational high school basketball tournament.
