According to the comedian, his entire Volkswagen bus collection is worth about 3 million dollars. So, that answers that question. The next question you might have is, “Why does Gabriel Iglesias collect Volkswagen buses?”. The reason behind Fluffy’s hippie van collection, and the unique models included, is what makes his fleet interesting. The 80+ buses in his garage run the gamut from the first car ever he ever owned, a 1968 Volkswagen bus purchased for just $700 when the comedian was just 17 years old, to a rare, 1967 21-windowed bus valued at over $80,000.
Fluffy Iglesias' Museum is Extraordinary
The collection resides in the comedian's hometown of Long Beach, California. Iglesias named the space “The Fluffy Museum”, after his comedic persona. The building itself is modeled on Volkswagen's famous Wolfsburg automobile plant - the largest automotive manufacturing plant in the world.
According to the comedian, he was trying to decide how to invest all the money he had made performing comedy. It was a wise piece of advice from legendary comedian/car buff Jay Leno that directed his investment approach. Iglesias says Leno told him that he invests in cars because he loves them. You might as well invest in assets that not only will appreciate in value but you can experience while you’re still alive. It's more fun than just letting your money sit in a bank. “It’s an investment you can enjoy.”
A True Diehard Volkswagen Fan
Classic car lovers can rejoice knowing that the comedian has saved many models from ending up at the scrapyard. One of Fluffy’s favorites is a 1966 two-toned orange and gold model. As a big fan of comic book superheroes, Iglesias wanted to base the color scheme on his favorite costumed crime fighter - Iron Man. The hard-bodied steel van is a fitting homage to a man who is part machine and covered head to toe in body armor.
Another unique model in Iglesias’ collection is a red & white, 1963 15-window bus. It’s common among Volkswagen enthusiasts to refer to different buses by the number of windows. According to the comedian, the 15-windowed vans are actually rarer than the 21-windowed models that are often touted as the gold standard by inexperienced Volkswagen enthusiasts. Always the comedian, Iglesias refers to his bus as the “Quinceanera” - a reference to the traditional Latin celebration of a girl’s 15 birthday.
Volkswagen Bus - Rising To Stardom
The Volkswagen bus was officially known as the Volkswagen Type 2.v The diminutive Volkswagen Beetle is the Type 1. The van grew in popularity during the counter-culture movement of the 1960s. You could bring a lot of your long-haired hippie friends to a music festival in one of these. Volkswagen would eventually become the number one imported automobile in the United States. When Grateful Dead musician Jerry Garcia died in 1995, Volkswagon released a tribute featuring a tearful bus cartoon.
Volkswagen ID. Buzz: The New VW Bus?
Soon, a whole new generation of peace and love acolytes will get to experience the bus life. Although this time, the vibes will be electric in The ID. Buzz. The interior features eye-popping bright color options, so you can totally bliss out listening to Fluffy records while camping off the Pacific Coast highway.
The ID. Buzz's signature design pay homage to the classic vans that preceded it. You can't hide its true VW bus genes behind the two-toned paint job, center VW logo, and the snub nose front end - reminiscent of the Art Deco 1936 Mercury train. The ID. Buzz also delivers up to 201 horsepower. Quite an improvement over the original bus’s puttering 25 horsepower.
In The Early Days
Iglesias got his professional start as a cast member on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy show All That. Speaking on fellow comedian Pete Holmes’s podcast You Made It Weird, the comedian told Pete that it was the first time he found himself financially stable after quitting his day job to pursue comedy. “I had no idea I could be making that kind of money…all these episodes..and the checks just kept flowing in. I lost a check. I physically lost a check and then I found it like six months later. I didn’t realize that I did not cash it.”
Fluffy is not the first comedian to branch out into car collecting. Although Jay Leno is the undisputed king of celebrity car aficionados, many other comedians maintain impressive garages. Tim Allen’s portfolio includes a wide variety of muscle cars, classic trucks, and supercars. Jerry Seinfeld has an insatiable thirst for Porsche. Superstar comedian Kevin Hart also maintains a diverse collection of intimidatingly cool cars.
The Future Of "The Fluffy Museum"
While “The Fluffy Museum” is currently closed to the public, Iglesias intends to have it transformed into a fully-fledged public attraction. “When I’m gone - and I mean gone - this is going to be turned into a museum for the city of Long Beach.” Until then, your best bet at getting an in-person tour is to try and befriend the jovial comedian.