At the recent May Day protest, many community members noticed a large, brightly painted Volkswagen bus, donned with protest slogans and a waving American flag. 

Justin Soares, a Corvallis resident and Oregon State University alum, has been bringing the vehicle to stir more engagement and attention at demonstrations.

Soares first started bringing his bus to protests this spring, but his history with Volkswagens goes back decades.  

“When I was in high school, I had my first VW. I actually drove that cross-country to move to Oregon from Massachusetts. It was a Volkswagen Golf, so just a passenger car, but I fell in love with Volkswagens after that,” Soares said.

Soares moved to Corvallis in 1998 to complete the wildlife biology degree he’d started at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He ended up starting his family and taking a break from school, but returned to finish his degree in 2008.

He worked for many years as a mechanic, including working closely with Independent Auto Werks, the Corvallis business that sold him the famed bus.

He purchased the Volkswagen back in 2017 with a friend from Germany, both interested in taking it out on road trips when visiting the United States. The van originally featured intricate hand-painted anti-smoking designs, protesting the tobacco industry.

Gallery • 3 Photos

PJ Royland

A Volkswagen bus that belongs to Justin Soares with a paint job done by his daughter is photographed on May 13 in Corvallis. This bus is known for appearing during various protests, specifically having been seen during the May Day and Hands Off protests in Corvallis.

“I remember there was a fairly good rendition of a pack of Newport cigarettes, with skeletons standing next to it smoking cigarettes,” Soares said. 

He learned that the man selling the van was none other than his own primary care doctor at the time, a passionate advocate against the dangers of smoking.

“I talked to him and learned about the bus and the history of it. At this point, my German friend wasn’t here, but I was still looking (for a bus) for him, and he agreed — this is the right one,” Soares said.

With his friend’s road trip visits waning after the pandemic, Soares found new inspiration for the old bus. Though he supports his old doctor’s dislike of the tobacco industry, he decided that different designs would be more important for our current times, particularly after the 2024 election.

“It was totally unplanned. There was a protest coming up, and I got the wild hair. I told my wife, ‘I’m going to have my teenager and their friends paint it, I’m going to give them some ideas but let them just have carte blanche, and just paint it,’” Soares said.

In December, Soares joined Showing Up for Racial Justice, a national organization that he and other Corvallis residents are trying to establish a local chapter of.

After Soares sanded off the original designs, his teenager Mill and their friends painted it for the Hands-Off Protest back in April. They have since taken the van to the 50501 Protest and the May Day Protest, where Mill gave it its second design.

Soares was a little concerned about bringing the bus to the first protest and taking up too much space, but the community’s reception of the van was enthusiastic.

“I got such positive feedback about it that I felt like we were part of the team, not displacing people,” Soares said. He and other protesters found that the bus was an effective way to get attention from cars passing by.

Soares’ next plan is to bring the bus to the upcoming No Kings Rally on June 14, with a new design from Mill.

Soares hopes the bus can serve as a means of connection, from the artists in his family to the activists in his community to the students of Oregon State. With its bold visuals and unique, personal history, it serves as a symbol of earnest connection and the fight for one’s beliefs.

“It was always a protest bus, from early on, from the doctor who had it, and it just kind of organically morphed into this next round,” Soares said.  

Soares expressed a desire to see more students at protests and encouraged those interested to become involved through advocacy and community outreach.