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Friday, Apr. 2, 1999

Selena's bus, Bertha, turned over to Cardenas

Quintanilla's attorney says: `It's not worth fighting over it'

By DOREEN C. BOWENS
Staff Writer
Armando Cardenas put to rest a 1998 lawsuit when a black Century tow truck backed into Q Productions' parking lot Thursday and pulled away with the bus that rode Selena to Tejano stardom.
   "It feels good to get the bus back," said Cardenas, who owns Latino Sound Network in Corpus Christi. "It was our property from the very beginning."
   In an October 1998 agreement approved by District Judge Max Bennett, Selena's father Abraham Quintanilla and his lawyer Darrell Barger said they would turn over Bertha, a 1964 Silver Eagle bus, to Cardenas and his partner Julio Giraldo.
   "We agreed to let them take the bus," Barger said. "It's not worth fighting over it. It's taking up space in our property."
   Cardenas said he and Giraldo purchased the bus from Quintanilla April 12, 1995, a month after Selena died, for $12,500.
   Then in 1996 a filmmaking company contacted Cardenas and asked if it could use Bertha for the movie "Selena." But by that time bus was broken down with a $6,000 mechanic's lien against it for repairs.
   Cardenas said he agreed to lease the bus to the filmmaking company from Aug. 6, 1996, to Nov. 22, 1996, for $6,100.
   But Bertha was never returned, sparking a court battle, Cardenas said.
   The filmmakers contracted for more than $12,000 worth of repairs, according to the lawsuit Cardenas filed against Quintanilla. They billed the repairs to Giraldo and Cardenas, who did not pay, saying the bus was roadworthy when it was turned over, the lawsuit states.
   "We never authorized additional repairs," Cardenas said. "They wanted to charge us for sprucing up the bus for the movie."
   Quintanilla kept the bus and threatened to sell it to pay the repair bill, the suit states.
   After the movie, Bertha returned to Q Productions' parking lot in 1996.
   Quintanilla put the bus up for public auction and bought it for $12,500, which is what Cardenas paid for the bus a month after Selena died, Barger said.
   Quintanilla said the bus has more sentimental value than anything else and regrets selling it to someone who has no feelings for his daughter.
   "He doesn't want people making money off of Selena's name," Barger said.
   Cardenas' company plans to transform Bertha into a traveling museum.
   "We want to keep exposing the positiveness of Selena's character," Cardenas said.
   The day after the fourth anniversary of Selena Quintanilla-Perez's death, Cardenas walked into Q Productions' parking lot with a video company cameraman to record the condition of the bus from black foam seats with turquoise and fuchsia stripes to six adult and two infant bunk beds and a fitting room replete with a stage mirror.
   A mechanic also came along to give Bertha a once over as media gathered outside waiting for a shot of Bertha leaving.
   "He's trying to make a circus out of this," Barger said. "This is not a good day to do this."
   Quintanilla ran to the window to watch as Bertha wobbled out of the parking lot.
   "I have to get my last look," he said.
   Staff writer Doreen C. Bowens can be reached at 886-4334 or by e-mail at bowensd@caller.com

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  © 1999 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.