About 40 old buses are up for sale by Heritage Malta, opening a window of opportunity for lovers of the iconic yellow vehicles interested in owning a piece the island’s transport history.

The buses formed part of a group of about 140 salvaged by Heritage Malta last summer after they were replaced by Arriva’s modern, aquamarine vehicles.

“It was a salvage operation. Heritage Malta’s job is to safeguard Malta’s history. The trams that were used in Maltese roads in the past don’t exist anymore because these were scrapped and we couldn’t afford a repeat scenario with the buses,” Heritage Malta’s chairman Joseph Said explained.

Chief curator Kenneth Gambin and a team of experts oversaw the salvage operation, carried out with Transport Malta, and carefully examined the buses stored at the old Malta Shipbuilding premises.

The team kept at least one model from each local coachbuilder, about 20. The vehicles’ engines and chassis were often imported from England. The local so-called “bodybuilders” would then tailor a body to suit both the chassis and the Maltese aesthetic.

The brand of the engine would usually feature prominently somewhere on the paintwork in the ornate lettering typical of the style known as tberfil in Maltese.

Buses were also kept according to route because in the past they were painted in different colours according to the route they served.

Eventually, Heritage Malta hopes to display them in an industrial museum but until then they will be stored safely in Marsa.

Not all the buses could be kept, however, and instead of scrapping them Heritage Malta has decided to sell them.

Mr Said noted that the Maltese buses were hugely popular not only among the Maltese but also with foreigners, especially the British.

Models that are “better represented” were kept while identical examples will be sold. Heritage Malta has issued a call for expressions of interest that closes on Friday, asking people interested in buying one or more buses to come forward.

The proceeds will be used for the conservation of the other buses.

Beyond the status they enjoyed among the Maltese and tourists, the Maltese bus enjoyed cult ranking among the community of men who drove them.

Mr Said recounted how some former bus owners shed tears of happiness when, last summer, they found out their buses were among the few that would be saved from the scrapyard.

“They brought parts of the bus which they had kept to give back to us to use when restoring them,” he said.

In all, 160 other buses were scrapped but Heritage Malta kept some “iconic” parts such as grilles and bumpers, often tailor-made for a particular vehicle, or a holy picture that was displayed on a dashboard.