The last lot of ancient public buses, some of which have a pre-war chassis, are up for sale after they were rejected for the national collection.
Heritage Malta is accepting sealed offers until Tuesday at midday from people who want to own a slice of Malta’s history, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.
The old buses were taken off the road in 2011 when Arriva started operating the public transport service and replaced them with new vehicles.
They were a source of heavy pollution on the roads but were full of character, with their age, variety and quirkiness making them a tourist attraction.
Some of the ones on sale carry a “Welcome aboard” message, or names such as “Paradise” and “Bambinu”. One of them sports the Maltese and British flags.
The oldest chassis of the lot of 46 on sale was built by AEC Matador in 1941. It carries a body built by Tonna in 1963. Another vintage model had its chassis built by Bedford QL in 1943 and a body constructed by Vella in 1962.
Other buses were built between the 1950s and 1980s.
Sources close to the industry said that in the past, the chassis were built of very durable material that lasted longer than the body, which, over time, rusted and was changed by the owners. A classic example of this is a bus whose chassis dates back to 1948 but had a new body bolted onto it as late as 2000.
Some of the buses include ones which plied routes in the UK, such as Rees, Llanely Hill, Williams, Brecon, the West Midlands and London Transport.
A spokesman for Heritage Malta said the buses, now stored at the former Malta Shipbuilding facility in Marsa, are being sold as is. Their eventual use will be limited by licences issued by Transport Malta.
There is no limit on how many of the buses one can bid for or on the minimum amount that can be offered. However, sources said some of them could fetch up to €20,000.
Site sought for National Transport Museum
Heritage Malta is seeking a site to house the new Transport Museum, where it will place the 27 old Malta buses it has chosen to salvage.
A spokesman for the agency said discussions were still underway to find a permanent venue.
“A selection of the most important buses was made last year. A further selection was made this year, resulting in Heritage Malta retaining 27 buses for the National Collection.
“Once Heritage Malta’s primary objective of saving the old buses has been achieved, and since the most important ones have been retained for the National Collection, the remaining ones can be sold to enthusiasts (local and foreign) so that they can be given a new lease of life,” he said.
The process follows a thorough exercise conducted by Heritage Malta to establish which buses are to be preserved as part of the collection based on their model, bodybuilder and workmanship involved.
They have been preserved and placed in a secret location, sources close to Heritage Malta told this newspaper.
All proceeds from the sale will go towards the conservation of the buses.
