A vintage bus used by Scottish supporters at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France will be restored to provide heritage tours from the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum in Dunfermline.
Kitted out in tartan paintwork and sponsored by the Daily Record, the 1978 Bristol VRT was used by the Tartan Army to follow Scotland’s matches in Paris, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne.
It spent much of the next 26 years in storage but, earlier this year, volunteers at the museum approached Stagecoach about taking ownership of the historic bus with a long-term view to returning it to the road.
Stagecoach transferred ownership to the museum and work will soon begin to return it to service, retaining the paintwork, which was completed by hand by Eastern Coach Works.
It is described as being in “relatively good mechanical condition”, but volunteers at the museum will focus their efforts on the interior restoration with a view to it being ready to carry passengers this autumn.
The bus was originally used on England’s south coast and moved to Perth before being withdrawn from service in 1997.
The museum is home to 100 historic buses dating back to the 1920s and is open each summer through to early October. The Grand Open Weekend in 17-18 August will allow visitors to see buses being restored back to their former glory and ride out on some of the active collection.
David Heathcote, Chairman of the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum, says: “The Tartan Army bus will be a fantastic addition to our own collection. Everyone loves an open top bus so we’re busy planning to get it back on the road for our visitors to enjoy. We are very grateful for Stagecoach’s assistance with this project.”
Douglas Robertson, Managing Director Stagecoach East Scotland, adds: “It is great for us to support the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum and their activities to commemorate the last century of Scotland’s buses. There couldn’t be a better time to donate the Tartan Army bus to the museum and we can’t wait to see it back on the road again.”
