Last updated: 31 August 2017

For those who attended last year and this year’s rally at Stokes Bay, the restored Guy Arab no. 57 (EHO 869) would have caught their eye. There is evidence of plenty of work to provide the vehicle with a replica of its rear platform doors and coach seats representing a time when it was a Coach-Bus. However, there was a time when it was in normal daily service as a conventional double decker while with Provincial.

As the demand for faster and more luxurious coaches came from the public as new models were being produced, 57 returned to the road for regular traffic. This photograph taken by Fred York on 22 November 1963 shows the bus on route 3 in Fareham Road travelling from Gosport towards West End. To emphasise the unusual aspect of this particular shot, Fred has written these words on the reverse of the print: “Shortly after being rebuilt out of coach form with removal of platform doors, luggage racks etc.” There must have been a time when local enthusiasts thought that they would never see 57 in this guise ever again. Now, after fourteen years of restoration, the bus will soon be back in the Coach-Bus status bringing back many memories for staff, residents and enthusiasts.

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