Black Country bus is just the ticket for prom arrival
Teenagers arrived at their school prom in style when they were transported by a classic Black Country bus which has been restored over 20 years.
Q3 Academy pupil Penny Martin, aged 16, and friends were picked up by a 1950 Guy bus, made by Guy Motors Ltd, formerly based in Fallings Park, Wolverhampton. Penny's uncle Matthew Parker part owns the bus.
It was bought from National Express West Midlands, then West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive, for £500 in 1979 by Mr Parker's best friend Rob Handford.
Mr Parker's wife Lisa, 34, said: "We found out Penny was going to be having a prom and my husband said 'do you want something a bit different to travel in?' We suggested the bus and straight away she was really enthusiastic. It's such a nice bus; really pretty."
Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent revamping the bus over 20 years. All 2,000 screws have been replaced, the whole interior has been gutted and replaced and the bus has been repainted.
The West Midlands PTE was using it as a sales unit for selling bus passes at the time. Former bus driver Mr Parker, 42, is now a manager at a bus company in Bristol.
He bought into the project in 1983.
The renovation was completed last year and the bus won its first award at a vehicle show in Stoke last week.
He said: "It's been a lot of money and taken a lot of time, a bit of a labour of love, to get it to this stage has taken a lot of effort. A lot of it has been a learning curve, a lot of it has been biding time."
Send your prom pictures with your name and details to picturedesk@expressandstar.co.uk
