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September 9, 2010
Police seize 'ancient' bus after 1.8 million kilometres
Published: 28 Jul 10 10:35 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100728-28787.html
Berlin police have impounded an “ancient” Latvian tour bus they found creaking along the streets of the capital with a whopping 1.8 million kilometres on the odometer, they announced Wednesday.
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Even on a cursory examination, they found numerous defects with the old vehicle, including faulty brakes, tyres worn down to the fabric, a cracked windscreen and major rusting to load-bearing parts of the chassis. They also found a spare fuel tank mounted in the luggage compartment.
The driver was the only person in the bus at the time it was pulled over. He was relieved of responsibility of the vehicle, which was immediately impounded.
The Local (news@thelocal.de)
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Your comments about this article:
http://www.berlin.de/polizei/presse-fahndung/archiv/304343/index.html
In a sad sort of way, this could be a great ad for the maker of the bus - who was it? what year was it made?
All things I'd like to know before buying my next gas-guzzler with the pre-determined end of life.
high-mileage car has had 5 motors and 3 transmissions replaced to get to that milestone...
Just as an aside, the bus I learnt to drive in many years ago, when I was 21, was at least as old as I was and it was a joy to drive, despite the lack of synchromesh on the bottom two gears, and a handbrake that looked like it belonged on a Wells Fargo Stagecoach.
So the motor (and every other part) could very well been replaced several times in the course of this bus' life.
But it is somewhat sad to see something like that put to a junkyard. Maybe it does deserver a "retirement" spot in the Latvian museum.
From the look of those pictures the Police saved lives. Whatever the odometer read that thing was unsafe from those pictures.
My husband's 1992 Chevy pickup truck has nearly 350,000 miles on it. He has NEVER replaced the engine, and has only had the transmission overhauled once, and that was because he knowingly abused it once, by towing too heavy a load.
They truly don't make them like they used to.