- Historic Paris bus

- Mechanically restored

- Faithful to the original, down to the very last detail

- A superb vehicle to transport your family, friends and enthusiasts

This bus was bought in 2003 from François Jeanson, a doctor in Château-Thierry who, with his son, had opened a museum at Nogent-L’Artaud to house the cars he had acquired during the 1960s and ’70s. It was not running well, but that did not stop Paul-Émile B driving it back to Vitry with his mechanic Michel Magnin. Climbing the hill out of Nogent-L’Artaud was particularly hard going and the bus advanced only in fits and starts, with the help of a chock under the rear wheels! “It was running a bit better when we arrived and we were even able to take the motorway before the evening rush hour”, Paul-Émile B remembers.

After it joined his collection, the bus was completely restored: it was stripped down, refurbished and painted, and the engine, transmission and gearbox rebuilt as new. “It was an enormous job”, Michel Magnin recalls. “The engine and gearbox alone weighed more than a ton!”

In its day, the bus was operated by the RATP in Paris, but its archives were completely destroyed after the war, and it was impossible to find out exactly which route it ran on. For its restoration, line 80 was chosen, a route which crossed the city from north to south via the Champs-Elysées and the Saint-Lazare station. All the markings were restored to their original state and panels with reproductions of period ads mounted on the side of the bus, with the help of Claude Bardina. Since then, the bus has been regularly used for festive events in Paris, like the one just after Covid, when on the first free Sunday, it welcomed family and friends for a picnic to celebrate their re-found freedom. It made several journeys as far as the circuit at Montlhéry, where it took part in various events.

This green and white bus, with its open rear platform, will always be associated with the streets of Paris from the 1930s to the end of the 1960s. 410 of these buses were built and survivors are very rare, even more so when they have been restored to such a high standard and with such respect for originality. This opportunity should not be under-estimated.

Photos © Alexis Ruben