A NUMBER 16 Lothian bus dating back to 1966 is incredibly still in use – nearly 10,000 miles away in Australia.
The vintage Edinburgh bus has somehow found its way down under to Queensland, where it has been converted into a mobile home by Kim Ricardo.
The more-than-60-year-old bus now serves as Kim’s home base as she explores Australia, ferrying its owner around the Sunshine Coast.
A double-decker, the inside of the old bus has been completely converted into a comfortable space for Kim offering both upstairs and downstairs living spaces as well as a kitchen and a dining area.
The bus has its own bathroom, bedroom and more and has even maintained some of its original interior features.
On the exterior, the bus remains the same with the iconic red paint indicating it was in service in the Scottish capital before even the moon landing.
Kim jokes that she even found a 1966 penny on board the vintage vehicle.
The bus was sold in 2023 for 75,000 Australian dollars and has since been repurposed into a living space in a hefty DIY job, with Kim and her partner taking on the majority of the work.
The vehicle even still boasts its signs above the windscreen with one reading the number 16 and the other indicating it is on its way to Tollcross.
Kim shared her new motor home and her journey so far on social media, showing others the process of converting the bus into a living space.
The model of bus, a Leyland Atlantean, is a popular choice among enthusiasts and boasts a huge online following of fans.
The Leyland Atlantean was in production between 1958 and 1986, being used in towns and cities across the globe, with the aftermarket for the now disused buses booming.
