Most of us might pick up a fridge magnet or a T-shirt to commemorate a trip to our favorite National Park, but if Yellowstone has a special place in your heart (and you have a few grand burning a hole in your pocket) how about picking up a 98-year-old piece of history instead?
A seller in Wyoming is currently selling a 1925 Yellowstone tour bus on auction site Bring a Trailer. The vintage bus (a White Company Model 15-45) has would have ferried 11 passengers around the park at a time when feeding bears was still a highlight for visitors.
It has a hand-cranked engine and canvas top, and as design blog InsideHook explains, it has been extensively restored over the years to bring it back to its former glory. As the video below shows, it still runs with the necessary elbow grease.
The bus was originally owned and operated by the Yellowstone Park Transportation Company, which commissioned the White Company to build a fleet of tourist buses after a mandate to stop the use of horse-drawn vehicles.
It has been repainted to replicate the original yellow livery, and interestingly has four real doors along the right side with sealed simulated doors on the left to stop over-eager tourists jumping out into traffic at the first sight of a bison.
The almost 100-year-old bus has been painstakingly cared for, but still needs some work. There are signs of dry rot in the Goodyear tires, and the converted headlights don't currently work. There are also some signs of corrosion on the underside.
At the time of writing the highest bid stands at $21,000, and the auction has another four days left to run.
