Iron bus for an Iron Lady
An armour-plated bus believed to have been used by former British Prime Minister, “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher was sold for nearly £17,000 by auctioneers JP Humbert.
The 28-tonne “battle bus” is thought to have been built in the 80s for (then) Mrs Thatcher's visit to Northern Ireland.
“There was immense interest in the bus,” said auctioneer, Jonathan Humbert. “It sold to a spontaneous round of applause in the saleroom”.
The 35-seater bus which has just 28,000 km on the clock has a blastproof floor and armour-plated glass throughout as well as a bomb-proof armour-plated body. It is also thought to be chemical, biological and nuclear-proof and once had its own auxiliary generator and air supply. It also boasts a Foden chassis, a body by Glover and Webb and is powered by a 12-litre Rolls-Royce engine.
The bus was acquired from a private vendor who had bought it from a research and development company which had earlier bought it over from the government.
The bus, which is by no means an attractive vehicle being more built for a purpose other than aesthetics, is considered to have social and historical value.
Margaret Thatcher famously escaped unscathed after a bomb was denoted at the Conservative Party conference in Brighton in October 1984. As the IRA said at the time, “you have to be lucky all the time. We only have to be lucky once”.
