A major milestone in the restoration of a century-old Daimler CK bus has been reached at the IW Bus Museum in Ryde.
The engine of the rare vehicle, DL 5084, was recently started and run for the first time since before World War II.
The Daimler has been a long term project for Museum members Pete Allen, Geoff White, Geoff Channon and John Coleman.
The team is reconstructing the Dodson single-deck body that started life on an old Vulcan chassis in 1922, working for the Vectis Bus Company.
In 1926 the body was transferred to a 1919 chassis of unknown origin after being rebuilt by the old Newport coachbuilding firm of Margham & Sons.
The engine, purchased from Southern Vectis before World War II, came from a different bus and has been carefully overhauled and maintained since acquisition by the Museum.
It started effortlessly, witnessed by several people along with a film crew from Channel 5.
The footage is destined for a new Island-based documentary which will feature Bus Museum personalities.
The framework of the Dodson body is virtually complete, reconstructed in ash, and solid tyres have been fitted after manufacture by a specialist Midlands firm.
Progress on the project can be seen by visitors on Sundays. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, when the Museum is open between 10am and 4pm.
This Sunday (July 23) a seafront shuttle will be operating between the Museum and Ryde Esplanade in support of the South Island Sevens event.
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