| The model
- This was the second New World First Bus (NWFB) model in a set of three
Olympians, announced in early December 1998, which carry cryptic banner
adverts for the then new company. This model carries the wording 'Didn't
recognise me did you?' on an orange background, whilst the smaller lettering,
on a green background, states 'All our buses have been cleaned'. The Chinese
equivalent is carried on the nearside. The message refers to the much cleaner
state of the new company's vehicles compared to when operated by China
Motor Bus (CMB), this factor being one of the reasons that CMB lost its
franchise. The model was released in Hong Kong in January 1999. It was
not issued in the UK.
Corgi initially allocated the product of this model
(43212)
to Kowloon Motor Bus and the model, which was due to be released in
June 1998, was to carry Long Win 'Airbus' white/orange/red livery. Further
details on this topic can be found by following the link.
The bus
- VA57 was acquired by NWFB on 1st September 1998 when it took over the
franchised bus operations from China Motor Bus (CMB). It was new to CMB
in February 1998, being one of the final batch of 14 such vehicles.
After the initial batches of new NWFB vehicles
in 1998, which carried the full 'wave' livery (see 44401),
buses acquired from CMB were subsequently repainted, omitting the 'wave',
thus enabling greater advertising space between the upper and lower decks. |
