1994 MAN 11.190 #21

One of the very few Manuals in our fleet, this bus started life with Birkenhead Transport and was a backbone of their fleet until December 2013. In its 19 year career with Birkenhead Transport, it reliably carried passengers from its base in Verrans Corner to all corners of the North Shore and the central city. This bus saw plenty of trips across the Harbour bridge and saw the Birkenhead become an even larger player in the Auckland market over the early 21st century. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This is one of the first modern Birkenhead Transport vehicles to see preservation, complete with the blessings of the Inward family, who built the Birkenhead Transport empire to what it was before the sale to Ritchies Transport Holdings in 2019.  

After being retired from Birkenhead Transport's fleet in December 2013, this bus served the Gubbs Coachlines family faithfully until 2021, when it became too old to operate school runs, so was parked until Gubbs could decide what was to happen to the vehicle. With the sale of Gubbs to Kinetic New Zealand in December 2023, this bus was weeks away from being scrapped and withdrawn to the history books. After eleventh hour discussions, #21 was pulled out of the corner of the depot and we were able to tow the vehicle to our yard using our preferred Towing company, North Harbour Towing. It is currently having remedial work done to it so that we can eventually get the bus back on the road and painted in Birkenhead Transport colours.