User:Razzladazzla/The Spice Bus



The Spice Bus refers to the actual double-decker omnibus used in the Spice Girls' 1997 film, Spice World. It is heavily featured in the film, driving the Spice Girls around London. This bus is particularly recognisable because of its vibrant Union Jack livery. The bus was built in 1978 and was in transport service for many years for a number of bus companies, before eventually being converted for use in the film. Afterwards, it suffered many years of neglect, but was sold in 2013 to its current owners. It now resides at Island Harbour Marina, Newport, Isle of Wight, as a tourist exhibit.

Origins
The Spice Bus is a 1978 British Leyland Bristol VRTSL3 double-decker. It has a 10,450cc Gardner 6LXB 6 cylinder diesel engine, producing 180BHP. These were made by L. Gardner and Sons, who operated from 1868 until ceasing production in the mid 1990s. The Bristol mark comes from Bristol Commercial Vehicles who were taken over by British Leyland in 1965. The VRTSL3 class shows that it has a Vertical Rear Transverse engine, a Short and Low chassis and that it is a Series 3 model. The VRTSL3 is the most common variant of the Bristol VR range, being manufactured from 1966 until 1981.

The original vehicle registration number of the Spice Bus is VTV 172S.

Owners
East Midland Motor Services LTD from January 1978 until December 1993.

Sussex Coastline Buses LTD from December 1993 until January 1994.

Stagecoach (South) LTD from January 1994 until June 1995.

Sussex Coastline Buses LTD from June 1995 until September 1995.

Stagecoach (South) LTD from September 1995 until April 1997.

Hardwick (AJS Salvage) from April 1997 until June 1997.

Action Vehicles (Spice Girls), Shepperton from June 1997 until December 1998.

Oxford Bus Museum from December 1998 until September 2004.

John Davies, Gloustershire from September 2004 until October 2008.

Spice Girls Fan, USA from October 2008 until December 2013.

Island Harbour Marina from December 2013.

The Spice Bus
In the film, the brightly coloured, Union Jack painted bus transported the Spice Girls around London, driven by a character called Dennis, played by Meat Loaf. At the end of the film, an onboard bomb explodes. As this was done off-camera, the real bus was unharmed.

Whilst being re-fitted for the movie, the roof of the Spice Bus was lowered at the same time. For the film, the vehicle registration number was shown as '5 GIRLS', although in reality the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency have never permitted registration plates with this format of letters and numbers.

2013 onwards
The Spice Bus was bought by the owners of Island Harbour Marina in December 2013. On 18 July 2014, it was put on permanent display there as a tourist exhibit.

Unfortunately, the bus has suffered years of neglect, since the making of the Spice World movie. Her general condition was poor when she was purchased, both inside and out. However, the outside has been completely resprayed, so that from the outside, she is back to her old self. The insides, will also be completely renovated and re-fitted, as soon as possible, so that that people will then be able to also go on board.

In the meantime, she is there for the general public to go and see, and to have their photograph taken outside of the bus. There are also life-size images of all five of the Spice Girls, to make the photographs even more of an authentic Spice Girls experience.