When Chung and Terrence bought their double-decker bus from a tunnel operator in 2015, the vehicle had been used for accident simulation and training for nearly two decades.
From the outside, the bus still looked in good condition. Years of turning it on its side to simulate serious traffic accidents had bent its roof slightly and the engine was still functional. However, the inside of the vehicle was in bad condition.
Over the past 11 years, the two bus enthusiasts, who asked to be identified only by their given names, have spent more than HK$1.3 million to restore the bus to its original production specifications from the late 1970s.
Chung, a bus repair specialist, also single-handedly replaced the entire roof and interior.
It wasn’t just passion and “youthful recklessness” that fueled the project, they told HKFP last month, but also the fact that the bus itself holds a special place in Hong Kong’s history.
“There were a total of 716 buses of this model produced. All were delivered to Hong Kong,” Chung, 42, said in Cantonese. “You can’t find a Victory Mark II anywhere else in the world.”
“This model is really representative of the people of Hong Kong,” added Terrence, 44.
Victory Mark II
The Victory Mark II was a front-engined double-decker bus produced by British vehicle manufacturer Leyland Motors between 1978 and 1981. The model was developed exclusively for the hilly terrain of Hong Kong.
From the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, the model was commonly seen on the streets of Hong Kong. She retired from service in 2000.
The bus that Chung and Terrence own, registered as CL 2908, was decommissioned from the Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) fleet in 1998 and purchased by the operator of the Tai Lam Tunnel as a training vehicle.
His main job in the tunnel was to simulate a bus rollover accident twice a year for them to practice, Chung said.
A video Video from 2009 shows the bus – then painted in the classic KMB yellow and red – parked outside the Tai Lam Tunnel with big letters on its side reading ‘Training’.
In 2015, the operator of the Tai Lam Tunnel was looking to find a replacement for the training vehicle. Chung and Terrence heard the news from friends and decided to take the bus.
At the time, bus CL 2908 was one of the few Victory Mark II models – if not the only one – still in their complete form that could allow for restoration, the pair said.
Having already owned other types of vintage duplexesthe two friends found this opportunity very attractive and decided to restore the vehicle to its original glory. They did not anticipate that the journey would take more than a decade.
‘Just a caretaker’
After safely parking the bus at their facility in the northwest of the New Territories, they spent two years working on a restoration plan.
Chung, who worked in KMB’s repair department in the early 2000s, said the biggest challenge was that the bus had not been properly repaired in the 17 years it served as a training vehicle.
He had to rebuild the fiberglass frames for most of the interior of the bus, including the stairs and head panel.
He said his skills were sharpened during his years at KMB, when his superior taught him not to replace broken components with new ones, but to always try to repair first.
Still, the restoration process has taken time — even more so given what Chung admitted to be his obsession with detail.
“If the details are wrong, the whole thing is wrong,” he said.
The two enthusiasts have documented the restoration journey on their Facebook YOUR “Icon of Hong Kong” – a tribute to the Victory Mark II bus.
During the course of the restoration, Chung also upgraded some of the interior components to extend the life of the bus.
“I heard about this theory from a British car lover and I think he’s right. Whether it’s a bus, a private vehicle, a sports car, or even a tank, we shouldn’t see ourselves as car owners,” he said.
“We have to preserve this car so that it outlives us and we are simply the caretakers of this vehicle in this period.
“I want to be able to pass this vehicle on to the next generation and that is my principle in this project.
“To tell the story”
While the Victory Mark II was representative of Hong Kong’s public transport before its 1997 handover, the pair said the future of their bus is likely to be in the UK rather than the city.
They complained about the lack of institutional support for the restoration of vintage buses in Hong Kong and contrasted it with the United Kingdom and Australia, where several Victory Mark II buses were among the prized collections of bus museums.
In the UK, old buses can run on the road after proper restoration and have supported tourism, the pair said.
In Hong Kong, however, their bus couldn’t get on the road properly because the previous owner had already deregistered the vehicle’s license, they said.
“A model bus is capable of reaching a million people. Don’t you think it’s a very good medium to tell the story of a country?” Chung said.
Vintage buses “can actually support a huge industry,” Terrence said. “Unfortunately, Hong Kong doesn’t have the support for it to thrive.”
Chung is looking forward to taking the fully restored bus to Wolverhampton in the UK, where Leyland drew up the design plans for the Victory Mark II.
The red brick building that was once Leyland’s drawing office still stands, he said, pointing to the facility on Google Maps on his phone.
“It was born here,” he said.
