After three seasons of being kept busy on weddings and other private hires, our Classic Bus North West division decided it was time to treat RM1568 to another repaint ready for the 2011 summer season. Affectionately known as "Binky" because of its non-standard registration plate letters, it lost its original 568CLT upon withdrawal from London service in 1999. We wondered whether to keep it with a cream band or have a change and go for the later LT livery with white band. Undecided, we have opted for the third option of going Dartmaster Retro! Binky has therefore adopted the all-red style applied to the Dartmaster conversions by Marshall and the guise in which this vehicle operated in London with Sovereign & Transdev on the 13's until withdrawal in October 2005.
After life in London, Binky operated for Oxford Bus Tours briefly before passing to FizzBus Promotions in Bury as a promotional bus. However, it was soon up for sale again and was acquired by Classic Bus North West back in March 2008. Now gleaming again, Binky is ready for a busy schedule of hires over the summer months - but we may apply some typical London adverts to the bus corners to break up the expanse of red.
