If you live in a city or town which operates open tops send us a picture and we’ll consider it for further models. Torquay, kown as the English Riveria, boasts one of the warmest climates in the UK. and is situated in Devon and regularly runs open tops throughout the Summer.

Torquay is also the birth place of two famous characters, the first being Agatha Christie who was born in Torre parish in 1890 to an English mother and American father. She spent her younger years working in a pharmacists in Torquay and one presumes this is where she gained her knowledge of poisons!

The second character was of course old ‘Basil’ from ‘Fawltry Towers’. Discovered, or should we say manufactured by the ‘Monty Python’ team who were staying at ‘Gleneagles Hotel’ in Torquay whilst filming the T.V. series.

During there stay, the proprietor threw Eric Idle’s bag out of the window mistaking it for a bomb! He also complained that one of the teams eating habits was deplorable and generally snarled and snapped at the other guests! When the ‘Monty Python’ team left, John Cleese stayed on and modelled the hotelier into a character and Basil was born.

Open top buses first appeared around the early 50’s and were predominantly used in seaside resorts. They were generally older buses with the top chopped off and brought into service for the Summer. They would always travel along the promenade then often couple the journey with a mystery tour - maybe to a local historical point.