Latest heritage bus comes with a kink

All aboard the bendable mystery tour.

There were no seats left (below) on The Otago Heritage Bus Society's mystery tour around Dunedin aboard its newest acquisition on Saturday.

Originally built in New Zealand in 1990 on an imported German chassis, the MAN articulated single-decker bus spent its working life in Auckland as part of the Stagecoach New Zealand fleet.

Society member Peter Dowden said the bus had been offered to the society on favourable terms for an undisclosed price.

Because the 17m extra-long bus - a typical bus length is 8m to 12m - was able to bend around corners, it had the capacity for up to 76 people seated and more than 100 when standing passengers were included, Mr Dowden said.

The society planned to keep the bus in "perpetuity'' as a preserved bus and it would be made available for hire.