c.1948 de Lousa, Mechanical Tinplate Bus in Original Box
Unusual postwar mechanical bus manufactured in Portugal by de Lousa. Completely tinplate including the tires. Toy is complete with original box and original key. Die cut tinplate bus looks like it was hand assembled and any exposed tin was then touched-up by hand. This is most evident by looking at unsteadiness of the yellow/red interface on the underside. In fact the interior was left bare. You can still see the shiny silver tin surfaces. The tinplate may have been hand cut as well. If you look at the front corners of the bus you can see a set of dashed lines. I believe these were cutting guides. Additional dashed lines can also be seen along the top right edge of the roof exactly at the point where it was assembled. Additional "features" included compressed disk treaded tires, rear axle mounted spring motor (which is easily visible by looking through the windows), steerable front wheels, plated front grille, destination Lisbon on the front, and the company's rabbit logo. de Lousa in Portuguese means "of blackboard" so I don't catch the connection with the logo. Most unusual of all is the way it was manufactured. The body alone was assembled with no less than six separate sections. Top, bottom, front, rear, and both sides. Overall primitive looking, yet the color design was very contemporary for the time. The box is thin wall cardboard covered with paper printed with fairy tale illustrations. The key was hand painted. Size: 9½". Sold: Apr. 2005
Price Sold: $ 104
