Ikarus 55-52

083005

Ikarus 55-52

083005

About

1965 was the year when someone cut a guitar out from a piece of plywood and the local fashion magazine wrote about emancipated independent women.

Basically, the only beautiful thing that happened this year was the Ikarus 55-52 that rolled out from a factory in Hungary. If there is one truly beautiful bus in the world then it must be this Ikarus.

In its past life, this specific specimen rolled along the grand autobahns of the German Democratic Republic and carried pioneers with blue neckties. The stylish cabin includes over 40 seats and 4 tables.

Technical data

The bus has benches for seats, which are nice to look at and from a picture they seem comfortable.

Through the sunroof you can gaze at the church towers the tour guide is introducing via the audio system of the bus. The bus ceiling features handles that can be conveniently grabbed while the bus is moving.

This is basically how the bus was introduced to potential clients back in the day. We have tried all these perks on ourselves and would rephrase it somewhat: two people cannot fit on the seat side by side and the position of the backrest is as bad as in a Rolls Royce.

The sun will burn a whole in your head through the sunroof; the engine noise is so loud that you cannot hear what the tour guide is mumbling and while prancing around in the bus you will definitely get hit on the head with the handle. The only place for luggage is on the roof and the ladder taking there is three metres above the ground.

Ikarus 55-52

History

For many, this bus seems familiar at the first sight but when taking a closer look it is not.

The bus has a very similar body to the Ikarus Lux that used to ride between Estonian towns but in reality the two buses have nearly no similar details. In Soviet Estonia, Ikarus buses with similar seating and door positions were used as near-city buses in major cities. In elsewhere Europe these buses were used for tourist trips and they were not used as line buses.

History