The bus in the postcard is part of a fleet of WW2 Canadian built Chevrolet C-15s were brought over and used by the Americans, British and Allied forces during the Burma Campaign during World War Two. At the end of the war these military vehicles became much loved buses driving commuters around Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) and were a common sight until they were phased out in 2012. The transition was part of the government’s plan to replace as many as 22,409 old cars and buses with salone, salane and zagwe license plates, some 5000 of which were in Yangon.
Most of these buses, commonly called “big belly” buses, lost their original Perkins engines long ago, usually replaced with Nissan units. The bodywork largely consisted of wood, and had a nice line to it in the pre- and immediate post-war style with the window line following a gentle arc and the sides bulging towards the middle in the same way, all meeting with generous curves to the front and rear.
About the stamps
The first stamp is one of the two of the series The 2nd TELSOM-ATRC Leaders Retreat, issued on October 1, 2012. About the second, issued to mark 48 years of ASEAN, I wrote here.
References
Old buses going fast but not yet replaced - Myanmar Times website
Bus Stop Classics (Twofer): Burmese Chevrolet Buses – Relics Don’t Retire, They Get Rebuilt - Curbside Classic
Sender: Pumipat
Sent from Yangon (Yangon / Myanmar), on 03.01.2018
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