It's been awhile since a vintage public transit ride has popped up for sale on the Internet, but with Burning Man over and the Holiday Season just around the corner, we suppose now is a good a time as any to put a piece of Muni history up for public auction. And just look at this slick, orange-and-red 1969 GMC beauty, currently up for bidding on eBay with a starting price at a cool $12,000.

Our friends over at Muni Diaries, who know a thing or two about buses, say it's a GMC Fishbowl New Look bus - which means someone back in the 1960s thought that windshield looked futuristic. More to the point, they just don't make interiors with so much solo seating and cushy loveseats like this anymore:

munisale_interior.jpg

The $12,000 asking price is nearly four times as expensive as the $3,250 that a 1984 articulated bus fetched at auction a couple years ago. Unlike that bus, this one doesn't have the Hollywood pedigree, but the eBay seller assures would-be buyers: "BUS RUNS GOOD. THIS BUS IS A SAN FRANCISCO MUNI T8H5305 IN ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION BEFORE REHAB. IT HAS ALL OF ITS ORIGINAL MECHANICAL GEAR AND IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION." The seller also suggests it would make a good addition to any public transit collection or a serviceable church bus. Personally, we think it would be fun to drive the old 26-Valencia route late at night as a sort of ghost of Muni past/roving Valencia corridor afterparty location.

If you do plunk down the cash for this old girl, know you'll have to drive the thing back from it's current resting place in Riverside county.

Previously: Muni Bus for Sale on eBay, Muni Bus Bought
[eBay Listing]
[MuniDiaries]