You’d half expect to see John Cleese behind the tow truck wheel.
The revered red double decker bus that became one of St. Augustine’s more recognizable landmarks has been spared the scrapyard — and was spotted being hauled away on the back of a flatbed Thursday.
The vehicle stood lighthearted sentinel outside the now defunct Kings Head British Pub for nearly four decades — and was headed to the gallows before a savior emerged.
The tavern’s owners have sold the property, and warned that the bus would be junked if someone didn’t come forward and commute its sentence before the parcel officially changed hands.
Suitors flooded their phones with calls and texts before the owner of a local dining club secured its ownership.
Craig Smith of the Alhambra Theater said he planned to restore the rusted but regal antique as best he can.
He has yet to decide on its final location or use.
“It has been a day of tears,” the pub owners wrote of seeing the bus being carefully wrenched from its perch on Thursday. “Of sadness that the bus has gone and of happiness that the bus lives on.”
In hoping to draw interest, the Kings Heads clan gave a brief biography of the bus, stating that it was built in 1952 in England and was 14’3” high, 26’ long.
“My Mum drove it to the pub 36 years ago and it has stayed as a beacon since then,” they wrote.
