Réunion is an island that is governed by France and is located in the Indian Ocean, very close to Madagascar.

Somewhere in the 1920’s open-air buses became popular in this island-nation. Basically, they were converted out of American Studebaker truck chassis. The bus had steps on both the sides for passengers to step in/out with ease and a removable bar on its sides to avoid passenger falling out. The bus had tarpaulin sheets on top of the roof that could be pulled down when it rained.

Simple to use - they became very popular and its design success could be attributed to two individuals of Indian Gujarati origin - Sulleman Patel and his 16 year old nephew Amode Mamode Patel* who assisted him. This was in 1939 and the first model made would seat 20 passengers. The bus route was between Saint-Louis and Cilaos. 

With the passage of time, larger chassis trucks were used that could comfortably seat up to 40 passengers. One of the favourite truck models was the use of the Citroen T45. This scale model is an exact replica of the same.

* he died in 2007 at the age of 84