The last surviving Ministry of Technology mobile cinema is being offered for sale – and it could cost its next owner up to £120,000. The 1967 vehicle is based on a Bedford SB chassis with coachwork by Coventry Steel Caravans and was originally one of a fleet of seven, which toured the country promoting modern production techniques.
Of the original seven cinema’s, just one survived – but by the skin of its teeth. It was discovered rotting in a field in Essex where, after 14 years, it had sunk into the mud, had its gearbox stolen and its engine allowed to seize solid. It was eventually rescued by Oliver Halls, who bought the wreck in 2005 after placing a note on the windscreen years earlier. A painstaking five-year restoration followed, as did a degree of fame: it became the star of Melvyn Bragg’s The Reel History of Britain, as well as making a number of other television appearances.
“We never imagined it would be the success it was,” said Halls. “I started restoring it as a hobby, but it wasn’t long before it took over my life. I was working full time and spending all my spare time and money on the bus, lying in the mud in a freezing cold shed wondering if I’d gone mad. But people just loved everything about it, which made all the blood, sweat and tears worthwhile. They don’t make things like this anymore, and it speaks to people’s sense of nostalgia.”
In addition to the fully restored bus, the asking price includes a matching trailer: “Someone saw us on the news and realised that the trailer their friend had been using as a woodwork shop belonged to our cinema. It’s taken a few years, but I’ve finally got them back together,” said Halls. Unlike the bus, the trailer is in need of full restoration.
