Adverts for a preserved bus?

[john new]

Possibly a numpties question but I am repairing/repainting an EFE Bristol VR into a circa 1980 liveried example (York-West Yorkshire). I have photos of Y-WY vehicles with various adverts that were carried in service (1977 & 1985) and one seen in the 1977 photo that had no adverts at all. I have copies of the adverts the model had before stripping the paint and decals off (Radio 5 Live & Persil - therefore circa 1994-5). I know there are preserved bus enthusiasts on here so my question is - If one had survived to be a contemporary preserved vehicle would it be running/displayed today with:-

1. No adverts?
2. Replica genuine adverts from its' service life period? [Barretts, Littlewoods, Vernons etc.]
3. Made up, but authentic looking adverts from a past era?
4. Modern 'sponsors' advertising?

 

I ask as with (1) , (2) & (3) the vehicle can be placed in both the older and contemporary eras but with (4) only in a contemporary setting. It also makes a difference to what I need to order transfer wise. I have to admit to favouring option (1).

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[HillsideDepot]

I think 1 is most likely. 

 

2 is popular with London Transport preservationists, but probably because London buses for many years always carried adverts in every position, even if that was an advert for LT rather than a 3rd party. There are also the classics like "Shop at Binns" which was a permanent feature of a number of north eastern fleets which tend to get replicated. There are a few people about who specialise in reproducing bus interior adverts, not that those are relevant to a model, but those were often for the bus company, and being smaller are less costly to produce. 

 

When I was involved with the Western National Preservation Group a local self-employed (ex-company) sign writer painted two of the group's buses at no cost and he was offered the rear advert spaces for his own use, in a period style. He declined as it wouldn't have been authentic. 

 

4 sometimes happens, but is rare. I know someone who has a Bristol VR which has a deep, plain white, band around the bus between the windows as it carried several "unibus" style adverts there. Two of the companies who had the original adverts are still in business and were offered the space. Neither even replied to decline the offer.

 

The two Dennis Darts I have a long term involvement with didn't carry adverts when new, so the question doesn't arise, however we have used the template for the interior passenger information posters which advised of service changes to show the vehicle history.    

 

Bus advertising, especially outside the big national campaigns, is a great social history record in it's own right with many local and regional companies being big users of bus campaigns over many years. 

[john new]

Thank you, very informative answer.