Buenos Aires City Bus

Buenos Aires's public transportation has never fared well under government control, so today, as for most of the last century--since the stagecoach days--its buses are owned and run by private companies, the collectives. Not only do these ancient machines not come in a single, municipal color scheme, but also no one bus is the same as any other. Buenos Aires City Bus catalogues the painted motifs and altered hood ornaments that identify the buses, and presents interior photographs of their gleaming upholstery. Hearts, flowers, horses, lizards, stars, crowns, top hats and Virgin Marys adorn every surface, as do figureheads, stuffed animals and heart-shaped mirrors. Modifications to lights, gas-tank covers, and manufacturer logos will bring readers' inner hot-rodders to life. Each piece of bouncing, exhaust-belching folk art is signed in curly script.