MORE than 300 classic cars and heritage buses will park up at the annual Barry Island Festival of Transport on Sunday, June 9.

The Festival will also see the launch of a major £100,000 appeal for an 81-year-old coach.

The free event will run from 10am to 5pm with heritage bus services every 10 minutes.

Organising group chairman, Mike Taylor said: “Our Barry Festival of Transport attracts a wide range of classic cars and heritage buses.

“We will offer free rides on around 20 different heritage buses, some open top ones together with a free park and ride shuttle from the Barry Dock Offices.

“We are announcing the launch of a call for donations to professionally restore a now unique 81-year-old Red & White Albion Valkyrie Coach back to its original Art Deco styling.”

Some lorries will be at the resort along with new cars, including sports models, and cars as old as 80 years of age.

The show is aimed at families and people of all ages.

Heritage buses will shuttle visitors to Barry Island, and back, from the bus depot, in Broad Street, Barry.

The depot is where ongoing restoration is taking place on old buses such as the 1944 Pontypridd wartime Utility double decker.

Mr Taylor said: “Our appeal is looking for £100,000.

“It sounds a lot.

“Our group can handle some large bus restoration projects, but we are appealing for the public to support us in our aim to restore a unique coach which was a design classic of the inter-war period.

“We have all the original parts, but it needs a professional rebuild requiring skills in wood and metal coachbuilding.

“Such exercises are costly, and we want to make progress so that its substantially complete by John Watts Red & White 100th anniversary in 2021.

“As Red & While buses grew its services from Llanelli to Oxford, it introduced co-ordinated coach services and by 1934 was operating across the UK.

“It had its own ideas on style and comfort, so they had their own standard coach design, and this Albion Valkyrie Coach represented one of 32 new vehicles new during the Great Depression years.

“Our vehicle, number 390 was new in 1938, 81 years ago, the same year Hitler took over in Germany.

“Our group feel this is a special vehicle and deserves to be restored to the highest museum and operational standard.”

The festival, supporting the Red & White theme, will feature a bus not seen in Wales for 48 years with the arrival of a Bristol SC4LK bus, built in 1957.

The bus, seen in Abergavenny in the 1960s, was recently restored in the West Country. Other visiting heritage buses will be representing Swindon, Swansea, Bristol, Wigan, the West Midlands, Bedfordshire, and Yorkshire.

Mr Taylor added: “We work closely with the Vale of Glamorgan Council and they are helping us with the event.

“Visitors to Barry will have lots to see and its good for the local businesses.

“Many classic cars are from the valleys from Neath to Monmouth, but the buses and coaches bring people from across the UK.

“Barry Island has a great beach too so if the sun is out and our open top buses are busy, one can walk out onto the glorious sands.

“The festival is a fun day for all the family and is a great opportunity to see the efforts put in by everyone who have restored old classic cars and heritage buses.”

Free parking is available at the Barry Dock Offices car park and Cardiff Transport Preservation Group (CTPG) will operate a free shuttle bus to the event.