by A rare White Model 706 1936 bus was sold at a Mecum auction in Florida. It fetched as much as $1.3 million, even though the starting price was just $150,000.
The White Model 706 bus is indeed interesting, especially in our country. Its appearance was designed by Aleksey Sakhnovsky, a well-known designer of Ukrainian origin.
Count Aleksey Sakhnovsky is a representative of a noble Cossack-aristocratic family. On his father’s side, his ancestors included Hetman Pavel Polubotok and writer Nikolai Gogol. His mother was the granddaughter of the famous sugar factory owner and philanthropist Artem Tereshchenko.
In 1918, the young count was forced to flee the Bolsheviks to Switzerland, where he began designing cars. Sakhnovsky later moved to the USA, where he designed many striking cars.
In 1936, the American company White commissioned Aleksey Sakhnovsky (who was then collaborating with the Bender coachbuilding company) to design a tour bus for American national parks.
He created the Model 706 with a sliding canvas roof and four doors on the right side. The bus could seat 14 passengers, and was powered by a 5.2-liter 94-horsepower gasoline engine.
All 500 White Model 706 buses were sent to national parks. This particular bus was used for tours in the famous Yellowstone park. It was recently restored to its original state.
By the way, some White Model 706s are still in operation. As many as 33 such buses are used for tours in Glacier National Park, although they now have modern engines and gearboxes.
TopZhyr via Autoevolution
