Before apps, GPS, and digital signs, Malta’s buses had a charm all their own, and part of that charm was in how they told you where they were headed, as shown in a photo recently shared by the DOI.

Instead of a route number, each colourful bus boldly displayed the name of the locality it was travelling to right on the front. Whether it was Rabat, Valletta, Birżebbuġa, or Mosta, you simply hopped on the bus that had your destination painted just above the windscreen.

Sadly, the black and white photos of way back when don’t show the vivid colours these buses carried, but you can take our word for it – aside from the locality label, each bus was colour-coded, depending on the locality it was bound to. As you can imagine, it was a colourful fleet indeed!

A sharp eye will also spot a car transporting an appliance of sorts at the back of a vintage car, with a brave passenger hanging on for dear life!

Do you remember these old-school Maltese buses?