Fitted with Eastern Coachworks bodywork, and built at Lowestoft , like most Bristol VRs for the National Bus Company, the early style of flat windscreen was used. Most Mark 2 models had the wrap round curved style which was standard for all VRs from late 1972. 70 upholstered seats were fitted and the bus entered service with RIBBLE Motor Services at Carlisle as fleet number 1985, painted in Maroon livery. This very quickly gave way to the standard NBC Poppy Red scheme. In 1985 the bus was transferred to Eastern Counties and given fleet number VR385 and allocated to Great Yarmouth and then Lowestoft, where it usually had regular drivers and found itself on some fairly long services including the 99 service to Ipswich and the even longer Sunday run from Lowestoft to Colchester . At 24years old, and by now in the privatisation colours of Post Office Red (with revised fleet number 315), but in the ownership of Firstbus, it was finally withdrawn in 1996. It was bought by a group of members of the East Anglia Transport Museum and presented to the Museum, where it has had much work done to bring it up to a high standard including a repaint back into Poppy Red as first operated by Eastern Counties.

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