Napier City councillors delivered a death sentence to their trouble-plagued Art Deco bus service but were able to find some humour in the demise of the ill-fated venture.
The council's finance committee backed a staff recommendation that the two specially made buses be sold after their CBD-Ahuriri route failed to attract forecast passenger numbers.
The Deco City Discoverer service was introduced as an alternative to trams, which were proposed by Ahuriri businesses as a tourist link to downtown Napier and Marine Parade.
Bought in France and customised in the US, the buses arrived in New Zealand in October 2012.
But multiple faults, bringing the council into dispute with the builders in the US, meant they were unable to be put into service until the end of last summer, missing thousands of potential passengers from cruise liners as well as Art Deco Weekend 2013 visitors.