The painstaking work on the 1:9‑scale LEGO® model began in June 2023 and was completed in January 2025.
SetraWorld Magazine
Here it is: a Kässbohrer classic made of LEGO® bricks.
Two LEGO® builders have recreated Kässbohrer's first scheduled-service bus that operated in the Swabian town of Wiblingen.
Here it is: a Kässbohrer classic made of LEGO® bricks.
“It's turned out to be a genuine, miniature work of art”, says Burkhard Siemoneit, looking proudly at the bus built from LEGO® bricks. The model weighs 5.8 kilogrammes and consists of no fewer than 5798 LEGO® bricks. Saher Elsheikh is the designer and builder of the LEGO® model and he was also in charge of procuring the special bricks needed to build the model. Burkhard Siemoneit had the idea and supported the project with sound advice.
Tyres as a scale for the bus model.
When Burkhard Siemoneit and Saher Elsheikh refer to a "miniature work of art", they mean the dimensions of the bus. The LEGO® bus is 73 cm long, 25 cm wide and 31 cm high, and showcases all of the vehicle's fascinating features – it's a masterpiece created by master builders with meticulous attention to detail.
Like the original replica of the bus, which can be admired at the Setra Customer Centre in nearby Neu‑Ulm, this latest LEGO® brick model runs on rubber tyres. “These tyres were also the starting point for building the model”, says Saher Elsheikh, giving an insight into the start of how the model was built. This is because at LEGO®, tyres are only ever available as unique parts. This is why Saher had to look through the entire LEGO® range to find a tyre that matched in shape and colour so he could build a model that was true to the original. The dimensions of the tyres then formed the basis for the scale of the model.
“The tyres were the starting point for building the model.”
Precision, imagination and investigative work.
The next step involved a lot of maths, because the dimensions of the bus had to be converted from metres and centimetres to the number of nubs that each LEGO® brick had – this required a lot of precision and imagination!
The duo had to go through the huge LEGO® range to select the parts for the true-to-original model, a process that demanded all their creative and investigative skills. LEGO® has bricks in all kinds of variations, but not all the necessary bricks were in production at the time. This is where the vast and closely linked LEGO® community comes into play, granting access to rare bricks, Simoneit explains. In total, the Lego enthusiasts placed 62 orders for the construction of their model bus.
The interior of the bus has been exactly replicated.
The model is identical to the original both on the outside and the inside. The benches on which the passengers sat, the driver’s seat, and the engine compartment and the letterbox at the rear. It goes without saying that the wheels move – and so do the cylinders, the steering wheel and the doors. Building this was a true feat of ingenuity.
Saher Elsheikh and Burkhard Siemoneit admire their finished creation, delighted that all their hard work has been worth it – now all there is to do is find the perfect exhibition space.
