`SPEED' BUS OWNER FINDS MEMORABILIA TOO COSTLY.

Byline: Eve Mitchell San Francisco Examiner

The double-whammy of taxes due and no parking is forcing the owner of a bus that played a starring role in the movie ``Speed'' to auction off her celebrity vehicle.

Laurel Garces of Pacifica won the 1967 General Motors bus in a phone-in contest held last November when the action film was broadcast on the Fox television network.

Even though it's a real piece of Hollywood memorabilia, there's no room to put it in the parking lot of the oceanfront condo where Garces lives with her husband and their 6-year-old son. Since it arrived from New York on a flatbed truck, the bus has been stored in Hayward.

``I don't have a good place to keep it,'' the 31-year-old Skyline Community College student and cosmetics saleswoman said.

There's also the tax bite. The taxes have to be paid because the feds view the bus, which a Fox spokesman said was valued at $16,000, as miscellaneous income. ``I don't have the money to pay the taxes,'' Garces said.

Now, Garces says she has no choice but to conduct a mail-in auction to unload the bus, which has also appeared in six other films. The 40-foot bus was one of nine buses used in the filming of `Speed,'' which starred Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.

The 1994 film's plot line was driven by a big-city bus that a villain wired to blow up if its speed dropped below 50 mph. Four buses ended up getting destroyed during filming. But Garces's bus cruised the freeways for external shots, avoiding the spectacular stunts and crashes.

``It runs; it will need a new starter if it's going to be driven regularly, but it runs in the meantime,'' Garces said. ``It's in excellent shape. It looks beautiful.''

There is no requirement of a minimum bid for the bus auction, and all offers will be accepted from now until Feb. 10, Garces said. Free delivery would apply only to a buyer who lives in the Bay Area, she added.

Garces declined to say whether she would accept the highest bid if it was lower than expected. She did say that Planet Hollywood had expressed interest in buying the bus.

Anyone interested in submitting a bid on the bus or obtaining more information about it can write to Speed Bus Auction, PO Box 1394, Pacifica CA 94044.