The 1960's GB General Discussion

[PR19_Kit]

Many sales in prospect for Mikro Mir's new mould then? 

[jcf]

Is that the Merry Pranksters bus?

Yes. There are better pics around, but I chose that one because I'm sure it's genuine: there are a lot of replicas knocking around.


I've been trying to think what might consititute a distinctively British "hippiemobile". The trouble is that by far the most common choices, the VW Beetle and Minibus ("Rabbit" in the US), were also the most common in America. I'd be amazed if there wern't hippiefied Ford Transits and Bedford CFs, but I can't find pictures of any. Probably a few old buses/coaches got converted too.

I did once see a vehicle at a biker rally that was a Luton*-bodied 7.5 tonner (Bedford & ex-Post Office, IIRC) with an entire VW camper van body fibreglassed onto the top of it! The VW's roof was raised for that essential bit of extra space, of course ...

*For non-Brits, a Luton body is an oversized, lightly built, cargo box fitted to a standard truck chassis. Much beloved of furniture removal companies and anybody else who tends to run out of space well before they hit the vehicle's weight limit. They tend to be tall, and explode like eggshells when the driver forgets just how tall they are and merrily drives under a low bridge...

The Golf was the Rabbit in the US, not the Type 2 Micro-bus/transporter/Kombi.

Turn the old Airfix B Type bus into a hippie-bus.

[Gondor]

Turn the old Airfix B Type bus into a hippie-bus.

London Routmaster might be a better Idea, who's for a Summer Holiday then?

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

To be a bit JMN-ish, the Summer Holiday bus was an RT, a generation earlier than the Routemaster. 

[Weaver]

Turn the old Airfix B Type bus into a hippie-bus.

London Routmaster might be a better Idea, who's for a Summer Holiday then?

Gondor

Compromise: how about a WWII surplus Bedford QL truck converted to a passenger vehicle? It could either have a QLR body or a civilian caravan body fitted instead of the flatbed (something I've seen done a number of times in various combinations). There are certainly QL kits available.

Speaking of Bedfords, any equivalent of the VW would have to be the CA, not the CF: the latter only replaced the former in 1969, so very probably wouldn't be in the hands of hippies until into the 1970s.

[jcf]

An old Tilly might be a good British Hippy (Bippy?  ) stand-in for a Type 2. 
Dressed up like a head's concept of a Roma caravan.

[zenrat]

Commer Dormobile.



When I was a kid I remember seeing people like the telecoms techies using vans with windows low down in front of the doors - in the footwell area.  Can't remember what they were though.

[perttime]

Finland buys Mirage III, instead of MiG-21F-13.

[McColm]

British cars are limited in plastic compared with Japanese or American models but fear not there are a few resin bodyshells available on eBay.
I just wish that I hadn't butchered my 1/24 Jaguar Mk2 model kit as the prices are ridiculously high 

[Weaver]

An old Tilly might be a good British Hippy (Bippy? ) stand-in for a Type 2. 
Dressed up like a head's concept of a Roma caravan.

Bit short to sleep in unless you either have a tent extension at the back or a tall body that goes right over the cab and you sleep in the top of it. Could certainly see one as a surf wagon with a rack of boards at an angle over the flatbed though...

Seen quite a few gypsy-caravan trucks whilst websurfing:







That last one's based on a Moggie Minor, so a Tilly might be doable after all, although it does extend a heck of a long way behind the back wheels though.

[Weaver]

Finland buys Mirage III, instead of MiG-21F-13.

Didn't they have to buy something Russian because of treaty obligations though? Perhaps the Mirage instead of the Draken?

[perttime]

Finland buys Mirage III, instead of MiG-21F-13.

Didn't they have to buy something Russian because of treaty obligations though? Perhaps the Mirage instead of the Draken?

Finland had rejected MiG-19. The Mirage was a strong contender. Then, surprisingly the Soviets offered MiG-21 which was state of the art at that time. Apparently, the essential thing for the Soviets was that Finland could intercept UK and US bombers.

The Finnish Draken purchase was in '70s.

[McColm]

There's the Boeing CH-47 Chinook, production started in 1962. So the A, B and C models can be covered the D came in in the early 1970s, so my version of the Sea Chinook AEW.1 can be revamped along with a maritime ASW that's if I can sort out the rotor blades which have a tendency to snap off whilst being manhandled.
Just got to work out how to stretch the fuselage.
Got another idea for the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye as a maritime patrol aircraft
P-2A Wizard.
These are just ideas.

[Wardukw]

I'm going to have a problem with this GB ...trying to decide which or what to build 🤔 
It's a good problem to have thou ..quite a few choices to play with 

[Nick]

Spain was flying Me-109s (aka the Hispano Aviación HA-1112) into the mid-1960s. It isn't too far-fetched to imagine a similar WW2 aircraft doing the same.

Maybe the former French colony of Viet Nam keeps on flying MS.406 on anti-Communist missions.
Supermarine Seagull island hopping between Orkney and Shetland as an aerial taxi.

Beatles flying a garishly painted psychedelic Walrus named Goo-Goo-Gajoo on their world tour.