OP
OP
Hitchington
Lovely stuff
- Location
- That London
I love it how the guy's hair and right ear almost matches the shape of the balloon!
Good spot!
Interesting old photos
- Thread starter Hitchington
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Good spot!
OP
OP
Hitchington
Lovely stuff
- Location
- That London
Concorde
Models line up of the various designs suggested for the shape of Concorde.
Construction, a big Airfix kit!
Concorde 2 rolls out of the British Aircraft Corporation's assembly line at Filton in 1968.
Concorde's pilots pull a few more Gs than usual as they show off their expensive new piece of hardware at Farnborough Air Show, England, in 1970
cluster of Concordes gather at Heathrow airport
Models line up of the various designs suggested for the shape of Concorde.
Construction, a big Airfix kit!
Concorde 2 rolls out of the British Aircraft Corporation's assembly line at Filton in 1968.
Concorde's pilots pull a few more Gs than usual as they show off their expensive new piece of hardware at Farnborough Air Show, England, in 1970
cluster of Concordes gather at Heathrow airport
Vapin' Joe
Formerly known as Smokin Joe
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Typical piece of British folly, though. Like that other sixties icon the Mini, it lost money from start to finish.
Folly or not, it was an amazing piece of engineering a beautiful looking aircraft. Even to the very end, when Concorde flew over, everyone looked up.
Vapin' Joe
Formerly known as Smokin Joe
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Only to see where their money had gone.
The real aviation success story of the sixties was the Boeing 747, a boring old bus for the masses that made billions.
KneesUp
Guru
The mini didn't lose money from start to finish. It is reckoned that BMC lost £30 on every £497 mini they sold - this figure comes from perplexed Ford executives buying two and having them stripped don and costed to every last washer - but they could have charged more (the inferior Anglia 105e was £95 more than a mini) - but the BMC costings were so woeful they didn't even realise they were losing money. The minis were sold at a loss not because the product was too complicated or expensive, but simply because the accountants and marketing departments were rubbish - there was no need for such a superior product to be sold so cheaply - a fact that BMW have cottoned on to with the 'new' mini.
I'm not sure when the original mini became profitable, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been in production until 1990-odd if it was still losing money!
Vapin' Joe
Formerly known as Smokin Joe
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
It became profitable way too late to have been economically viable. The Mini was an interesting concept but it certainly wasn't what anyone could call superior - quite the opposite in fact. Not very reliable, prone to savage rusting and basic in the extreme with cheap sliding windows and bits of wire for door handles. I did drive a few of them and apart from the initial fun throwing a supercharged roller skate around they were awful. Not many were being sold by the nineties and the BMW version is not the same car apart from the name and a vague resemblance.
For a sixties motoring success, look at the Cortina. Beat the Mini hands down in all departments and made a fortune for Ford.
KneesUp
Guru
I fear we are going off-topic here, but it's not fair to say the Cortina beat the mini in all departments - those old rear wheel drive family cars were entertaining to drive in their own way, but they weren't exactly known for their handling. That said, the Cortina's recipe of decent styling and reliable mechanical bits was undoubtedly a huge success, which of course BL tried to copy in the unfortunate Marina which by all accounts handled appallingly and had the most ridiculous dashboard I have ever seen (the lady next door had one when I was a kid) Oh God! The Marina dashboard. It makes me annoyed to think about it. I can only find a picture of it in the Ital, but it was like this in the latter Marinas too - with the stereo (mono, actually) curved away from the driver. Presumably so it was less distracting, or something - ignoring the fact that it just made it more distracting when the driver wanted to use it, and that it would curve toward the driver when sold abroad. Even as a five year-old backseat passenger I was maddened by it.
Vapin' Joe
Formerly known as Smokin Joe
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
I fear we are going off-topic here, but it's not fair to say the Cortina beat the mini in all departments - those old rear wheel drive family cars were entertaining to drive in their own way, but they weren't exactly known for their handling. That said, the Cortina's recipe of decent styling and reliable mechanical bits was undoubtedly a huge success, which of course BL tried to copy in the unfortunate Marina which by all accounts handled appallingly and had the most ridiculous dashboard I have ever seen (the lady next door had one when I was a kid) Oh God! The Marina dashboard. It makes me annoyed to think about it. I can only find a picture of it in the Ital, but it was like this in the latter Marinas too - with the stereo (mono, actually) curved away from the driver. Presumably so it was less distracting, or something - ignoring the fact that it just made it more distracting when the driver wanted to use it, and that it would curve toward the driver when sold abroad. Even as a five year-old backseat passenger I was maddened by it.
Tell me about it. I had two of the effing things.
KneesUp
Guru
One could be considered unfortunate. But two?
Vapin' Joe
Formerly known as Smokin Joe
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
What happens when you're skint.
KneesUp
Guru
Ah. <Remembers Fiat, shudders>
It used to shake the windows but you have to admire it . It would be nice to have it fly over once a week but I'm not very sad its gone .
