RoadworkUK

It is entirely wonderful, inside and out. I reckon with some deft brushwork, it'd be every bit the equal of a recent EFE release for accuracy, and would eclipse them for build quality. Believe it or not, nor am I. I'm by no means into buses as a whole, but – as with trains – I seem to have a very robust attachment to the things that surrounded me while growing up. Things like that WA Plaxton you picked up for would have been everywhere when I was a teenager, and I have miniatures of a fair smattering of the school buses that took me to hell every weekday. The 0302 appeals because I remember seeing one parked right next to an 0303 that was operated by the same firm, wearing the same livery, and leading to a memorable game of 'spot the difference'. Similarly, at school, the bus routes that were served by Eastern National employed Leyland Nationals in Mk1 and Mk2 form, so the two generations would often be parked side by side, with subtle differences in looks and sound. And, even more geekily, I appreciated comparing the two generations of Duple Dominant-bodied Bedford YMT that Hedingham operated, and I enjoyed seeing their Plaxton Viewmaster standing a foot taller than the otherwise similar Plaxton Supreme. Collecting them in miniature helps me to remember the things I remember enjoying.

This is just amazing. And although the 2.8i gets all the glory, I reckon the 2.0 Pinto is the blue-collar engine it really ought to have. Incredible stuff.

Hey that's interesting. Matchbox made an XR4i with XR4x4 printed on the side for some reason. How strange.

This is mine.... from 18 years ago. It's a concept for an amphibious commuter car to make use of the Thames for direct access to central London. Uses a hybrid hydroplane / trimaran hull with retractable wheels. Sadly the model is a bit the worse for wear these days.

My favourite concept car of all time. That model gives me unprecedented levels of longing.

Gawd bless it indeed! And Gawd bless you for giving me a reason to wake up on a Friday (and have less money and / or space). Gawd bless us, every one. (/Dickens)

That 0.302 is just gorgeous. Inexplicably, one of my secondary school bus contract routes was served by a Chartercoach Mercedes 0.303, which was virtually brand new at the time. It sounded tremendous with its OM442 V8.

If that Grey Green Plaxton Paramount happened to fall into your shopping bag, it wouldn't be such a bad eventuality.... And / or the Wallace Arnold Plaxton Excalibur / Premier, for that matter. CURSES to the market and its ability to tempt me.

I concur exactly. Post E65, the 7 Series went back to something closer to the massing and detailing of the glorious E38, but in a manner that ended up dull as dishwater. The E65's slightly Landcrabby shape did make for a spacious machine, too. Proportionally, the E65 is to the E39 as the Rolls Royce Phantom is to the Seraph, and I don't think that's a coincidence. It's terrific inside, too. The column shift, the seat controls on the raised centre armrest, the LCD / Analogue dials, the storage drawers in the centre stack and the pop-out phone keypad worked really well. An awful lot of thought went into it, and its influence on the W221 S Class is clear. I'm exceedingly jealous of HMC for having this, but my envy is tempered a little by it being a facelift car. I actually prefer the braver looks of the original.

Huh. There's a Matchbox that I'm pretty sure I was previously unaware of. And very nice it is, too. Also has me thinking that the next, A70 generation of Supra was rather unfairly overlooked as a diecast subject in pretty much any scale. All I know of is a Hobby Japan 1:64 and a Hatchette 1:24, both of which are very spendy indeed.

Reverse image search comes up with this Russian site, which offered this explanation via Google Translate: "A little boring, right? Then here is one of the most interesting cars of the exhibition: a home-made car on the units of the 24th Volga. The body structure is certainly impressive. But the most interesting thing there is the salon! Alas, it was not possible to take a photo, but there is even a TV! Old tube TV!" Fascinating.

You are literally living my dream. Astonishing work.

Good save. Lovely car. I had a 156 JTD; if it had been a V6 I daresay I'd still have it.

The middle set of wheels are the only acceptable ones IMO. The others somehow look cheap 'n nasty. Or more cheap 'n nasty.

If I recall, the Marzal was going to have half a V12 mounted transversely, so a straight six. Like the Chevy Epica. So the model might actually be accurate after all. Also I am glad that you haven't developed a habit of collecting die cast models. It would be a real bore to read about them here and I'm sure I'd not look forward to every update with surprising glee.