Two queries, about vehicles and trams in Birmingham

[bootneck]

Can anyone here please help with identifying the vehicles, from front to back, in this photo?  

 

Also, have there been any kits produced of Birmingham City Trams, similar to those in the photo?

 

cheers,

Mike

[johnlambert]

It looks like the first car, DT7826 is a Triumph Vitesse Fourteen.  I wonder if the next one, *VX184 is a Ford Y?  The lorry EDU277 looks like a Bedford.  Then FOB730 looks like it's from "The Austin" an Austin 12 saloon.  Then a Wolseley, hard to say what sort it might be a Fourteen and an Austin van.  That's the best I can do.  Great photos.

[Neddy]

I can confirm the Triumph Vitesse, the second car is definitely a Ford Y-Type, the truck is a Bedford, FOB730 is definitely an Austin but I couldn't tell you which one, ditto the van behind it.

[bootneck]

Thanks John and Neddy, that's very interesting.  Looking at the front of the Austin van, could it be an Austin 10?  If so, then I could possibly have a go at converting the Tamiya [35308] 10hp light utility car to one.

I am working to 1:35/1:32 scale but I don't think that there are any kits of those other vehicles.

 

cheers,
 

Mike

[johnlambert]

Hi Mike, I'd say that a conversion based on the Tamiya Austin 10hp light utility car would probably be enough for a plausible Birmingham street scene.

 

Otherwise I think it's fairly slim pickings if you want 1930s (or similar style) vehicles for a road scene.  Maybe the Airfix Humber staff car could be adapted, or the Tamiya Citroen Light 15 saloon?

[bootneck]

Thanks John.  My preferred theme period is postwar, 1950s up to mid 1960s, as that was the era that I spent in Brum.  I joined up in 1965 so, after that, it was military stuff such as Land Rovers, Bedford RL's and helicopters.   I have a card model garage on the go, still researching shapes and attached outbuilds for that; plus vehicles to be found in and around it.   So far, I have obtained a Chevrolet CMP [conversion to a breakdown lorry], an Airfix Triumph Herald plus a Volkswagen Beetle; however, I am not sure when the Beetle would have been a common site on British roads.

 

cheers,

Mike

[johnlambert]

My gut feeling is that the Volkswagen wouldn't have been that common in the 1950s.  Any new cars would have been unusual, foreign cars even more so and German cars would probably provoke quite a negative reaction.  As an aside, apparently one of my paternal grandfather's friends was quite surprised that grandad bought a VW in the late 1960s as my great grandfather had, apparently suffered as a result of a German gas attack in the 1914-18 war.  Apparently grandad's attitude was that you have to move on eventually.

 

But you could probably add a Matchbox 1:32 MG TC to your street scene and it not look out of place.  You can also get some interesting resin slot car bodies that I'm sure could be adapted to passable static models link to Pendle Slot Racing I've bought from them in the past and found them to be very helpful.  I thought they did an Austin A30/A35 but it isn't listed, there is a Morris Minor.  They did do an Austin A35 van, but that's currently out of stock.  There is a 1956 Morris Oxford body kit and there was a MG Magnette ZA.

[bootneck]

Wow!  I didn't know about slot car bodies, thanks for the link.   To me, the vehicles that I remember most, at that time, were the Austin A35 and A35 van, Ford 5cwt van (local radio/TV repair man) Austin Somerset (Police car on our street corner every night) and the Morris 1000.  The Austin A35 is a particular favourite for me; therefore, I shall need to search one out now!

 

Thanks John,

 

Mike

[Neddy]

The Beetle gradually became visible in the late 1950s and by the mid '60s was pretty popular.  When I was buying my first car in 1967 I aspired to one but couldn't quite afford it and had to settle for a 105E instead.