# Big Bus Model



## EJD1984 (Jun 3, 2009)

Has there ever been a model/toy produced for the bus-prop, from the 1976 movie "The Big Bus"?









Even a vacuum form kit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

I thought I was the only one that saw that movie...


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Not that I ever saw. I remember watching that movie on TV when I was a kid... the worlds first Atomic Powered Bus on its first cross-country maiden trip. Was a spoof of disaster films of the time (Airport, Towering Inferno, Earthquake, etc.).


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## tr7nut (Apr 18, 1999)

*Saw it in the Theater as a kid...*

I remember seeing it in the Theater as a kid. Pretty good, didn't have a major effect on me the way so many other Sci-Fi, fantasy, Disaster and Horror films did though. Never remember seeing any license product from the movie in stores.


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## Joe Brown (Nov 16, 1999)

No models of Supertrain yet, either...

http://nbc_supertrain.tripod.com/id2.html


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I actually paid money and saw BB in a theater. 

Actually, it was a fun flick. It was _Airplane _before _Airplane _made being like _Airplane _popular.


"One foot! Ya eat ONE foot and they call you cannibal for the rest of your life!!" :lol:


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## EJD1984 (Jun 3, 2009)

PS: A few years back I had stared a 3D model, but didn't like how it was turning out. I had some dimensions & proportions all wrong. I made the mistake of actually trying to "real world" engineer the bus - fit a full height lower deck, and max regulation width.





























When I do eventually redo this model to closely match the movie, could a model/toy be made from the CAD files?


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

I have never seen a kit or toy from the movie, but then again the movie is almost a trivia question now. If the modeling/GK community was as big then as it is now their would have been some kit out IMO.

I first heard of this movie in an Auto magazine- I foget if it was Motor Trend, Car & Driver or Road & Track. In their April issue they had a sraight write up of it as an actual production vehicle, no mention of the fact it was a subject of a movie-comedy until the last paragraph.

"Quick! RAISE FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS!"
"Raising Flags of All Nations"

.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Jane's Book of Bombs. :lol:
It's all coming back to me now!

Oh god....


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## iamweasel (Aug 14, 2000)

Interesting bus but I hadn't ever heard of that film.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

It was a wonderful satire of dozens of movies without the over the top visual puns of Airplane! & company. Big cast of established actors and everyone got a change to do their thing- I found it on DVD a while back and enjoyed it again as much as the first time in the theater.
Joseph Bologna ... ....... Dan Torrance 
Stockard Channing ........ Kitty Baxter 
John Beck ........... Shoulders O'Brien 
Rene Auberjonois ....... Father Kudos 
Ned Beatty ................. Shorty Scotty 
José Ferrer ........................ Ironman 
Larry Hagman .. Doctor in parking lot 
Sally Kellerman ............. Sybil Crane 
Richard Mulligan ......... Claude Crane 
Howard Hesseman ................... Jack 
Vic Tayback ......................... Goldie


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

Amazon on Demand has BB for $14.95. I'm torn. I haven't seen this since the initial run in theaters. My movie buddy Ralph and I liked it a lot. We were weird (but in a wholesome way).


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## EJD1984 (Jun 3, 2009)

Here's some fun reading & reference material:

*Page 1*


*Page 2*


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

I'd forgotten about the automatic tire changers and window washers. A bit disappointed the bowling alley and swimming pool were only on a sound stage.

$500,000 prop in 1976. That's some bus.


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## iamweasel (Aug 14, 2000)

Wonder if it hit the scrap heap or is hiding out in an old airplane hanger. Neat looking thing, it looks 70's in a biiiiiiiiig way.


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## EJD1984 (Jun 3, 2009)

Steve244 said:


> I'd forgotten about the automatic tire changers and window washers. A bit disappointed the bowling alley and swimming pool were only on a sound stage.
> 
> $500,000 prop in 1976. That's some bus.


With the inflation calculator, that's around 18.6mil today!


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## EJD1984 (Jun 3, 2009)

iamweasel said:


> Wonder if it hit the scrap heap or is hiding out in an old airplane hanger. Neat looking thing, it looks 70's in a biiiiiiiiig way.


I've always thought that it's probably a forgotten empty shell in the back of a California scrap yard.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

The look of the Big Bus might be a bit dated, but the front has that 'Syd Mead' vibe. You can easily imagine it in the background of Blade Runner's traffic.

.


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## Krel (Jun 7, 2000)

The Coyote Cyclops was actually two buses, the driver of the second bus couldn't see where he was going, and had to rely on a telephone connection to the front bus. The driver of the front bus sat behind the actors who were 'driving'. As far as I know they removed the shells from the buses and disposed of them.

It was a fun movie, and I still may have the movie poster somewhere.

David.


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## apls (Dec 5, 2005)

Hey, I ate a foot, one lousy foot. ......six months to live. Two of my favorite lines.


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## EJD1984 (Jun 3, 2009)

Krel said:


> The Coyote Cyclops was actually two buses, the driver of the second bus couldn't see where he was going, and had to rely on a telephone connection to the front bus. The driver of the front bus sat behind the actors who were 'driving'. As far as I know they removed the shells from the buses and disposed of them.
> 
> It was a fun movie, and I still may have the movie poster somewhere.
> 
> David.


If you read the article from Bus World, they actually used two International Harvester Cargostar trucks as the backbone for the vehicle. No actual buses were ever used. The article even mentions that the latest one of visible steering wheels were used to steer the monster.

This was a 100% custom drivable vehicle. Those guys should of had their own reality cable show - *Custom Nuclear Rides*


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

The basic concept of a long distance bus with old style comforts is not a bad idea. A lot of destinations trains do not go to with passengers these days and having a way to use the interstate system combined with a sleeper car type vehicle could fill a niche. Nuclear power aside, there are hybrid systems which could be efficient enough to greatly reduce the refueling stops.
My girlfriend had to travel from Birmingham to a conference in Pennsylvania alst year. It took several days each way using trains with connections going up and the return trip had top be by bus since the trains simply did not go where she needed when she needed.


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## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

Joe Brown said:


> No models of Supertrain yet, either...
> 
> http://nbc_supertrain.tripod.com/id2.html


Seems like there is some interest in it!
http://www.therpf.com/f10/supertrain-73801/

and at least Wbnemo1 has gotten this far on a model of the train!


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## EJD1984 (Jun 3, 2009)

Richard Baker said:


> The basic concept of a long distance bus with old style comforts is not a bad idea. A lot of destinations trains do not go to with passengers these days and having a way to use the interstate system combined with a sleeper car type vehicle could fill a niche. Nuclear power aside, there are hybrid systems which could be efficient enough to greatly reduce the refueling stops.
> My girlfriend had to travel from Birmingham to a conference in Pennsylvania alst year. It took several days each way using trains with connections going up and the return trip had top be by bus since the trains simply did not go where she needed when she needed.


There were actually some sleeper buses produced in the 1930s in California by a company called Pickwick:


















There's a company that make a metal version of a 1932 model
*Link*


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## EJD1984 (Jun 3, 2009)

swhite228 said:


> Seems like there is some interest in it!
> http://www.therpf.com/f10/supertrain-73801/
> 
> and at least Wbnemo1 has gotten this far on a model of the train!


This is exactly what I'm talking about. Once I redo the the 3D Cyclops model, how can I get an actual one produced?


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

There are an improbable number of BB fans coming out of the woodwork. Maybe we should form a fan club or support group or something...

I'm still torn on paying $15 to Amazon to watch this again. Has anyone seen it recently? Will it ruin the memory?


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Steve244 said:


> There are an improbable number of BB fans coming out of the woodwork. Maybe we should form a fan club or support group or something...
> 
> I'm still torn on paying $15 to Amazon to watch this again. Has anyone seen it recently? Will it ruin the memory?


I had mentioned in post #11 that it wsa just as good now as when I had first seen it in the theater. The films it references are not trendy pop culture ones like the 'Scary Movie' series, but film styles which are timeless. Parts are just silly, but it tries to be a complete movie instead of a string of joke references.

.


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

ahhhh so you did. I even read it. Short term memory is the first to go.

As much as I'd love to relive this movie I can't. I guess I don't love it $15 worth.

I wish someone had seen it recently; does it ruin the memory?

What?


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## Joe Brown (Nov 16, 1999)

Actually, for me, it did ruin the memories. It's really bad - Moon Zero Two kinda bad, except that The Big Bus was deliberately campy. Of course, I own dvd's of both movies... :freak:

Now, it has been said that that the timing on the producers part was bad - they did an 'Airplane!' type movie 3 - 4 years before 'Airplane!' was a hit. I disagree. It really is *that* bad.

And (also) yes, if the price and size and detailing were all good enough, I'd buy a model of The Bus. Say in 1/144 or so -- you just can't have enough models of reactor-powered vehicles.


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

"Watch it, he's got a broken milk carton!"

Saw this in the theater when I was a kid. Ah, the memories.... 

Sean


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## northjason (May 10, 2003)

Holy cats, I saw this movie on TV when I was just a kid. I don't think I quite grasped satire at the time, so kind of watched it as a strait-up disaster (?) movie. Haven't thought about that in years. I'm going to go see if I can find it on Netflix.


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

not on netflix. Amazon on Demand has it though ($15)


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## Tony Hardy (Oct 23, 2002)

I had a friend in High School by the name of Mike Freeman. His uncle, Fred Freeman, had written for such shows as "Bewitched" & "Gilligans Island." Actually the nosey character of Mrs. Kravitz on "Bewitched" was based on a real neighbor with that name from Fred's childhood.

Anyway, Fred went on to write and direct "The Big Bus." Mike and I used to call him on the set at Paramount during filming. I don't know if we ever interrupted a shot or anything, but we were teenagers and didn't know better. Fred was always gracious and spoke to us. At the time I think he was dating Sally Struthers from "All In The Family." I remember that we called him on-set one day while he was filming the swimming pool scene.

Of course, Mike and I were in our local theater to see the film when it premiered. We were also the only ones in the theater! That was a shame, because it's a fun film. I guess it hit just a little too early. "Airplane" came out 3 - 4 years later and was a massive hit.

I don't know what became of my friend Mike Freeman. He fell off of the map around 1977 or so.


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## EJD1984 (Jun 3, 2009)

Here's the article from Motor Trend

*Page 1*

Motor Trend - Big Bus 1976 1 by ejd1984, on Flickr

*Page 2*

Motor Trend - Big Bus 1976 2 by ejd1984, on Flickr


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