The Ideal Band Vehicle?

[Bones]

 

[bumnote]

 

[Dismalhead]

 

[blowtorch]

Not so good on northern roads tho

 

[AndyPanda]

 

[Dennyf]

The ideal band vehicle is the one anyone but me owns.

 

[Dismalhead]

Not so good on northern roads tho

Aw man, now they're gonna be late to the gig.

 

[VWAmTele]

I always wanted one of these - probably could have picked one up for a song in the late 70's.

 

[clydethecat]

View attachment 670067

One of the cool things about delivering the mail in a small town is that you get to see what is parked behind houses and garages or beneath tarps. Sometimes you find some interesting things just sitting in the weeds.

This was one of those days. Not many of you will remember these vehicles, but it is a Vixen Camper from the '80's. It was an independent venture started by some of the engineers who designed the Delorean and it was essentially an RV that could fit in your garage.

They used the Mercedes Turbo Diesel and had all the normal RV trappings (A/C, Water Heater, Stove, Bed, Kitchen, etc.) only in a shorter body than say a GM RV would have.

I am no expert on these, but it seems they only built about 300 of them before going bust. I found one of those 300 sitting in the weeds, looks like it hasn't moved in at least 15 years, but otherwise looks to be in very good condition cosmetically.

Due to the rarity of them, the selling price is often pretty high out there, but if I was able to make a reasonable deal....just how cool would this vehicle be for band touring? So ugly it would wicked cool.

Reminds me of the Urban Assault Vehicle from "Stripes".

 

[AndyPanda]

Nobody will believe me ... I can't even believe it myself looking at this picture ... but back in the late 70's early 80's I used to fold the back seat down and fit a fender rhodes, a twin reverb, a small (solid state) leslie cabinet and crumar hammond organ clone (and saxophones, flute, harmonica etc - haha) in the back of this FIAT to get to gigs. Fortunately I never had to do a panic stop - don't know if the brakes could have handled all that:

 

[Fearnot]

I just wanna sit in the driver's seat for awhile. I imagine the steering linkage is amazing...

 

[AndyPanda]

I just wanna sit in the driver's seat for awhile. I imagine the steering linkage is amazing...

View attachment 670104

That looks like it's out of an R. Crumb comic.

 

[knockeduptele]

Willie Nelsons old bus was listed for sale, I think it would be pretty cool to buy that and refit the interior, put a new motor in it. Looks like there's enough storage room for amps, kit etc.

That looks like an 80's Florida Coaches Build - best mobile padded cells on the Freeway - lived in them for 10 years

If you weren't fussy about Flightcases or Clothes you could fit a 4 piece Heavy Metal rig in the bays and still sleep 8 in comfort (or 16 if the tour was going well)

 

[Dismalhead]

Nobody will believe me ... I can't even believe it myself looking at this picture ... but back in the late 70's early 80's I used to fold the back seat down and fit a fender rhodes, a twin reverb, a small (solid state) leslie cabinet and crumar hammond organ clone (and saxophones, flute, harmonica etc - haha) in the back of this FIAT to get to gigs. Fortunately I never had to do a panic stop - don't know if the brakes could have handled all that:
View attachment 670102

Hmmmmm. That looks suspiciously like a Yugo. Same factory?

 

[ravindave_3600]

Nobody will believe me ... I can't even believe it myself looking at this picture ... but back in the late 70's early 80's I used to fold the back seat down and fit a fender rhodes, a twin reverb, a small (solid state) leslie cabinet and crumar hammond organ clone (and saxophones, flute, harmonica etc - haha) in the back of this FIAT to get to gigs. Fortunately I never had to do a panic stop - don't know if the brakes could have handled all that:
View attachment 670102

Oh man. I had one of those. My parents thought their sons needed a car and somehow the burnt orange, 70hp, brake-free, falling apart Italian rattlebox could be had for cheap. But as you say, the hatch WAS surprisingly large.

 

[muchxs]

Bluesmobile was a caddy wasn't it? Or the police car?

 

[lammie200]

Not so good on northern roads tho

I worked on a shopping center development with parking lot many years back. One afternoon after the grand opening the Wiener mobile was evidently going to show up for a promotion. It hit the headache bar coming into the parking lot and damaged the front cockpit fairly extensively. Wish I had some pics of that.

 

[Milspec]

Here's mine:

That is a beauty....I grew up on volkswagens as my Father was a VW Crew Chief for their Scirocco racing program and helped design the GTI. I drove a '63, a racing '66, a '69 Factory Baja....loved them all. If I ever find a pre-'70 Bug for sale around here that isn't all rotted out, I am buying it. Glad to see yours isn't yellow, they made so many in that color that it just makes me cringe when I see them.

 

[bgmacaw]

This thread calls for a 70's soft rock classic...

 

[AndyPanda]

Hmmmmm. That looks suspiciously like a Yugo. Same factory?

That photo is a 1979 FIAT made in Italy. It's a larger version of the older FIAT 128 that had been around since 1969. The Yugo came out around 1985-6 built in a different factory (and country) built using the FIAT 128 design (but shortened to be even smaller wheelbase) and maybe even built on FIAT's old, obsolete equipment.