impdb.org

IGCD

[ Login ]

1952 Commer QX R-Series MkI [R7]

1952 Commer QX MkI [R7] in Gorgo, Movie, 1961

Class: Trucks, Simple truck — Model origin:

1952 Commer QX R-Series MkI [R7]

Minor action vehicle or used in only a short scene

Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
2491tj ◊ 2008-04-07 22:41	Commer
chris40 ◊ 2008-04-08 16:53	I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's a Commer - the roofline of the cab is too flat and there aren't any quarter-windows in the back corners of the cab.
Sunbar ◊ 2008-04-08 19:51	I agree its not likely to be a Commer. Like chris40 I don't recognise it as any British truck from the 1950-60 period. I cannot see a front quarter-lite in the door glass which would be unusual for the period, but there is the possibility if it is an actual truck, the door glass slides horizontally. The door frame in the glass area is very slim so not pressed as part of the external door skin. Not possible to see a door handle. The windscreen is flat or almost flat. I cannot also see a steering wheel. Its referred to as a minor action vehicle, is it therefore seen moving? Without seeing the truck in the movie, from the picture is it possibly a scale model or toy truck? -- Last edit: 2008-04-08 20:18:51
Alexander ◊ 2008-04-08 21:16	I had the same idea that it is a scale model and probably trying to resemble a Commer or Karrier. If you look at the image the proportions between foreground (truck) and background (person, fence, house) don't match. I would say it is round about a 2" scale. Would you agree or have I stared at the blur for too long and begin to see things?
Gag Halfrunt ◊ 2008-04-08 21:25	I think you're right. This looks like a 'forced perspective' shot, where a model is placed right in front of the camera so that it looks big. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_perspective -- Last edit: 2008-04-08 21:28:08
Sunbar ◊ 2008-04-08 23:31	Alexander and Gag Halfrunt after reading your comments, I am also now convinced its a rather poor attempt to model a Commer truck. Looking again at the whole picture its looks very odd and out of focus. Should this therefore be moved to either the movie comments or possibly listed in the comments for the other Commer truck in the movie?
Kooshmeister ◊ 2008-04-09 00:45	This IS a model, but it was the best shot I could get of one of the trucks (there appear to be about three in all in the scene, it is only this one which becomes a model for its fall into a pit) without any people in the way. And in any event, the model is a pretty accurate representation of the full-size trucks used. And as for deleting it, I disagree completely. Since the model truck is a representation of a real vehicle within the film, as opposed to being the only version of it, I think it ought to stay, with possibly just a picture change. I'll post some screenshots of the real trucks soon. Oh, also, Alexander, the "house" is actually one of the two cranes. -- Last edit: 2008-04-09 00:51:50
Kooshmeister ◊ 2008-04-09 01:21	Sunbar wrote Its referred to as a minor action vehicle, is it therefore seen moving? Well, they play a fairly sizable role in the action sequence, with two being knocked over and one exploding, and the camera focusing on each one's destruction, so therefore they are not background vehicles, at least. -- Last edit: 2008-04-09 01:24:04
Kooshmeister ◊ 2008-04-09 01:21	Here we go. The real trucks. There's this one that gets tipped over and winds up on its side, and provides the best evidence that these, at least, a full-sized trucks, since Joe presses himself up against its bumper at one point (see picture three and four, and, heck, the guys hiding in the back of it in picture one). And then this one which, um, explodes for some reason: -- Last edit: 2008-04-09 01:29:19
Alexander ◊ 2008-04-09 01:48	Thanks for the extra images. This solves the case. It is a Commer QX R-Series Mk.I (1948-51). I would use the last of the small pictures as the main image and move the model to the comments.
Alexander ◊ 2008-04-21 01:40	I have moved the picture of the model here:
Kooshmeister ◊ 2008-04-24 16:53	I would've actually used the first one above, with Joe in the foreground, so we can tell that this is a dump truck and not the same as the missile launcher version. But then again I guess people can tell that from those pics. Oh, and I deduced, after watching the scene over again, why the one now used as the main pic explodes; some downed electrical lines fall onto it. I dunno if this would normally cause an automobile to spontaneously start spewing forth flames and smoke, but there ya go. -- Last edit: 2008-04-24 17:02:13
redbeard45 ◊ 2008-06-21 22:59	Can confirm a Commer R7 Mk I. Just a minor point, Chris40, this model didn't have windows in the rear corners of the cab - added to subsequent Marks after feedback to Rootes Group of lack of vision when pulling out of angled roads and loading situations. The Mk I can also be identified by the 'open' front on the cab step. The Mark 1 had no front to the aluminium step and the sidelight was mounted in the bottom front edge of the guard (where it got regularly smashed!) Any driver of this model will tell you how dangerous these steps were in the wet - they can probably still feel the pain in the back of their calves and the pain of other precious parts of their anatomy as their foot shot off the front of the step and they fell out the door. After much criticism, the steps were changed to having a raised part at the front with the sidelight mounted on the raised portion - 2 bad problems solved! Cheers
Sunbar ◊ 2015-06-02 10:51	Late Mk.I cab, 1952. The top mounted wipers were introduced on Mk.I cabs between January and August 1952 continuing with Mk.II cabs from September 1952. The reason appears to be that the two flat windscreens opened at the top, so the early wipers had to be stopped at the bottom under the edge of the windscreen to avoid damage with them open. Putting the wipers at the top allowed them to work normally if the screen was open slightly for ventilation. -- Last edit: 2015-06-03 15:53:08

Add a comment

Advertising