Bopping at the Diner

It's a bit of a no-brainer to decide on a diorama theme with some model cars. Take this 1956 Ford Thunderbird, a nice 1:43 model made by Franklin Mint. It just screams American Diners to me, whether you're from TV culture and thinking of Happy Days, or movie culture and thinking of American Graffiti.

And so I deep-etched a still of Livvie Newton-John and John Travolta doing their thing
from Grease, popped it into the foreground with the T-bird in the middle. To add an element of
unfolding drama I decided that we needed some trouble brewing from the nicely dressed
biker in background, standing behind his Vincent Black Shadow (a 1:24 model by IXO).

The Brando shot really caught my eye, because he's in his garb from 'The Wild One' but the bike he is sitting on isn't usually one that you think of being part of the Wild One. Here's the original shot.

Look in the bottom centre of the photo and Marlon, aka Johnny, is sitting on a Moto Guzzi,
the Italian marque which I own. It looks like an old 50s Guzzi, too, maybe even a Falcone,
a beautiful old 500cc single that every Moto Guzzi owner probably dreams of at least riding
once, or better still, having in his/her lottery-winning garage full of bikes and cars.

This is my Starline 1:24 model of the Falcone. The tank decal is in the right spot for the
Brando photo, and the rear mudguard looks mostly right, too. Sure, the tank is chromed
and the pillion seat isn't there, but there were many different Falcones made. Who would
have thought there was a Guzzi Falcone there on set to be pictured with Brando?