1971 onwards (this one 1972) brought out the weirdest Matchbox creations where the model car suddenly became a toy.

Love them or hate them I have fond memories of my Flying Bug until it got lost completely.

This is a nice replacement to a favorite lost toy.

Hehe, yeah I remember this one as well. You say "love them or hate them" and I guess that describes it quite well. Initially I really despised these strange creations because they, like you said, transformed the models into 'silly toys', but over time I think one starts to find some of them charming, funny, crazy or just plain interesting in some weird way.

A long time ago I bought a very mixed lot, containing what I then described as pure junk in the form of two copies of Corgi's "Animal's Percussionmobile", but once the lot arrived, something happened and I actually started to like this weird vehichle. Check out my avatar for a close-up of mr. Animal himself

Scooby Doo's "Ghost Chaser" is another strange, but somehow charming model, I think and... the MB Flying Bug is yet another example. Somehow it reminds me of Snoopy's Red Baron - so crazy it could only be made in the 70s, and maybe that's the secret ingredient that gives these seemingly 'worthless pieces of junk' (as I once described them) a certain appeal: they accurately reflect the era in which they were made.

Agreed.

for some reason whoever designed the Flying Bug was at it again in '76 when they brought out the #14 Mini Ha Ha.

Have had this one for a good couple of decades along with the bronze and red Mini this was based on.