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One of the first LSR resin models I saw was Jimmy Flintstone's "Goldenrod." This was the Summers Brothers car that ran for the wheel-driven land speed record in 1965. By that time, Breedlove and Arfons were already running in the 500 mph range with jet cars, but those were pushed by thrust, not by the mechanical action of the rear wheels. Intriguingly, nobody broke the Summers Bros. record for almost 20 years. One story I heard was that the car was a four-speed. Supposedly, Bob Summers broke the record at 406 and change in THIRD GEAR. Theoretically, the car was capable of 500 mph, but they never went back. The Jimmy Flintstone model is a solid casting with separate tire moldings and in the later version, separate intake and exhaust ports. This early version had only tires and intake ports separate. So you spend all your time cleaning up the surface and trying for a good paint job ("trying" is always the case where I'm concerned).
The next LSR model that showed up was Chris Etzel's 1928 Stutz Blackhawk. This is a curbside, but builds up nicely. Frank Lockhart was killed in this car at Daytona Beach (then known as Ormond Beach) in 1928 when a tire blew. The car went sideways and rolled. He was running near 200 mph when the tire let go. Chris's kit is simple and easy to build, and is a tiny little thing.
At the time that Lockhart ran the Stutz, land speed cars were generally powered by aircraft engines and were enormous. This one is the Irving-Napier Special, built to run at Daytona in 1929. It featured a Napier Lion aircraft engine (the same one as used in Britain's Supermarine Schneider Trophy aircraft). This was just discussed in the latest edition of "Resin Talk" in MCM. The kit was a part of a super short production run and is no longer available. Ed Cervo at Island Collectibles says that this is the only built example he has ever seen.
This shot gives you an idea of relative size. Both models are 1/25.
Here's another shot that gives you an idea of relative size between the 1928 Blackhawk and 1929 Golden Arrow.
Tory Mucaro did a casting of the Craig Breedloves' '63 "Spirit of America" about five years ago. Like the Goldenrod, this is a solid one piece casting with a piece of pipe of the tail for an exhaust nozzle. It weighs about three pounds. That tire is a SATCO Firestone to give you a relative idea of size. This is a big model.
In '64 or '65, Wen Mac did a promotional model for Gulf stations in plastic, but the resin model is actually based on Art Russell's original display model done for Breedlove in about 1962. Russell was a pattern maker for Revell and a hot rodder who knew Breedlove. When Breedlove was shopping the SoA around to companies to get sponsorship money, he took one of Russell's models with him.
Here's a finished example. This is not mine. It was built by Dave--- I can't remember Dave's last name, so if you're reading this, Dave, let us know who you are 'cause you deserve credit for this beautiful model. Tory's kit came with decals, so you can build up a pretty nice example. It is nothing more than a paint job--a daunting one, but a paint job.
Ten years ago a friend of mine named Ted Kellison built this little Bonneville salt coupe from a ZZ top kit. It's loosely based on the Pierson brothers coupe, and is the "Lo-Cal (low cal) Special."
Ted did a beautiful job. He used the nose from a Revell '29 Ford roadster pickup kit and never really liked it, but left it that way. The car has a nicely detailed flathead and a similarly detailed interior that you can't see 'cause of the tiny windows.
California Model Works does a beautiful resin and white metal kit of a Bonneville belly tanker. Here's a link to one built by Dale King that is displayed on the Grand Prix Modelers Association website. This is WAAAAAy better than the vacuformed kit I've seen.
http://gpma.org/dkbelly.html
Terry
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