Brian Austin

What's interesting about the Ranchero is that type of conversion can be found in Argentina.

If you want to broaden your search, there were numerous plastic toys between 1:25 and 1:20 scale made in Hong Kong. I have a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in good shape until it fell to the (carpeted) floor and now I think it's missing a turn signal or such. Speaking of Rolls-Royces has, Hubley's own Silver Cloud been mentioned already? There were numerous four-door Jaguar plastic toys made in Hong Kong in 1:25-1:20, and then there's Tamiya's Mk2 kits in 1:24. Much smaller, but I'll just mention the nifty little F&F plastic cereal premium line included some sedans and wagons.

This old Ebay listing claims the milk truck promo toy was made by the Anthony E. Roberts, Corp. of Chicago in 1956. https://www.ebay.ie/itm/1956-IRA-WILSON-DAIRY-Milk-Delivery-TRUCK-TOY-BANK-Detroit-NOS-Plastic-Rubber-/183047688137

Marble racing videos also started making the rounds a few weeks ago, and are pretty fun as well.

Perhaps this drawing from Special Interest Autos might be of some additional help.

FWIW, Bantrhico made a diecast metal bank of a '53 Pontiac Chieftain, in the vicinity of 1:25 scale. https://www.liveauctioneers.com/en-gb/item/62082121_banthrico-1953-pontiac-chieftain-autobank-promo

(Courtesy November, 1973 issue of Hot Rod.)

That Gremlin reminds me of a short track racer. It's also not far in spirit from the wild show rods of decades past.

How much is a builder's time worth?

I tried for a few years to get my club to try gravity racing at our show, to no avail. It would be similar to Pinewood Derby, only with plastic models.

There have been a number of operable half-scale tractor-trailers built. I have seen the work of Fred Heim. He's built a Peterbilt tractor. a dump trailer and a low-bed trailer on which he carries his half scale CAT end-loader or excavator. Busy guy!

You guys could look at it this way... There was a lot of "Get a horse!" grumbling during the development of the horseless carriage, and the automobile turned out OK, didn't it?

Mark Gustavson has a bunch of detail pictures of the car in unrestored condition. https://public.fotki.com/Mark-Gustavson/thunderbird-italien/

Well you could always draw it in on the boxtop with a Molitow marker if it bothers you enough. :-P

What happened to that poor Dodge? Rusted frame?

Kenworth experimented with turbines: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2011/05/09/turbine-powered-oddities-no-466-the-see-through-kenworth-boeing/

As I posted in an earlier thread regarding grass, faux fur can be used (with a little work): http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/fur_grass/article/index.html http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/mink_grass/

The funny thing is, car writers have been saying this exact thing for decades. I have come across writings in the '50s stating the "all cars today look alike" sentiment. The other thing about the "all cars look alike today" line is that it forgets those that have dared to stand out and then get slammed for being "ugly", such as the much-maligned Cybertruck. Also, note that trucks can look similar since they often shared components such as cabs across divisions or even among competitors. There's even badge-engineering with trucks as with automobiles. A given truck can be offered under a number of different nameplates (such as the Sprinter vans and those cute little Japanese-sourced COEs marketed as Chevys, etc.), and this has been going on for decades. And then truck manufacturers themselves have been bought and sold over the years, and merged in with others around the globe.

There was a tin toy version... https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1964-big-red-ford-turbine-semi-truck-1904919802

These lovely 1:24 or 1:25 scale fire trucks are part of the collection of a small fire-fighting museum in Brockton, Massachusetts. My notes credit Dave Frazer as their builder. There are also a few examples of horse-drawn apparatus among the collection that I believe were built or modified from a particular range of mixed-media "craftsman kits" produced here in Mass. in the late '40s / early '50s era. Two pages worth of pictures of the models in my album: I wish their website was more informative: https://www.brocktonhistoricalsociety.org/bhs/firemus.html

I'm sure Boomers might take autonomous vehicles (or rideshares) more seriously once they themselves become too old to drive safely. :-D Also, I don't get why some folk have to put others down for not wanting to drive a manual transmission. That's kind of like an old-timer dismissing someone for not knowing how to use steering wheel levers to manually advance spark plugs/set the choke...or how to start an engine with a hand crank. :-P Also, keep in mind that Millennials (I have an older family friend who insists on calling them "Millenniums") are already at, or heading into, middle age. So there's an entirely different generation following them that are entering car-shopping age. https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/young-car-buyers-dealerships/

I don't buy it. To me this article reads like a click-bait news story that turns out to be based on an urban legend. I'm not sure what to make of the story or the car's owner (Wendy Allen, aka Eelkat). The story as told in the article posted above suggests she herself claims the car as haunted. Her website (not a fun read IMHO) however seems to paint the locals as the crazy ones, superstitious folk spreading rumors regarding her car being possessed. It is my impression the web articles that have been passing the story around for several years are all hype with little substance. FWIW, I liked Jalopnik's skeptical take on the purported story: https://jalopnik.com/meet-the-golden-eagle-the-car-claimed-to-have-killed-a-1830037928

Scripps-Booth Bi-Autogo! http://theoldmotor.com/?p=118599 More info: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2010/01/24/sia-flashback-its-a-car-its-a-motorcycle-its-bi-autogo/ Photographs from the era: https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/search/catch_all_fields_mt%3A(bi-autogo) OR catch_all_fields_et%3A(bi-autogo)

That's just plain counterfeiting.

I think that for many, a pickup is about being macho, and the Cybertruck doesn't fit that image. It kind of reminds me of another unconventional pickup, the Honda Ridgeline. The Cybertruck is not intended to be a contractor's or farmer's work truck. It's a lifestyle vehicle for young people who are not typical truck shoppers. People are also missing the fact that we are no longer the 20th century. It's about time vehicles start looking futuristic. In time some elements of the Cybertruck may trickle down to the other manufacturers. I think it's amusing that people are criticizing a product that isn't even available for purchase yet, judging by only by a few small images on a computer (or, worse, on a phone). I'd like to walk around one up close.