Don Prudhomme Wedge Dragster

[2002p51]

I did a search and didn't find anything on this new kit so I hope I'm not going over covered ground.

 

I got my hands on this kit yesterday and have been digging in to it. The frame, engine, etc are all from the original MPC Garlits mid-engined Swamp Rat 1R. That makes the frame incorrect as Prodhomme's car was built by Lil' John Buttera and didn't use a Garlits' frame. I don't see this as any problem however on a full body car like this because the only part of the frame that really shows is the roll cage. It's different from the kit but that difference is easy enough to correct with some Evergreen rod.

 

The body, which on the 1:1 car was built by Nye Frank, appears to be an all new piece. It's very close in my initial inspection although the coming around the cockpit may be a little too high, but we'll see.

The engine is typical for MPC and would probably best be replaced by one from the early Revell funny car and dragster series kits. The valve covers and injector from Revell are much closer to correct than what's in this kit.

Anyway, that's just my first impressions upon opening the box, so here are some reference photos so you can decide for yourself.

 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2017 by 2002p51

[2002p51]

Just now comparing the kit body to the Car Craft cover photo and I think the kit wedge doesn't taper from rear to front as it appears on the actual car. May or may not be able to fix that effectively.

After measuring it, the body is 4/16" narrower at the front than the rear although, visually, that doesn't seem like enough. 

Edited July 25, 2017 by 2002p51

[Daddyfink]

Cool info! 

Thanks Drew

[iBorg]

This uses the Garlits kit and not the AMT Wedge reissued in December? That's bizarre.

[iBorg]

Here's Reound 2's description. http://www.collectormodel.com/amt/3470-don-prudhommes-radical-wedge-dragster-hits-the-track-from-amt/#sthash.aHr7YogI.dpbs

Drew could you possibly be mistaken?

 

[Mr mopar]

Any Photo's  of what's inside the box ?

[2002p51]

Here's Reound 2's description. http://www.collectormodel.com/amt/3470-don-prudhommes-radical-wedge-dragster-hits-the-track-from-amt/#sthash.aHr7YogI.dpbs

Drew could you possibly be mistaken?

 

Well, that's always a possibility.  However, MPC's DNA is all over this kit and can be seen in the seat, roll bars, the rear support for the non-existing wing, etc. etc.

The bottom line is this frame is all wrong for the Prudhomme car and to make matters worse it scales out to a 209" wheelbase while the real car was 220".

That would be easy enough to fix wwhere it not for the full body. Stretching that is a whole other deal. 

I'm not as excited about this kit as I was when it first arrived on my doorstep.

[iBorg]

I agree with you, either the MPC or the AMT chassis would be wrong for this car. I do think changing the roll cage structure would make it passable.  To get the right wheelbase could you merge the wedge panels with the Revell chassis and body panels? The chassis would still be wrong.  Hopefully my preorder will be in next week.  

[Daddyfink]

Maybe use the nose off the Monogram/Revell Snake and Mongoose rails

Not my build

[1320wayne]

You know, we can pick this apart in so many ways and say that this isn't accurate or that's not right, but the bottom line is that it's a model and how many times throughout the history of models can we find a model that was absolutely perfect, especially when it comes to drag racing based kits. AMT/MPC has never been known for accurate kits in their history of drag racing kits.

But, with that said, I am very happy to have a new model of a never released subject matter from one of the most popular and historical drivers in drag racing history, especially considering that Prudhomme has been very stingy in the licensing dept. throughout the years, and if I have to make some changes to the kit to make it better then so be it. 

[2002p51]

Oh, I totally agree. It comes down to how much work are you willing to do to get an accurate replica.

This particular car is one that I've wanted in my collection for years and I've looked at modifying each of the generic wedge cars that we've seen over the years with no result.

That's the reason I fired off an order as soon as I saw that this one was available. I did have what I now see was an unrealistic expectation that this one would be better.

At this point in my modeling, I'm just not in the mood to completely rework a kit to get a reasonable result.

 

 

[tbusch]

Here's Reound 2's description. http://www.collectormodel.com/amt/3470-don-prudhommes-radical-wedge-dragster-hits-the-track-from-amt/#sthash.aHr7YogI.dpbs

Drew could you possibly be mistaken?

 

This is a straight repop of the Flying Wedge with new body parts and some different headers. you can build it either way, headers out body or down below like a funny car, it has panels to fill in the header holes.

If I had a way of posting pictures I would post this car along with the new flying wedge and an original that I have.

I have a picture somewhere of the real car that has a bunch of panels cut out of the wedge. It was producing to much downforce for the horsepower at the time

[Chris in Berwyn]

I am looking forward to getting this kit.  The real car does look long and skinny.  If the wheelbase is a scale 11 inches short it will be about 0.4 inches too short in scale - a bummer but I can live with it for such a cool car that I never thought I'd see in scale!

[sflam123]

I went to the Garlits museum Ocala, Florida in February of this year, and have several pictures of the Prudhomme wedge dragster (supposedly the original) in the museum that I can post IF someone can help me with posting the pictures since Photobucket has decided to be the south end of Northbound horses.

[sflam123]

Okay...I'm going to see if I can make this work.

 

[sflam123]

And some more:

 

[sflam123]

Now...a couple of observations from the trip to the Garlics museum and seeing this car in person:

1.)  The front of the "wedge" is ABOUT the same width as the front wheels spacing.  

2.)  The headers on the car in the museum come out from under the bodywork, although the CarCraft article has them coming out of the bodywork.  

 

I do have about four or five other pictures I can post if anyone needs them.  I'm not sure if they'll help anyone or not, but willing to share.

[Daddyfink]

I am getting more than one...

 

 

Edited July 29, 2017 by Daddyfink

[Mr mopar]

Still no photo's

[2002p51]

Now...a couple of observations from the trip to the Garlics museum and seeing this car in person:

1.)  The front of the "wedge" is ABOUT the same width as the front wheels spacing.  

2.)  The headers on the car in the museum come out from under the bodywork, although the CarCraft article has them coming out of the bodywork.  

 

I do have about four or five other pictures I can post if anyone needs them.  I'm not sure if they'll help anyone or not, but willing to share.

The Car Craft article shows the headers both ways. In the black and white photos and in the cutaway illustration, the headers are the funny car style. 

Also the "Hot Wheels" logo and other markings are different on the museum car than they are in the Car Craft photos.

[1320wayne]

The car that is in Garlits museum is in fact the same car that Prudhomme ran back in the day. It went through a restoration process sometime in the early 80's for the sake of being moved to the museum and the Hot Wheels logo was done in a crude manner to allow them to avoid any licensing issues. It also has a Pepsi logo on the cowl area just in front of the drivers compartment that was put on the car as that was one of Prudhommes primary sponsors at the time even though the car always ran with the Coca Cola sponsorship on it. If you watch Diamond P's Decade of Thrills video from 1984 they film Steve Evans and Prudhomme in his race shop and you can see the wedge car in the background in numerous shots and it's the same as what is in the museum.

Here are a couple more vintage shots.

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2017 by 1320wayne

[1320wayne]

Also, if your a stickler for detail and doing the later version that ran the funny car style headers you would possibly want to add the magneto bulge on the body panel covering the engine area as seen here.

 

[tbusch]

Also to be nit picky, real car has a quick change rear end, model does not

Edited August 1, 2017 by tbusch

[Daddyfink]

Prototype and Pre Producton shots. 

 

[dragcarz]

Just looking at the pre production pics, I would instantly recognize this as Prudhomes wedge car. No model car has ever been produced as 100% accurate, it's impossible from a manufacturing standpoint. It captures the idea and essence of the car even without paint and decals. I applaud Round 2, for giving us drag car fans something new. It will look great in the display case as is. Your wife, buddy,brother in law, or whomever won't know it's a little short, or that the roll cage is wrong. What will count is your quality of work. How clean you build, the shiny paint and colorful decals. If you want it more accurate, scratch build what you want. Drew, I love your work, I've been a fan for years!  I totally get it, as I've aged I don't have the eyes, hands and patience I once had. But I still get very excited when I finish a build, pop it in the display case along with all the other highly recognizable dragsters and funny cars that aren't 100% accurate, and I still enjoy them.