Revell 1959 Corvette factory built hobby shop display-restoration

[rsmodels]

I posted a seldom seen large scale Olds yesterday and thought I'd continue with this rare Revell factory display model. I have 15-20 Revell factory built hobby shop displays. I've read that they hired people to build them at the factory but I've also read that they hired people to build them in their homes. Maybe they did both.

The thing I like about them is that there are no two  I've seen that are exactly the same since they were hand built. They did use stencils and airbrushed the paint (other than the figures which were hand painted.)  They did a great job with the tires-check the closeup photo. My favorite is the Chris Craft cabin cruiser from 1953 but I guess I can't post that here.  I have five Chris Craft factory displays (all slightly different) plus one I built and a few unbuilt. I also have more cars, etc.

 I bought this Corvette quite a few years ago. It was scraped up a bit and missing the driver figure and windshield frame and glass. It was also missing the clear acetate case they all came mounted in. I took it out recently and restored  it at the same time I did the the Valiant I posted so you can see the Valiant in a few photos.

I had bought the Skip's Fiesta  reissue of this for the parts I needed but ended up using original parts. I never understood why they call the reissue a 1960 when it's a 1959. All they did was change the year on the license plate. Were they exactly the same?

This is an early example as they didn't plate the chrome at the beginning but started doing that early on. The first ones had a note about it in the box (before they added that info to the outside of the boxes).

I replaced the windshield and frame, polished the plastic to hide most of the scratches, glued a few loose parts back and touched up the silver painted chrome in a few places. I painted the figure, making it fairly simple like the originals.

I hope you enjoy this little piece of history. Thank you for looking.   -Rich

                                                            

[rsmodels]

I should correct myself and add that this, being 1/25 scale, was probably mounted on a cardboard display like other 1/25's I've seen. It's the 1/32  cars (and some that weren't cars)  that were mounted in acetate cases. Sorry for the memory lapse!

[happy grumpy]

Cool corvette. Nice to see old kits brought back into the light. 👍

[slusher]

Great looking Corvette!

[JJ Deuce]

On 4/6/2022 at 5:35 PM, rsmodels said:

I never understood why they call the reissue a 1960 when it's a 1959. All they did was change the year on the license plate. Were they exactly the same?

 

Yes, '59 and '60 were the same.  IIRC, the only thing different was the pattern of the vinyl on the seats. 

'58 was essentially the same, save for the fake louvers and the hood and chrome "straps" on the decklid.  

 

Nice work on a neat subject!

[spencer1984]

Excellent job on the restoration, it's great to see one of these in "original" trim!

10 hours ago, JJ Deuce said:

Yes, '59 and '60 were the same.  IIRC, the only thing different was the pattern of the vinyl on the seats.

That was my understanding as well. Horizontal pleats in '59, vertical in '60?

Edited April 9, 2022 by spencer1984

[rsmodels]

11 hours ago, JJ Deuce said:

Yes, '59 and '60 were the same.  IIRC, the only thing different was the pattern of the vinyl on the seats. 

'58 was essentially the same, save for the fake louvers and the hood and chrome "straps" on the decklid.  

 

Nice work on a neat subject!

 

24 minutes ago, spencer1984 said:

Excellent job on the restoration, it's great to see one of these in "original" trim!

That was my understanding as well. Horizontal pleats in '59, vertical in '60?

Thanks for the info JJ and Bill.  And thanks to the others who commented.

[PappyD340]

Very nice Vette!

[rsmodels]

12 hours ago, PappyD340 said:

Very nice Vette!

Thanks for  your comment .--Rich

[ChrisR]

Cool!