THarrison351 Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 For the 1966 movie "Fireball 500" a custom car was created by Barris Kustom for the main character. It started life as a stock 1966 Barracuda with a 273 4 barrel. The body modifications are a love it or hate it kind of thing. The kit was based on the 1965/1966 annual barracuda kit modified to look like the show car, not the movie car. It comes with a sad excuse for a tandem axle trailer too. From everything I've read, at one time this kit because it was only issued once in 1966, was very highly coveted and valuable. That changed in the early 2000s when the molds were discovered and it was reissued. That's the kit I have. It looks like they changed the decals a bit and swapped out the the tires for lower profile versions. Around five years ago, Round2 issued it again with a new expanded set of decals. These have the original movie, and two new corrected fireball sets for the sides. However, they didn't correct the RH side USA shield for some inexplicable reason. As far as I can see everything else in the kit is the same as the 2002 issue. It's not a bad kit to build considering the age and it based on an annual 3n1 promo style kit. The annual kit was only offered with a slant six or a 426 hemi for the engine, so they opted to use the hemi as the SSXR's power. Someone could use a later AMT Duster kit and update the chassis and engine to make it correct, but I'm not up for that this go around. On to the pictures! (Barris Kustom) Movie car, looks like it has Firestone NASCAR gold stripe tires on it. Headrests are different too. You might be able to tell from the picture the steering wheel was "wood" rimmed in the movie. (Custom Rodder) How it looks after the movie and when it was kitted originally. Paint changed, headrests changed, hood pins added, side windows added and all tinted orange. Currently running lower profile white letter radials The model is issued with only one racing mirror. I scrounged two like ones from the parts box and pinned them on I didn't realize until after the USA shield was on, the fuel filler was going to be a problem. There's a raised circle for it's placement. That USA shield is so wrong...It's supposed to be like the left side with the USA forward, and for some odd reason the Plymouth stickers were not placed equally on the front fenders on the show car There's hidden Cibie euro lights behind the tube grill The taillights in the back of the headrests and tail fins appear metallic on the show car. I left the red plastic showing cause I like it. License plate should be recessed You really can't see inside the interior. More pics at the end. I didn't know Tamiya clear orange would craze windows. I'm glad I taped up the outside. I added a simple pre-wired distributor You have to love those early annual promo chassis... Air brushed with decanted Tamiya and Testors Lacquer. Testors white, Tamiya gold, clear orange, and clear red. I painted the back 3/4s gold, the middle orange, then added red Ready for final assembly Only five pieces 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 Nicely done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 That turned out great - probably cleaner than the 1:1 ever looked. Nicely done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 Great build on one of my favorite kits. Back in the day I wanted one and would see them at shows in the $200 range. There was a dealer at shows that had this and a Little Red Wagon marked at $200 each. I noticed him carrying them around all season, so I offered him $300 for the pair. The guy went nuts yelling at me that I was calling him stupid, if I thought he’d go for that! I just looked at him and when he stopped yelling I just calmly said, “All you needed to say was no thank you!” I was glad I never bought those as the repops surfaced and I could’ve bought cases of each for that $300! And I hope the guy got stuck with them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 Pretty cool!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THarrison351 Posted December 28, 2022 Author Share Posted December 28, 2022 20 hours ago, slusher said: Nicely done! Thanks Slusher! 7 hours ago, spencer1984 said: That turned out great - probably cleaner than the 1:1 ever looked. Nicely done! Thank you Bill! I'm thinking about getting the second rerelease and doing the movie version. I figure I can get the PPP Firestone NASCAR tires for the movie version. 2 hours ago, Tom Geiger said: Great build on one of my favorite kits. Back in the day I wanted one and would see them at shows in the $200 range. There was a dealer at shows that had this and a Little Red Wagon marked at $200 each. I noticed him carrying them around all season, so I offered him $300 for the pair. The guy went nuts yelling at me that I was calling him stupid, if I thought he’d go for that! I just looked at him and when he stopped yelling I just calmly said, “All you needed to say was no thank you!” I was glad I never bought those as the repops surfaced and I could’ve bought cases of each for that $300! And I hope the guy got stuck with them! Thanks Tom! Yeah, I had know idea of this kits existence prior to its issue in 2002. I've never been to a model or trade show. My research to build it led me to the information of it's origins and the first issues values. I too wonder if the guy ever got what he wanted for his "valuable" kits 1 hour ago, PappyD340 said: Pretty cool!! Thank you Larry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewetwo Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 Spot on. Nice build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.