roadkillontheweb Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Here is a shot of one of my projects. It is an original 1958 Desoto Firemite body in fiberglass. They first made them in vacuum formed polystyrene but they did not fare well so they made fiberglass bodies. this one is brand new never been mounted on a frame. I also have a vacuum formed body but it is in bad shape due to vibration from the Briggs 6B motor, sidewalk cracks and juvinal drivers but at least the frame is good. It will look like this again someday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 HA!! That's so neat! Back in the late '60's, I can very distinctly remember an amusement park ride at Hersheypark here in Central PA that had something called the "Turnpike". Their cars looked an awful lot like your Desoto bodies! The "road course" was about a ¼ mile long........and you got to drive by yourself. As a seven year old kid, I LOVED this ride------it was my favorite one in the whole park! IIRC, the cars were powered by gasoline lawn mower engines of some sort. Unfortunately, sometime in the '70's they took the '50's cars away, and replaced them with "brass era" cars. They also changed the rules that at least two people had to be in the cars. Of course by that time I was driving my own car, and I had no more interest in them. That's a very interesting piece! Thanks for bringing back the memories! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadkillontheweb Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 You mean something like this? and this? and again pretzel amusements made the track and modified the cars that were made by the powercar company of Mystic Ct. Believe it or not I own the factory body molds for each of the above cars. check out http://www.jrcentral.com (my website) for more pictures and info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Nunes Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 That mini DESOTO is really something...I can well remember "driving" the small cars at the summer fair (and doing a whole lot of steering wheel turning ) but never got to "drive" the DESOTO. Thanks for sharing the pictures and bringing on the memories! Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 You mean something like this? That's it! Ours didn't have the slot car "tracks" though.............just some stout guard rails to keep things safe. If the cars went more than 10MPH tops----they were doing something! Thanks for the pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Goschke Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Wow, that's pretty neat! And if you're looking for a rust-free '58 Desoto this is probably your only option! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadkillontheweb Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 That's it! Ours didn't have the slot car "tracks" though.............just some stout guard rails to keep things safe. If the cars went more than 10MPH tops----they were doing something! Thanks for the pics! Here are the ones that had the guard rails and an open course. They used the big wrap around bumper to keep the crashes from damaging the cars and the antenna was used to recieve the kill signal for the engine from the ride operator. The pull cord on the trunk made for easy starts once the kid was loaded in. I don't suppose you have any family photos of you in the cars? I would love to add them to my collection This is the 57 Thunderbird that I hav the original factory body mold for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 I'd have to check with my Dad.........he's the one who would have taken any pics, or at least one of his brothers/sisters may have. Plus we're talking circa 1967-68 so who knows if the pics (if they're still around) would be in decent shape. I did recently find a pic of my sister and I standing in front of my Mom's then new '68 Javelin. I had posted that one on the board so ya never know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBlockLyle Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 You wouldn't happen to have the body molds to the 58 Fury would you? I want to build one of these and put it in the back of my truck in case my truck ever breaks down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadkillontheweb Posted November 19, 2009 Author Share Posted November 19, 2009 You wouldn't happen to have the body molds to the 58 Fury would you? I want to build one of these and put it in the back of my truck in case my truck ever breaks down. I wish I did have the Fury molds, but I am afraid they were probably destroyed in the 70s. Here is one that has been customized with lots of details that originals did not have the guy did an unbelievable job in making all of the custom parts and the radio is even a functional mini version of the original and the interior is done with original interior fabrics that were used on the full size cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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