Richard Bartrop

When I was growing in the Vancouver area, there were a fair number of British cars sharing the streets with the big befinned American iron, so a Canadian diorama might do the job. On the other hand, it's not necessarily a bad thing to be selective about what you build. It's one way to avoid ending up with several lifetimes worth of unbuilt kits.

At the PM Hobbycraft here in Calgary, the AMT kits are creeping into the $40+ range, and honestly, what Heller is offering interests me a whole lot more that most of AMT's latest offerings. Now I will probably bite the bullet and shell out the $43 they want for the Model A reissue. Forget the $50 they want for the "original Art edition". $40 for a Lindberg rat rod? Sorry, Round 2, but its not gonna happen.

I could get behind that. If anyone, either Heller, or some enterprising resin caster were up for it, my recommendation for a coachbuilt Talbot-Lago would be this beauty, which has already been done as a Hot Wheels: As for a custom Delahaye, how about another classic Figoni & Falaschi design?

The tractors have my attention too, as do those weird old French planes.

I've built the Bentley, the Hispano and the Bugatti, and I'd say they're a lot like Airfix kits in that they have lots of really delicate parts. They do build up nicely if you exercise a little care.

That's the thing. Getting a model from Europe over here costs about what you quoted, and they have to deal with the same stuff, and they have to send it across an ocean. You'd think Americans have to cross a lake of fire to get stuff here.

That's peanuts compared to American sellers on eBay want for shipping stuff to Canada. You guys do know where Canada is, right?

There's some good stuff in that list, and it's nice to see they haven't given up on the classics. The Delahaye and the Talbot Lago could be a starting point for someone ambitious enough to tackle making any of the Figoni & Falaschi or Soautchik customs.

For the aircraft crowd there are limited run injection moulded kitsmade from fairly simple moulds that aren't intended to last a long time. Maybe a similar approach with multi piece bodies that don't need moulds with movable parts might be a way to go with automotive subjects that might be hard to justify for more conventional injection moulded kits.

And I second that.

The 70s were the definitely the decade when retro went horribly, horribly wrong, and Ford did veer dangerously close to Superfly territory as the decade went on.

I think they were trying for a neo classic look, but it doesn't really help. It's as the British say, neither use, nor ornament.

Of course, spend enough money, then it's a "replica" or a "tribute", and it's considered the height of good taste and sophistication. My vote for the dumbest piece of fakery has to be this: Fake headlights on the doors that hide the real headlights.

Exactly! My first thought on the fake engine noise was that it was kind of silly, but I suppose it's really no worse than, fake scoops, fake wings, fake wood, fake wire wheels, fake convertibles, or any of the other fakery that's been applied to cars over the years.

Like I mentioned before, on most modern cars, you can't hear the engine in the street anyhow

How flexible are you on your definition of a "rocket cat"? I got one of these with the intent of turning it into a retro futuristic flying car.

Exactly, so with or without a gas engine, you'll still be able to hear it coming.

As near as I can tell, they mean the same thing. Phaeton just sounds fancier.

Most IC cars are pretty quiet now, and there will still be tire and wind noise.

1925 Phaeton 1927 Phaeton

That is a sweet ride. If I had an urge to do a Charger, it would be something along those line. I was never a fan of DoH, but I certainly don't begrudge anyone who wants to build a General Lee, but if Warner Bros doesn't want to play, there's not much Round 2 can do about it.

Welcome!

This was just before that, and it was a print ad.

Didn't Isuzu run ads way back when about how they came second in some survey? Granted, it's the only one I can't think of that doesn't shout "We're number one!"

I checked, and Velocity was in free preview mode, so I partook.