Richard Bartrop

It's always been. The model companies just get to spread the setup costs over a few thousand kits.

The AMT '29 A and the Revell '31 have what looks like a Riley OHV head.

This is a very good point right here, and when you're going to spend what they want on 3D printed stuff, it would be nice if it lasted for a bit. Evergreen stock also gets brittle with age, especially the thin stuff. I have some that's been around, and the thin stuff definitely doesn't want to bend the way it used to.l

The Duesenberg and the Lagonda have my attention. Now if only they were in 1/24/5 kit form.

I look at the three dots that everyone is supposed to know calls up all the extra functions, and I keep getting flashbacks to the running joke in "Demolition Man" about the three sea shells.

There was also a 1/16 scale Royale released by Bandai, and Entex. I've only built the Lindberg kit, but as I recall, it wasn't bad. It was the Weinberger cabriolet, where Italeri has kitted both the Coupe Napoleon and the Berline de Voyage, and the Entex/Bandai kit is the Binder Coupe de Ville, so if you want to model a particular version, you have options.

There are some very nice builds in the archives that deserve another look. Sometimes, someone posting 10 years ago had just the problem you had, and possibly a solution, too.

If it's legit, then I'm genuinely impressed by his ability to carve new wheel centres freehand.

It was a '67 Rambler Rebel with no power steering. When my dad got a '73 Pontiac Laurentian with power everything, the lesson continued in that, and I was a little unnerved by how the steering wheel didn't feel like it was connected to anything.

Maybe check out the places that sell dollhouse furniture. There might be something that works.

Getting back to "everything old is new again". Walter Christie is probably better known for tank suspensions, and some monstrous FWD racers from the dawn of the 20th century, but around 1909 he came up with this design for a taxi. What makes it noteworthy is that it was powered by a sideways mounted straight four driving the front wheels. Pretty much the same layout as the Mini 50 years later, and the prototype for almost every econobox on the planet.

Outstanding work! Thanks for sharing!

Airfix did make a very nice 1/32 kit of a 280 SL back in '68 that was also sold by MPC in the '70s, but yes, a larger scale version would be nice.

This thread right here.

Just because I posted a favourite doesn't mean I don't like the others, and the '70-'73 is hands down the best looking Camaro.

So by your own numbers, as it stands now, electric cars charging off a fossil fuel generator are still more efficient than IC cars. And of course, not all electricity is generated by fossil fuel, so electrics come out even further ahead. And as I've mentioned a few times already, environmental issues aren't what's driving electric car sales. Carbon capture is definitely something that we need. We can't run anything on batteries, and there's only so much we can do to control what happens in other countries. As for real science and the big picture, I've already gave you numbers showing just how much of a commute you can expect from rooftop generated hydrogen, and it isn't very much, and how in a typical city, there just isn't enough rooftop space to handle everyone's needs. You've yet to show where my math was wrong.

My modeling tastes are all over the map, but what really gets me to open my wallet are the pre WW2 classics.

As I've said before, the fashionably eco aware have no monopoly on lazy sound bites. Your typical fossil fuel power plant converts fuel in to energy with about twice the efficiency of an automotive IC engine, so depending on what the losses are like in transmission and charging, you could still conceivably be ahead of the game. When you factor in that unlike a IC engine, an electric motor doesn't have to keep drawing power when it isn't moving, yes, you're still using that evil carbon, but you aren't using as much of it. And the fact that the cartoonists still think electric car owners are still the sort of Flower power era moonbeams who subscribe to Mother Earth Earth News shows how out of touch they really are. Ever since Elon Musk showed the way, electric car makers have been pushing luxury, style and performance. Basically all the things people like about cars, but that good, responsible citizens aren't supposed to be interested in. Ford isn't selling environmental responsibility with its new electric. It's taking a leaf from Porsche's book, and trying to capture the magic of its most famous performance car in a more practical package. GM's electric is going to be a monster truck that can out accelerate a Lamborghini. In fact, I was kind of amused when the supposedly socially aware folks at Jalopnik decided the electric Hummer would be bad for the environment because it would apparently attract the wrong sort sort of people, and it didn't "look" environmentally friendly. It's not just about environmental awareness or moral superiority anymore.

Profit in itself is not bad, and more more profit isn't always excessive. Sometimes it just means the squeeze isn't quite so tight. Corporate shenanigans are certainly not limited to any one company, or type of company. Look up the problems farmers have had with John Deere over their internal combustion tractors. Something also to consider is the growth of the solar industry. Now, generating enough power to run your equipment over a harvest is not the same as powering a home, and there is the question of whether the area you need for your solar array cuts significantly into the area for growing crops, and of course the cost, but at least the potential exist that if the utilities do squeeze too hard, the farmers have options.

One of the things people like about electric cars is that electricity costs less than gas, so I imagine that if there was electric farm equipment that could do the job of their diesel equivalents (I know, a big if), it would actually be quite attractive.

People were made when they made the Thunderbird a four seater, but it worked out very well for Ford.

Just to clarify, just because there a lot of badly informed takes doesn't mean there isn't a problem. There are people for whom gluten is a real problem (everyone else, enjoy your gluten), but they're finding that they aren't being taken seriously because of all the flakes who want to have a fashionable new ailment. Carbon dioxide for the most part is pretty benign stuff that is an essential part of the ecosystem. So is water, but when you get too much of it in the wrong place, you have a problem: Sure, if we don't do anything, eventually, the balance will be restored, but the question is whether we will like where that new balance ends up. And yes, the critics of electric cars definitely put out their share of lazy sound bites, and virtue signals. A couple of my favourites: "Batteries are made of materials that are toxic, and mining for them hurts the environment" So is every other part of a car, gas or electric. Since I assume they haven't forgotten how cars are made, I'm guessing they think that every electric car owner is some kind of airhead who thinks electric cars are woven out of recycled hemp at the gender neutral electric car collective, so once this nugget is laid upon them, they will "Oh wow, man, my mind is blown! Thanks for opening my eyes, man!" Brian's link shows that there is already a battery recycling industry in place. "How are we going to pay for all the extra electricity?" How do you pay for all those petroleum products? I think everyone here already knows that they don't give away electricity for free, so using more electricity means more revenue. Figuring out how to handle more business is the sort of problem companies want to have. As for putting taxpayers money into electrics cars, how about all those nicely paved stretches of public land you need to operate your privately owned vehicles? How about all the bridges, traffic signals, and enforcement agencies to ensure the smooth interactions between all those private car owners. For that matter, how about the periodic expenditures of taxpayer money and human lives to ensure a steady supply of petroleum? Nobody likes taxes, but let's not pretend the taxpayer isn't on the hook for your ride too. Electric cars have merits that have nothing to do with the environment, and it's the market that's driving the demand for them. GM isn't getting into EV's because of their love of Mother Earth, it's because they see how many electrics Musk is selling, and they want a piece of that pie too. Maybe they aren't for everyone, but they do make sense for a lot of people, so don't be surprised if we see more of them.

In this, I do agree. "Carbon" has become the new gluten. People have no idea what it is, but they know it's BAD.

The Espada's a great choice. I was torn between posting that, or the Miura.

Lots of stiff competition, but it I have to pick one, I'm going to have to go with the Lamborghini Miura.