Motor City

Master Caster made Hudson promos for several years (1948/1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955):

I had a couple of Tootsietoys crack years ago when I was a kid. One was a 1953-1955 Corvette, and the other was a '54 Olds hardtop. Has anyone else had this happen with Tootsietoy models of the late 1940s to 1950s?

Adam, It has to be the '92 Thunderbird SC!

AMT promos: 1971 is Pewter, 1972 is Grabber Blue

Tom, Are those Schuco 1:43 scale?

Most new cars only have a 3-year/36,000 mile warranty today - whichever comes first - so any warranty would be whatever the dealer decided to offer to the buyer. When I was shopping for a new '87 GM car, it was a 5-year/50,000 mile warranty, then was later extended to 6-year/60,000 miles. I considered the GN, but it didn't come with a full set of gauges (only fuel, tach, turbo boost), so I ordered an El Camino instead. The GNX came with a full set of Stewart-Warner gauges.

I thought companies doing chrome plating have mostly dried up?

Bob, Hopefully Round2 will (eventually) prove you wrong. I didn't buy the resin version since the bumpers aren't chromed.

thanks, Mark, and happy New Year!

I think the '58 models were the last remote-control AMT model cars. They were first available in '49.

Hopefully the kit gets reissued at some point.

Only the valve cover on the driver's side should have the oil filler cap (canister-like blob) unless that varied by year on the 401 engine. I drove a '63 LeSabre in high school that my folks bought new. If you look at photos online, it often is on the passenger side, which is probably a result of changing the valve cover gaskets.

Mike, Do not use alcohol as it could react with the windows and body plastic. Do not use a toothbrush either unless it is EXTREMELY soft, or you'll scratch the surfaces. Your best bet is to use a mild liquid soap and wash the outside of the car with a wet paper towel. On the inside, squirt a small amount of glass cleaner on the dashboard, seats, package tray and floors, clean everything with long cotton swabs, then thoroughly rinse it out in warm (not hot) water. Also use a paper towel with liquid soap to gently clean the chrome, wheels and tires. Rinse everything off in lukewarm water. Then use an electric duster to blow everything dry. You can buy one for about $100 as follows: Amazon.com: Metro ED500 DataVac 500-Watt 120 volt 0.75-HP Electric Blower Duster: Office Products

I just saw it at Hobby Lobby within the last year after its last reissue. I didn't see it on the Round2 website last night, but it was there the previous time I had looked.

They reissued the '52 Chevy developed by Pyro and - if I'm not mistaken here - boxed as a Lindberg model. It's a 1/32 scale model car, so I would expect to see more of these issued if the tooling is in decent shape.

Pictured (if anyone notices) is a '70 GP. I met Linda several years ago at the Woodward Cruise. She was autographing posters and selling photos of herself from back in the day. She was very friendly and even personalized my poster and one for my brother.

I'm looking forward to the '57 Nomad, the '56 Buick and '56 Eldorado. The Buick and Eldorado will be nice to finally have with glass. Hopefully the '56 Mercury Montclair tooling still exists.

My thought was that gold colors tend to look flat and have a faded look to them and the clear coat would prevent oxidation and provide the glossy effect that brass typically has. I understand and agree with what you are saying, Peter. What about spraying a flat clear coat over the Alclad to prevent it from rubbing off?

John, That should be an interesting collection when you finish it. By the way, the plant where the Model T was conceived and first built still exists in Detroit: Ford Piquette Avenue Plant | Birthplace of the Model T (fordpiquetteplant.org) Model T production started at the Highland Park plant on January 1, 1910 - almost 101 years ago to the day. It is not in great shape. It was used to manufacture Fordson tractors for decades until it closed in 1974. Ford Highland Park - Building OO - 15050 Woodward Avenue, Highland Park, MI | Office Space (commercialcafe.com) Many people claim that the Model T was built in Dearborn, but it never was. The first Ford car built there was the 1928-1931 Model A. The first car built in Dearborn was the Detroit-Dearborn, a 1910 roadster and touring that attempted to compete with the Model T.

Alan, Look under the Truck Kit Review section. Someone explained some of it (but not the "build strings" part).

thanks for the clarification, Greg and Geoff; I still don't get his "I build strings" comment

yes, a '40 Packard wagon would be nice!

I still don't understand what you're saying.

Firestone Wide Oval (universaltire.com)