Robberbaron

Thank you for the insight, Art.

Those BFG's look great!

Liking that color combo a lot - very nice.

Nice job, Tom! That brings back memories of seeing those little green Chevettes tooling around. They didn't seem to make too many in that color, but when you saw one, boy did it stand out!

Very nice! Love to see full sizers Pro-Streeted like this.

Gorgeous!

Very well done, as usual! I'm continually amazed at how clean every one of your builds are.

I'll be watching this one, the Neet Streeter was one of my favorite Hot Wheels when I was a kid. (I had the pale blue enamel version, but I always coveted the earlier redline version that my older brother had, with the blue Spectraflame paint and the opening rumble seat) What kind of rear suspension does the Malco Willys have? I seem to recall the Neet Streeter had some pretty prominent ladder bars, so that would be a big part of nailing "the look".

Bob, the body is looking great with the trim around the bed and the back window done. Nice that the AMT 68 works as a donor, going to have some nice detail with that frame and suspension. Was your 1:1 a factory 4-speed? Those were pretty scarce, production-wise.

No idea how to guess the total number, but it was impressive! Nice that we had a break in the rain. My only regret is that I didn't have enough time to see everything I wanted to. Knocked off work a bit early, ran by my house to grab the wagon and my kids and headed over there. Got about 2 hours to wander around. Got a pretty good workout pulling my kids up and down all those hills! Fun time - literally anything you could think of in the automotive spectrum: ratty gassers to pro-built cars like Chicayne (62 Biscayne by Rad Rides by Troy), Model A's to new Corvettes. (not many furrin' cars though)

Keep 'em coming Steve! Sure this will be another beauty.

John, great to see those pics with the King. I'm not much for seeking out celebrities, but Mr. Pretty is on the short list of people I would genuinely want to meet. Everything I've seen of him indicates that he's a man of integrity, and quite humble considering his accomplishments. Something that seems to be more and more lacking in new, up and coming drivers, and celebrities in general. Keeping my fingers crossed that they're wrong about the weather forecast here in Indiana on Wednesday: looking like rain all day.

This thing is looking outstanding! Great progress.

The Times had a write-up today: stated that they're guessing they'll start arriving at the fairgrounds around 2:00 PM.

Incredible! Darn near every one of those initial pictures could pass for a 1:1 car, and in my book that is the ultimate compliment. My hat's off to you!

Impressive craftsmanship, what a great tribute!

Sounds like the clapped-out 79 Monte Carlo that I bought as a beater back when I was in college. Every panel was dented and most of the plastic in the interior was turning to powder. Had a set of those sheepskin covers that I was scared to remove, judging by the condition of the rest of the car. Turned out that the front seats were in better condition than any other part of the interior. That car was a mixed bag: solid sheet metal, but dents everywhere and oxidized paint. The frame behind the rear axle was nearly rusted through, but it had a good running 305 4-barrel. It also had the infamous Metric trans that slipped so badly that I had to shift it manually to keep it from blowing up. I bought it in the fall for $500, and at the time I was just hoping it would get me through the winter, so I didn't need to drive my "good" car. Somehow I actually limped it along the rest of the way through college and a year after I graduated, until I was able to buy my Formula, which was my first new car. Really enjoy seeing these Chevettes being built. These things were everywhere in the 80s. One of my sister's friends had an off-white one that they nick-named the Cream Puff, complete with one of those chintzy pop-up 80s sunroofs. My uncle also had one as a daily driver that he got really attached to: a couple times he got in fender benders where the insurance company wanted to total it out. He insisted on buying it back and getting it repaired, including a total repaint at one point. Think he drove that one for a solid 15 years without any major mechanical problems.

I remember my older brother getting and building an Advent version of the 57 Ranchero. That might have been the last version of that kit with the stock height roof before they butchered (rebutchered?) it by severely chopping the top, for the "Saints" version, I believe.

Jason, you have absolutely NOTHING to be ashamed about regarding this model or your skills. Frankly, looking at the fabrication and clean building style that you're displaying in this thread, I would have guessed you were a middle aged guy if you hadn't stated that you were only 15. When I was 15, I was only beginning to step beyond box stock by swapping wheels between kits, nothing like what you're doing here.

Looking great, Bob! The nose looks great with the Monte headlights, and you've got the grille surround contours down, including that inner raised edge. Judging by the cross-hatch grille pattern and the center divider, it looks like that's actually a grille from a 76 Classic. (77 Classics had all vertical bars, that's about the only visual difference between those 2 years) Nice work also on the tailgate with the provisions for the hinges. Really impressed by your progress on this.

Sweet! Closest it's been to us previously was probably in Lansing, but I think that was right after they started it in the late 90s. Don't think it's been anywhere near our neck of the woods for a long time. My first reaction was that it's going to be crazy if they try to do it on the square, but I see they're having the stop at the Lake Co. Fairgrounds. Now I know what I'm doing with my kids that night!

I don't think Hemmings or the owner misrepresented anything, from what I'm seeing. As I stated previously, my hat's off to the owner for everything he has done to keep this car functioning and, from the pictures, very presentable, especially considering the frame replacement and the body panels that have been replaced multiple times. The only issue I took exception with is some people's knee-jerk reaction of "they built ''em so much better back in the day".

One of the resin casters is working on a 73-77 Elco, but I haven't seen anything posted lately about any progress on the master. It's being based on the recent Missing Link 73 Malibu resin, which was mastered by Repstock, one of the members here. Whenever that Elco is completed, I'm guessing it will also be a 73. Bob: great progress. The body lines look great. Can't wait to see this when you get the nose and the rear bumper complete!

Normally when I've seen tri-fives chopped, it didn't work, but this looks killer. I think it's the complete package working together: the severe drop, the chop, the primer, the rims, and I'm really digging those pinstripe whitewalls.

You beat me to it, Tony! My thoughts exactly. That doesn't make this Ford any less impressive in my book. Nowadays any original-owner car from 1950 is impressive, but the work that this guy has done is just monumental, and notice how much of the work was done in the first 20 years, when these were just used up old cars to most people. This just isn't the example to use for the argument "things were just built so much better in the old days".