RancheroSteve

Nice job, Bill. Just yesterday I was donating some books to my local Little Free Library and I noticed a DVD copy of Driven in there. I didn't grab it! I've never seen it, but your model is far better than I understand the movie to be.

I think the more one knows and cares about a subject, the more likely they are to scrutinize it. That was certainly the case for me with the Trumpeter Falcons and Rancheros. After seeing photos online, I felt the flaws were all too apparent and egregious, especially for the price the kits were going for, so I voted by not buying them. On the other hand, the Moebius Comet might not be quite perfect, but the discrepancies are easy enough to fix (or even ignore), making it a great kit at a fair price.

Ahh, I see! I saw it at the March Meet, too. I've got a couple of photos, but they don't show anything extraordinary. I don't think I even realized at the time that it was a re-creation.

Not to split hairs, but I think that's a 9". Also, as I posted on another thread about this car, there are differences between the original and the clone. I'm pretty sure the original used a quick change diff, which is what is in the model kit.

Cool video - I hadn't seen that before. Notice the front tires are on the ground while the rears are smoking.

Don't get me wrong - I'm very happy to have the kit back and I'm glad it will be out there again for folks to build! A few years back I went out of my way to gather parts from various sources (including a partial kit) to build a decent version: I've commented very positively about the return of this kit on other threads here, but I saw this thread as more of an opportunity to weigh in on the box art, which I still see as disappointing.

Ha, I just found this online: https://www.monstersinmotion.com/cart/item-list-ko-c-13_193/mooneyes-dragster-125-scale-revell-reissue-model-kit-by-atlantis-p-28714.html Sure looks like they're using an image of my build in their ad.

Rather disappointing.

I'm not sure if you're going to find the perfect answer here, but I'd suggest studying photos via Google Images to see what stands out. I followed the CART series pretty closely in those days and one thing I seem to remember as being distinctive was the shape of the road course front wing: the Reynard had a drooped "mustache" kind of look, where the Lola's front wing was more straight across. Probably the most noticeable other difference would be in the shape of the side pods.

Yes, correct - I should have mentioned that the early 289s had five bolt blocks. The transition to six bolt blocks began in August of 1964.

All of the above suggestions are valid, but I'll also second the reservations about the Trumpeter engine - as far as I can see, the generator and bracket are about the only accurate parts on that engine. Unless you're a real stickler for detail, there's not any essential differences between the 221, 260, 289, and 302 block and heads, except that the 221, 260 and early 289s had five bolt bellhousings vs. the 6 bolt bellhousings from mid-'64 up. Not something that most folks will be concerned with in scale! Also maybe keep in mind that Rancheros weren't available with V8s until mid-'63, so if you're building a model you have the freedom of imaging the V8 being added later down the road and thus have the freedom of building it with an alternator or whatever peripherals you choose.

If anybody did, it would be Indycals. They make an upgrade kit for the AMT Lotus 29, but nothing I can see for the Lotus 38. https://www.indycals.net/parts/indyparts/63lotus29upgrade.html I have the later Testors re-issue of the IMC kit. The windshield is actually a two part unit - kind of a windshield within a windshield. It doesn't look too bad in the kit I have - fairly thin, in fact, but not quite scale thickness obviously. It might be possible to use the kit windshield as a template to vacuform new glass over.

Mom's 1960 Falcon and Dad's 1962 Buick Special. Took the test in the Buick and aced the parallel parking bit. That car was a such a pleasure to drive.

Still inching towards completion. The engine is installed. Getting closer!

Back to the Mooneyes dragster for a moment - for those that aren't aware, there are two of them - the original and the re-creation. If you're into the fine details, there are a few differences. https://www.drivingline.com/articles/the-mooneyes-dragster-cloning-our-heros-3-of-3/

"So does anyone notice what's wrong with this pic?" 1960 Falcons didn't have floor shifters?

Looking great so far!

Yes, that news & reviews thread has a lot of good info and Chris' video gives you a good sense of what you'll get with an out of the box build. Now that I'm building the kit, a few impressions: it's a well done kit for its era, generally accurate for building a scale Piranha dragster (depending on your proclivities there are a few things that can be corrected), and has ample opportunities for adding detail if that's your thing (there's lots of reference available online and in the nice booklet that comes with the kit). Note that the kit chassis represents the second iteration of the Piranha with the added roll bars - I'm building mine as the earlier version as depicted on the box photo. As I said in the thread, I'm really glad to see the original inspiring box art back and the new decal sheet is great. On the con side, the tooling is showing its age - there's a fair amount of flash to clean up, some mold misalignment here and there, and the chassis can be prone to warpage, so it takes a little finesse to get it together properly. The plastic tires might be a turn-off for some, but properly painted they'll look fine. All said, I dig this unique vehicle, glad to have the model back with the right wheels and decals. It looks like they're going cheap out there - if it floats your boat, pick one up. I'll be putting up a WIP thread soon when I get just a little further along with my build.

Alright, I'll give you a run-down of my impressions in a day or so when I get a moment.

Are you asking about the drag racer or the street version? I'm working on the dragster now (also built one about 50 years ago), so I can address that, but I've never built the street version.

Well done, Scott!

It is a little flattering, actually. I probably would have been okay with it if he had asked permission or given me credit, but I guess some people feel that anything on the internet is fair game these days. I'm not too put out by it really, but it's also not the first time something like this has happened to me - a few years ago I caught a real estate agent using an aerial photo of our neighborhood I had taken in an advertisement. She acted almost offended when I told her to stop using it!

I was cruising around eBay a couple of days ago checking on the going prices for the A/M kits when I came upon this auction: Corvette Grand Sport Chassis See my initial post in this thread. The seller claims the images of the finished chassis are "stock photos". I guess my check is in the mail?

A great piece of history and beautiful build, Phil!

Yep - most builders are unlikely to complain about having more time to finish their builds.