Bob Johnson

The Porsche was the most difficult body even though we had "good lines" from Hans Ernst at Porsche AG... "Roundy bodies"... my words .. like the VW bare simply very challenging to sculpt.. The biggest change with the 911 is to junk the "one size fits all tires"... that was a budget constraint we had to deal with..ONE tire size... There are many good tire choices these days.... BITD (back in the day), I built a race version using a set of MPC hollow tires,, the rears were from a "Dirt Modified".... I extended the rear wheel wells and they looked superb!! The race version has the IMSA front air dam..... Have at it!!

Steve.. tell us more..please!! BJ

Hi Alan, the idea of the 1/24th scale sports car series was twofold: Establish a category that would gain shelf space in the Auto kit selections with mass merchants.. These were shelves dominated by AMT, MPC, and Revell to some degree. The choice of subjects was totally different and the goal of each kit was to create a model that was easy to assemble... The second goal was a result of the Monogram 1969 Z/28 Camaro. we learned that we did now understand how to model full-fendered contemporary cars. So, the body shapes of the first four subjects were experiments in interpreting body contours and it was done so with two seminars conducted at Monogram Models in our conference room guided by GM Director of Design Chuck Jordan... he was a dedicated model builder and taught our design staff and pattern makers about how to interpret body shapes and contours when the visual point of reference was so different between a full-size auto and a 2X pattern (1/12th scale for 1/24th scale kits). A note of interest... The 450SL was like Bob Reder's 450SL,,,, the Capri II basis was my 1976 blue metallic version.... the Datsun was a natural as was the Porsche 911.... I contacted VW of A and spoke with the late Bill Oursler who worked in PR.. he set us up with a new 924 at Porsche Audi O'Hare and Mike Cook at British Leyland in NJ set us up with the TR-7..... A neighbor's dad found the Chicago Auto Show Light Ivory 924 outside a Chicago are shop several years ago,, it was an early build car and I was able to find a Monogram 924 for him.... still one of the best Porsche shapes ever built!!! The 308 GTB was based upon the fiberglass-bodied 308 owned by GM and maintained by GM Design. No, these kits did not satisfy the experienced builder, but, they "bought shelf space" in K-Mart, Toys-R-Us and smaller chains like Shopko, Rose's and Meijer Thrifty Acres...... Hope this helps.... I hope that Atlantis has these molds.. particularly the 924 and 308 Ferrari Bob Johnson / Holland, MI

Time has come to allow more building..finall completing a 289 FIA Cobra based on the old AMT kid years ago....worked at Monogram Models in design and product development from 1974 through May of 1991..founded Accurate Miniatures.. Developed the Grand Sport that was then designed by Tom West..founded IRT Design and developed die-cast replicas for Revell Collection, Carousel I, 1320 inc.,Mattel,Team Caliber, Exoto, Classic Metal Wiorks, and Replicarz...I enjoy the amazing creations you all build!

I happened to find this thread about the 1/24th scale Monogram Sports Car Series and how they were developed..and how that series taught the design and patter model builders how to work I the 1/24th scale model car arena.. It was fun working with Gary providing this insight... I also noted a post by Art Anderson indicating the kits were a failure and that failure is why BobJohnson was fired from Revell-Monogram...hmmm .. I happened to be part of those years at Monogram and Revell-Monogram..because I AM Bob Johnson.simply put, Art Anderson does not know S**t from Shinola! The sports car series eventually evolved into the extensive series of muscle cars, the pro stock Camario and T-bird and the amazing NASCAR series we began developing right after the 1981 Daytona 500..in a decade, this series sold over 13 million kits in multiple versions. When Tim Cawley came to Revell-Monogram, it did not take long for me to realize this soap salesman from Proctor & Gamble knew nothing about the hobby industry..Our son was 10 and growing up without his dad..I RESIGNED on April 15th of 1991 and moved to Charlotte, NC forming IRT Design..doing NASCAR licensing and research..I was a founder of Accurate Miniatures and the person behind the 1/24 Corvette Grand Sport using reference photos I found in the Monogram files...I created Creative Masters at Monogram in1984, and led design on NASCAR die-cast for Revell Collection, Carousel I, 1320 Inc., Team Caliber, Mattel NASCAR, and HO projects for Classic Metal Works..love the two buses! I have done the rework on the Brawner Hawk for Replicarz as well as the two Marmon Wasps, the two Challenger I models, and the upcoming Lola T-90.. I write the annual book text for AutoCult...by the way, our son earned his Eagle Rank In BSA in 1999 And is now a Major in the USAF..I am a 25-year BSA leader.... Hey Art...deal with facts; not your uninformed vitriol! Happy building!