tim boyd

I believe I read that the two-door RR was cancelled by Land Rover a few weeks ago. JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) has been in a world of financial hurt the last several quarters and this was one of the projects underway that was cancelled to try to stem the financial bleeding.....TIM

David...I've heard from a number of car owners at GoodGuys Columbus that the GoodGuys Heartland Nationals in Iowa (the week before the GoodGuys Nats) has become a really first rate show.....don't know exactly how far that is from KC but might be worth a trip next year... TIM

Click here for 600+ pix from the 2019 GoodGuys Nationals at Columbus... And yes.....it's an LS powered VW bug.... Enjoy....TIM

John...more interesting C-body tidbits about this 2 door sedan bodystyle (I suspect you already know most or all of the following, but for others who are less familiar with the fuselage era C-bodies): The two door sedan was in the 1969-71 Plymouth Fury product range as Fury 1 and Fury 2 trim style choices. The same roofline was also available in the Fury 3/Fury Sport/Fury Brougham trim levels as one of two different 2-door hardtop roof choices. I believe but cannot confirm that the roof sheetmetal itself (but not the supporting structure) was shared with both the Plymouth and Dodge C-Body 4 door hardtop bodystyle for those years. Further, this bodystyle was introduced as a new 1970 1/2 mid-year "Gran Coupe" which was basically a Fury II 2-door sedan upgraded with some Fury 3 content, the Fury Sport/Fury Brougham Hidden Headlamps, and the infamous "paisley pattern" vinyl roof and interior seat upholstery (for those of you not familiar with this, it sounds awful but actually looked pretty good and was a good value that year for the full size car buyer). While I don't know for sure, I suspect you are exactly correct in your supposition about how the Sedan (vs. hardtop) body style was "created". That is exactly how my '74 Road Runner E58 "Coupe" was configured. In fact, if you upgraded to power windows in a Road Runner in 1973-4, it "magically" became a true hardtop as the rear windows rolled down (i.e. no B-pillar post in either window configuration). TIM

Jonathon is exactly right. When given the choice, and based on over 25 years of sales data, the overwhelming majority of SUV buyers chose four doors over two. In the end, the business case for continuing two door SUV's just didn't make financial sense given the extra costs to engineer and produce, and the fact that most two-door intenders would move to the four-door if the two door was not produced. Made me kinda sad, as I thought the original Explorer 2 - door Eddie Bauer was a way cool product. I've seen published rumors that the upcoming new Ford Bronco will be built in 2 door and 4 door configurations, as is the Jeep Wrangler. I hope this is indeed the case. But I have no insider info that would verify this (the Bronco was added to Ford's product plans after I retired.). TIM

Guys.....just so we are clear, with this post/thread I am not "protesting" or expressing any disagreement with how hot rod pickups are categorized on this Forum or by the Moderators. The sole purpose of this post was only to remind anyone who likes hot rod models where the pickup versions of those builds are posted on the Forum......thanks.....TIM

…..that the Policy on this board is that completed Hot Rod Roadster and Closed Cab Pickups are posted on this board not in this section, but instead in the Under Glass: Pickups, Vans, SUVs, Light Commercial section. There are some very cool projects posted in the first couple of pages of that section of the Forum right at the moment....TIM

John.....that is very, very cool. I wonder who is going to pull out their Galen Govier code books and figure out what the original engine was from the serial number/tag? TIM

Yeah! I can hear the idle rumbling from my laptop right now....enjoy! TIM

Thanks Chris and Mark! TIM

Gerald is exactly right on this point, and this is one of the corrections I have planned on my "accurization" project....TIM

This was a "mod-style" turn of the century build that was a two-part how-to story in the British "Scale Auto Modeller" magazine. The kit combined the chassis and body (with substantial modifications) from the AMT Ertl "Vicky Phaeton" kit, with a pickup box, Chrysler Showcar Wheels (with AMT 1932 Ford stock version hub caps). Reflecting my work as Ford's SVT Team Leader from 1995-98, I also included the SVT F-150 Supercharged engine from Revell's 1999 SVT Lightning kit, and the highly detailed IRS from Revell's 1999 SVT Cobra kit. The paint was real Mopar Turquoise Engine paint from Summit Racing. ----------- Thanks for looking. TIM

Me too, Scott...me too! Thanks for the update.....your model makes me want to drag out an AMT '34 Ford pickup and do something very similar! TIM

So, so cool.....TIM

Scott....so did you use the '34 Ford kit center crossmember setup in the Revell '32 chassis? If so, very clever idea! TIM

Scott....super-neat job and thanks for posting. That Nassau Blue came out great! And good to know that the Revell '32 Ford kit suspensions were an easy swap, too. A perfect period build! TIM

A few of the detail shots in this album..... Approximately 200 more detail images of these 17 Roadster PIckups are at this link.....thanks again for checking 'em out....TIM

And here are the rest... Again,,,,many more images including detail shots are at this link.....and thanks for looking. Now grab a cool one, grab some shades, choose your own roadster pickup project or completed build, and post 'em here when you get finished!!! TIM

I recently completed a photo album of all 17 of my Roadster PIckup models, with builds dating from the late 1960's up to recent times. At least initially, I'm showing only one photo of each, but there are many more photos (including interiors, engines, front suspensions, rear suspensions, chassis shots, etc.) of each model at this link. You may recognize some of these from my various magazine articles over the years, but there are others that few if any of you have seen prior to now. Take a look below, check out the link (the first 17 pictures at the album include an explanation of each model), and the detail photos that follow. And thanks in advance for your interest....TIM See the next post in this thread for the rest of them! TIM

Chuck....you are right on the money about the front fender sheet metal over the wheel well openings. A few months ago I started "correcting" the body using the (literally) hundreds of pictures I have taken of 1/1 scale '70 'cudas https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/correcting-or-kitba/1970-cuda-/ as well as 30+ magazine articles of same. In correcting the body (and yes, I also agree with your DLO comments and generally with your approach to fit that), I am trying to devise methods that are relatively easy for less-skilled modelers to do (i.e., avoid use of body filler if at all possible). The very first thing I did was the reduce the height of the top of the front fenders. That alone did a world of good - enough so that I am hoping I will not need to cheat the mid-line crease as you describe it, which I originally also thought was a possible resolution to the fender issue. I have some work to do yet on some of the other fixes, so I don't want to declare victory, but I am encouraged so far. TIM

The decision to add an AAR variant was taken after the original kit tool was engineered. TIM

Following on Richard's note above, I did a four part series for the other magazine on all the muscle era colors with much of the information you are looking for. All four articles are now available as a single digital download (i.e. immediate access) at this link. https://kalmbachhobbystore.com/product/digital-download/scpdf003 There is a charge but it is pretty small/reasonable in my opinion. Hope this helps out. TIM

I think the Dana vs. 8 3/4 axle is a relatively minor issue. Besides, now we have a source for Dana axles to swap into the Revell Monogram 1967 Charger/Coronet R-T/GTX kits that had the incorrect 8 3/4 rears, and use those kit axles as a swap back into the AAR kits. What are we talking....maybe ten minutes with a razor saw and some glue to effect the swap? I'm more interested to know if there are any tweaks to the body casting to improve some of the issues cited when the Hemi 'cuda version debuted in late 2013? Last I had heard (pre Hobbico BK) they had determined that the potential fixes were not containable.... TIM

Guys....we all tend to too easily forget this all-new kit tool series from Round 2 a couple of years ago....if it had sold in "barn burner" sales volume, we'd have probably seen some more newly tooled car volumes by now.... https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/first-look-at-all-n/first-look-amt-full/ https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/first-look-at-all-n/first-look-amts-cam/ Having said that, I also should note that I fully agree with most in this thread that the AMT '69 Camaro kit should never have seen another reissue. Those of you who have my book "Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits" will see that I singled this kit (i.e. the previous reissues of it) for some particularly harsh comments... TIM

At NNL East I heard from a very well respected paint finishing expert that there would be news sooner than later about Testors dropping a number of paint lines. Nothing more specific than that. And I do not know how he got his info. I still used Testors aerosols myself, but mostly the lacquers. Probably about a 50/50 mix between Testors and Tamiya sprays these days. Personally I think it would be a big loss to lose these Testors product lines. TIM