tim boyd

Luc,,,I presume your comment refers to my recommendation to Round 2 for them to reissue the Supra kit? TB

Ron...you are not going to want to hear this but based on that cutaway you posted, there are really no existing model car kit funny car chassis that I can think of that would provide an accurate replica of this chassis without a very high degree of modification required. The illustration above of scratchbuilding supplies is probably your best bet if you want a really accurate replica. While I wouldn't suggest it would be easy, it also is not that hard and could be a really fun project. In the next few weeks I'll post here images of a funny car I built in 1970-72 that had an entirely scratchbuilt tubular chassis/frame. So, it can be done...and today's modeling supplies and resources are far better than I had to work with some 50 years ago... Good luck to you if you attempt it, and please share photos of your progress....TIM

Thanks everyone for all the comments. Interesting that you all picked out the "crisp" masking. Now that I think about it, I have no recollection of how I achieved that. At the time, I was a teenager with little or no budget for advanced modeling supplies, so it may have been just household masking tape. Who knew how I pulled that off??? Best to you all...TIM

John.... in order... * I recall adding the green tinted windows around 1974 or so. * I've saved virtually everything from my modeling career,,,,but I don't recall ever seeing that chassis. again I may have stuffed the interior in with my MPC Charger model kit when it became available a month or two after the promo....I should check! * The only pix of Scott's Vega that i recall seeing were in the 1971 issues of Car Model magazine that covered the Detroit and Dayton contests.... Best....TB

To add and build on Pete's comments....most people do not realize that most future car designs are locked in about three years before the car hits the market. Thus, the 1979 Mustang design studio work was done and complete at least a year or more before the 1978 Dodge/Mitsuibishi Challenger hit the market. Same thing with the 1981 Chrysler Imperial vs. 1980 Cadillac Seville. Sure, there was some industrial spying going on, and competitors probably knew to some extent what the other manufacturers had planned as the production dates grew near, but not soon enough to influence the designs of their own products that would debut around the same time as their competitors' offerings. BTW, the example at the begining of this thread of the 1970 Chevelle front end being better matched to the 1971 rear end, and vice versa, is spot in in my book. And also, keep in mind that Bill Mitchell often mixed and matched work from all his studios into the final designs of his cars, meaning that one studio's theme could end up on another brand's production cars. Still, he had very good taste in design (at least into the very early 1970's), so some of the examples cited in this thread are a bit of a head scratcher... TB

Yes,,,,and when I first saw Kenny's car, I thought maybe it was somehow related to this one. But since his is Bonneville based instead of Catalina based..... Quick war story...very early in my Ford career i was a Zone Sales Manager (aka road rep) for Ford in the thumb of Michigan. When not staying there overnight, I would commute back and forth to the District Office and my apartment in Lansing. Between Lansing (olds) and Pontiac (Pontiac/Flint) headquarters, there were various prototypes on the roads I traveled. One time I saw an then passed - very slowly - that 1978/79 Grand Am /El Camino prototype that Pontiac put together as a one-off, and has since been restored and seen in the Pontiac buff books et al. I remember thinking at the time that it was very sharp and exceptionally well finished for a one-off prototype. End of war story.... TB

Here's a phantom 1/1 scale car pickup with a model car connection, no less. This phantom 1959 Pontiac Bonneville car/pickup caught my eye, and my camera lens, at the 2022 Detroit Autorama a few weeks ago. According to the new issue of GoodGuys magazine, the builder/owner is Kenny Yanez. Now Ken just so happens to be the longtime owner and president of Special Projects Inc, or as it is known in the Detroit OEM world, SPI. In the auto industry, SPI is considered to be one of the very top builders of 1/1 scale concept vehicles and prototypes in the entire world. Kenny's fabrication facilities in Plymouth Township, Michigan, are highly impressive to say the least. This car is very subtle, but fully respective of that capability. The model car connection? Kenny , as a kid, was not only a then-world class model car builder (he showed me his work dating from 1965 or so, and it was definitely fully competitive with anything in the pages of CarModel and Model Car Science at the time), but those models got a very young teenage Kenny a job working for the world famous Alexander Brothers in Detroit, and look what that led to. I just love stories like these. I think the world would be amazed to learn just how many people in the automotive industry got their start, so to speak, from skills and knowledge they learned as model car builders earlier in their lives. TIM

Dave Hill is among the most talented model car builders and 1/1 scale automotive designers I have run across during my decades in this hobby. In the mid to late 1980's, Dave designed and fabricated a series of 1/24th and 1/25th scale street rods and customs that built on an idea from another highly talented automotive designer (and in more recent times, author) Thom Taylor. Thom's idea was to apply the styling of the 1934 Ford passenger vehicle line to a roadster pickup body style, which of course was in high contrast to the original Ford factory pickups of that year, which used what was essentially the prior generation 1932 Ford passenger car styling. Dave took that idea and applied it in (miniature) to a variety of model kits from AMT and Monogram. The result you see here. I showcased Dave's 1948 Ford Roadster Pickup in my then-monthly "Modeler's Corner" column in Street Rodder magazine. Dave's design subsequently took the form of a real 1/1 scale Street Rod built by Gary Vahling of Masterpiece Rodding in Colorado, unveiled in finished form in 1989. It generated a number of articles in the 1/1 scale mags and IIRC a "Ten Best" of the year award from Hot Rd magazine (although some of the coverage omitted Dave's crucial role in conceptualizing the project). In more recent years, Dave had taken commissions for hot rod era automotive design and authored many articles in magazines such as Custom Rodder and various titles of the Buckaroo Publishing Empire. I hope you enjoy these images that I photographed on the back deck of my home near Atlanta on a fall day in late 1988, which I rediscovered a number of years back during a major reorganization of my home office and model studio. Thanks for looking....TIM

Mike and all the rest....I've finally started working (as of last month) on my own unibody Ford pickup. It's a nicely rescued (by someone else/eBay seller) starting point. Body has now been thoroughly massaged and cleaned up. Missing vent window post replaced. Frame and floorboard are planned from the Moebius 1960's Ford pickup series. Engine may be the Roush FE from the Foose F-100 kit. This model has been planned since the late 1970's....about time I got busy on it. Thanks to you Mike and others that posted on this thread! TIM .

Larry, Jim, Dave, and Gary: thanks to you too for your comments...much appreciated! TIM

Back in the day, you improved your chances in the MPC National Model Car Championship if you were building your entries based on the very latest 1/1 scale cars to grace the showroom. For the 1971 MPC contest season, I wanted to have the very first 1971 Charger funny car entry. So. I ordered the MPC Promotional of the 1971 Charger, which was a mail order feature in the magazine Dodge sent to all their current owner base. The Promo arrived sometime in October 1970, so I set about building a funny car based on that body, targeting the 1971 MPC Detroit Autorama contest, considered at that time to be the largest single model car contest (in terms of entries) in the world. The first step was to fill alll the door, hood, and trunk cut lines, and flatten/fill the raised hood decoration. Since I did not have the build time to put together a working driveline like my 1970 MPC series entry, I decided instead to try to come up with a really killer paint layout. Inspired by the Imperial Kustoms 1968 Charger funny car as seen in the December 1968 issue of Car Craft, I used a Testors Lime Gold Metalflake base, and three-tone green inserts comprised of Pactra Pearlustre Green, Testors Candy Green, and Testors Dark Jade Green Metalflake, with Testors GlossCote lClear over all. eh The front and rear bumpers and greenhouse trim were all painted sillver with clearcoat to replicate 1/1 scale painted fiberglas, thus comprising a fifth color. (The dark green tinted windows were added several years later.) The chassis was the new Stage III Logghe chassis as found in the MPC 1970 Cyclone "Cyclops" funny car kit. The decals came from the MPC Garlits Wynnscharger front engine rail kit, and the engine was fully wire detailed (using 1970 model car detailing techniques by a then-16-year-old builder). Underneath was a Torqueflite tranny blanket. As I recall, I did end up having the first 1971 Charger funny car on the contest tables at the MPC contest series, so I met that goal, at least. When I finally got to the 1971 MPC contests, I was beaten for the first place Senior award at both the Detroit and Dayton shows by another 1971-bodied model, a Vega hatchback drag racing car built by a 15 year old named Scott Sullivan (yeah, THAT Scott Sullivan). I wasn't too happy with my 2nd Place Senior awards at the time, but later, when I saw additional images of Scott's car in the magazine coverage of the show, I fully understood why he beat me. And his many subsequent 1/1 scale cars that have received numerous plaudits and recognition over the ensuing years only further underlined his emerging car/model building talent. Here are some recent photos of the model that won Second Place Senior in the 1971 Detroit and Dayton MPC Contests, along with (several years later) "Best in Show" at a local Ann Arbor hobby shop contest as well. Thanks for your interest, and thanks for looking. TIM

Good info here, however, the very first Logghe funny car chassis in the aforementioned 1967 MPC GTO and Charger kits had a flat floor configuration, while the (to my thinking) second gen MPC Logghe Chassis kits starting in all the 1968 MPC kits had a recessed floor pan with a pronounced raised transmission tunnel. This marked (at least to my mind) the key difference between the first and second gen Logghe chassis. Note that the very first (1966) Dyno Don Comet funny car had the flat floor configuration. Also, FWIW, at the time I thought the AMT Logghe chassis (as first seen in the 1969 Gas Ronda Longnose Mustang kit) was actually a bit better than MPC's, but not quite to the level of the Jo-Han execution. Viva la differences of opinion , heh? TIM PS - IIRC, the one other MPC kit that had the flat floor configuration (that I am aware of) was the MPC "Ramchargers Dune Buggy" kit introduced in early 1968. In that version, the Logghe chassis had a significantly shorter wheelbase.

Building on Patrick's comments, there's even more in the works. At least from what I hear. Patience, guys, patience.....TB

Hi John. Yes, the yellow chassis was from the Hawaiian kit. As Mike says above, there were several refinements of the basic Logghe chassis design. This kit represented the third generation design, one that MPC eventually also offered in several of their funny car kits such as the 1970 Mercury Cyclone "Cyclops" kit. The Dyno Don car used the first gen Logghe design, and that was most accurately portrayed in MPC's two first -ever funny car kits - their 1967 "Color Me Gone" Charger and in an incorrect to the 1/1 usage in their 1967 Dick Jesse "Mr. Unswitchable" GTO funny car kit. The second generation Logghe chassis was in most of MPC's 1968/69 kits, most of the Jo-Han funny car and annual kits starting in 1968, and AMT's funny car kits starting in 1969. They were also duplicated in the many Polar Lights (later Round 2) funny car kits. The Revell Hawaiian kit is the best example of the third gen Logghe chassis, while in my view the Jo-Han kits are still the best of the second gen Logghe chassis. And those two 1967 MPC kits are the only ones of the first gen chassis. However, any of the second gen Logghe chassis could be easily converted back to the Dyno Don configuration. If anyone cares, there is a much more detailed conversation on all of this in my CarTech Publishing book "Collecting Drag Racing Model Car Kits", available from all the usual book sources. Best...TIM UPDATE: the name/driver of the MPC 1967 GTO funny car has been corrected....

Glad you guys like my buildouts of these kits. They are definitely a blast to build. Thanks for all the comments....TIM

P....fully share your thoughts on this. I explored this topic with several of the kitmakers as I was finishing the "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits Book" in December, 2019. As I wrote in the book, I was told that 1960's era drag racing kits are among the hottest selling kit topics these days, surpassed only by 1960's/70's pickup kits. Apparently, the 1990's drag racing kits just didn't sell well enough to convince the kitmakers to invest tooling money in newer/current drag racing topics. It does blow me away that some of drag racing's biggest starts - can you say "John Force"? - have never had any of their cars over the last 15 years or so translated into a model car kit. One of my Revell contacts did say that they have done a little investigation into what it would take to update their 1990's rail dragster tooling into a replica of some of the newest 1/1 scale rail dragsters. But that conversation was a little over two years ago, and there has been no discernable activity to date, at least that I am aware of. Thanks for your comments....TIM

Bill....looking really good! You know, those Champ 500 style wheels still look really cool, too. And of course, Ford in a Ford, YEAH! Very rewarding to hear that I played a small part in helping with your modelling inspiration....always had a help others to enjoy the fun and enthusiasm of model car building.... TIM

Alan....mega congrats on bringing this one home. And I've got to say, I really like the result. As anyone who has ever sat in a 1'/1 knows, the tight cab dimensions of the Model A Closed Cab are its Achilles hell, so your cab extension looks and works really well. Love all the other period-correct touches, and especially the paint/color. And I would like to graciously thank you for your comments on me and my small contribution to your model car related activities and achievements. 40 years? My word, what a lifetime legacy all of us are leaving for this hobby! TIM

Just about 12 years ago in 2010, Revell shocked the modeling world when they announced two all-new 1969 Charger funny car kits. The kits ended up being mostly unique, sharing only the basic body and some engine parts. The Chi-Town Hustler kit was especially interesting as it replicated the unique chassis design that made the 1/1 scale car so successful that year. The other kit delivered the most accurate ever kit replica of the commonly seen Logghe tubular funny car chassis back then. In 2011, I built both kits using my own spray can paint fade approach, and "Rambunctious" decal sets from Slixx decals. In my own view, these were both first-rate kits from Revell that were never fully appreciated by many modelers, nor by the modeling magazines IMHO. But are they the best-ever 1/25th scale funny car kits of all time? Maybe, maybe not, but they are surely in the top 10 of all time. Anyway, here are some photos of both of the kits, built box stock other than the paint schemes and ignition wiring. Included are images of kits under construction and when completed, and detali shots of the completed engines, front and rear suspension, and interiors. Thanks for your interest, and thanks for looking....TIM

Dennis, after all the work you've put into yours so far, I don't think anyone reading this thread would disagree with your decision. Really good that you were able to get a resin copy so quickly....greatness awaits! TB

What Bob said!!!! TB

Alan....all looking really, really good! TB

Dennis...thanks for showing this image. I have followed this particular body accuracy issue for years, and my own thoughts were that, while the body wasn't completely accurate, the issue was being way overplayed among the model car cognoscenti (err...that would be, participants in this model car forum). These photos prove I was entirely and utterly wrong on this. And I should have known better as I too owned a real one....in this case, a 1979 Ghia notchback 5.0L 4 speed manual overdrive. I ordered it in the summer of 1978 when I started working at a Ford District Sales Office, and I was promptly told I was never to park my existing car (a killer looking 1974 E58 Road Runner with BFG Radial T/A's and mags) anywhere near the front row of their office parking lot. I ended up selling the Ghia when I was transferred to San Francisco three years later, and between the ridiculous rent expense there and a company car, I couldn't justify the expense of a second car... Have owned many V8 stick Mustangs since then, (mostly the last two generations, but also a Fox 1986 GT 5.0L/five speed convert), but still have fond memories of the '79 notchback. I'll see if i can scan and post a picture here. Again, thanks Dennis, and kudos to you two gentlemen, Mike and Greg, for your roles in mastering and casting the corrected body....TIM

Kit....yes, I've also pondered the thought that with as many views as this thread has generated, some sort of mention in the mag's section on ModelCarsMagForum subjects might be merited. Certainly, some very cool subject builds here to look at! Good luck proposing that idea to the "throws" (like that term, too!). Cheers....TIM

Alan....oh man, so sorry to hear this. BUT! Given the position of these breaks, and the apparent repair of the left side, my bet is that you can glue these back in place and the breaks will be virtually unidentifiable to all but those hard-core modelers still reading this thread. In any case, you've got way too much time and effort invested here to not finish the project, warts and all. Sometime I should put together a list of all the warts on my projects that no one has ever ended up seeing....a "true confessions" of sorts? Anyway, all my encouragement to keep at it and bring in home....TIM