ea0863

Why thank you Sir.

...And here I thought I was doing something original. Come to find out Denny Johnson (of Zingers fame) did this one years ago

Totally makes no sense to have fangs pointing right at the rider's head, but then again - none of these trikes were ever designed to make any sense!

Thank you Doyle

Now that the six Trick Trikes are done, I thought I'd do the obligatory "Family Photo" and post them here. My favorites in order are Cobra Chopper, Tiki Trike, Torque Trike, Mail Box Chopper, Milk Trike, and last but not least - the Taco Trike. I'm curious what others think of this order. Which ones were most popular and which least in your circles? These builds all started because I found the Tiki Trike for $11 in my Walmart Clearance aisle. It looked cool, but I had no idea what I was looking at. A little bit of research later, I had all six for around the same price and was off and building. I also found out some really cool stuff about these trikes that I wanted to share here. None of what I'm posting is gospel, so feel free to clarify as you see fit. It's just the best information I was able to find. 1) TIKI TRIKE As best as I can find, the MPC "Digger" Trike came out in 1972. It was later rereleased as the Tiki Trike in 2005 and 2020. The concept was the result of a custom build named the "T'rantula" Trike by a gentleman named Dennis Johnson who showed it in national competition and won Best-of-Show in 1970. MPC took note and bought the design, as well as two others from Dennis - although for some reason his name never got billing on the boxes as some others did. As you'll note in the article below, Dennis is also the creator of what later became the "Zingers" series of scale models. Here is his custom build of the "T'rantula" Trike as of 2019. (Apparently it toured quite a bit, and got some cracks in the body along the way) The article above refers to the body of Dennis' trike coming from the "T'Rantula Digger" dragster designed by Tom Daniel and released in 1973 (?). The family resemblance is unmistakable, and the names are an obvious dead giveaway that these two are related. 2) Taco Trike The "Wedge Chopper" appears to have been released in 1971, and is the second of Dennis Johnson's designs sold to MPC. It was later rereleased as the Taco Trike in 2005 and 2020 (I think). Here is a fairly recent pic of Dennis' concept build. 3) Milk Trike The third of Johnson's designs was known as the "T" Trike, and came out in 1971. It was rereleased as the Milk Trike in 2005 and 2020. Here is a photo of Dennis' model for comparison. Again, there is an obvious relation to the "Milk Truck" designed and built by Bob Reisner (of "Invader" fame) in the 60's as a show car and reduced to a scale model by Doyusha in 1969. I'm guessing Mr. Johnson saw this vehicle and drew inspiration for his build, but whether he used this kit in some fashion I couldn't say. And why MPC didn't release it right off the bat as the "Milk Trike" is probably a whole other conversation. Here is the show car. Here it is in scale from Doyusha in 1976 (it was released again in the 1980's, and also has been produced under the name Eldon). If you are interested in more about Dennis "Denny" Johnson, check out "Tim Nolan's Ratdaddy Studios" and search for Denny Johnson (I tried to put a link here, but it just wouldn't work). His stuff is truly wild! 4) Torque Trike This one came out in 1973 as the "Black Max" Trike penned by the famous designer Harry Bradley. It was rereleased around 2021 as the Torque Trike (apparently to the delight of many who loved its shape). For me, the whole German cross theme in the decal sheet made a lot more sense when I realized this model's roots. 5) Mail Box Trike I'm not knowledgeable about the "Rat Fink" vibe, but for fans, the Mail Box Trike is all about Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and his show trike by that name. It appears to have been somewhat loosely captured in scale in the 1970's (?) by MPC, and carries his name. A reissue in the 2010's (?) has the new artwork, including a decal sheet with tons of Rat Fink stuff. There are some references to a relationship between this trike and the "Mail Truck" of George Barris, but whether one exists is anyone's guess. Perhaps someone on this forum could shed some light. 6) Cobra Chopper And finally, we have the Cobra Chopper originally released in 1973, and rereleased in 2021. Try as I might, I never did get a bead on who designed this one. It might have been Harry Bradley, but doesn't really look like his work. I do wonder though whether Denny Johnson's three-seater trike was of some influence, as the timing would be about right. I hope this was fun reading, and might even spur on more conversation on these classic trikes. Perhaps we might even hear from those who were directly involved in their development, who knows? Could definitely use input from @tim boyd who I believe is quite knowledgeable on this topic.

And now I arrive at the 6th and last of the MPC Trick Trike series - the Cobra Chopper. This one was a bit of a conundrum for me, because on the one hand, I had to build it if I was doing the series, but on the other hand - it just did not appeal much to me. So after a bit of back and forth, I decided to build it slightly tweaked. I hope you like it too, and are not too consternated by my slightly taking a liberty. Just to set the mood, I wanted this trike to have a vibe like the one in this photo: To get there, I went from three seats to one - as Cobras are loners. Getting there was far easier than I thought, and the whole conversion took less than two hours - body filler and all. To begin with, everything was dechromed. Then, the main body color was painted Tamiya glossy Metallic Gray, with the center of the trike in Tamiya Titanium Silver. The blood red was Testors clear Stop Light Red metallic. The fangs are a couple of my wife's sewing pins bent into shape. (She says I have to stop stealing her sewing supplies and buy my own) So without further ado, here is the Cobra Chopper ala Emre: I am now in love with it, and it is my favorite in the bunch (followed closely by the Tiki Trike). Now that all six are done, I will be posting a family photo under separate cover shortly...

Jim, may I have 1/10th of your skills, and 1/2 of your patience please?!

Coming out Sweet!

Looking forward to seeing the build James. Just don't "weather' it too much, these cars were known for floorboards rotting out!

Now that it's in primer, the lines are really looking sharp. To my eyes, it has a bit of a Facel Vega vibe about it - which I love!

Thank you very much Larry. Last up is a - not so OOB - Cobra Chopper

Coming out so beautiful Richard. And it's so nice to learn new things about old cars. I never knew of the Red Devil.

"Flexible Beading Needles" from the jewelry making section of Hobby Lobby had these thin braided needles that are perfect for a Jeep antenna because the braiding looks like the profile of the real antennas and is a good thickness in scale.

It would probably look stock

Ooh Claude, I did not realize you were a motorcycle enthusiast as well. So tasty this one!

Thank you Keith. It does come out looking realistic.

S Klub is doing some really neat Merc outlaws that I keep seeing at SEMA each year. Some of them are already pictured in this thread, but here's a few more:

Just ordered this one yesterday - 1/18 Mercedes Benz S Klub Speedster Slang500 & Jonsibal Green by GT Spirit GT872 :

Thank you Carl. Last up is the Cobra Chopper...

Thanks Chris

p.s. Do post a pic or two of the engine compartment on your beautiful car too so we can see its matching 12 cylinder beast

Tim, this build belongs in a museum! I loved the theme, fell in love with the car, then saw the boat and trailer and fell out of my chair! FANTASTIC!!! Now I'll be going over to the WIP's on these...

Number 5 of 6 is the Milk Trike. Yet another fun build, this time with a little Testors clear amber thrown on top of chrome bits to give the look of brass. The body is Tamiya Blue Violet. Hope you enjoy!

A little more in keeping with the Italian restomods and outlaws theme; GTA at Goodwood Islero Lancia Moto Technique Maggiore Lancia Aurelia outlaw

That is hilarious! Actually, I just recently learned Louis Chevrolet was Swiss-American, and the Chevy symbol harkens to the flag of Switzerland. And I guess we shouldn't even talk about the DeTomaso Pantera which was owned by Argentinian Alejandro de Tomaso, designed by Dutch-American Tom Tjaarda, built in Italy by Ghia, with an engine by Ford, and sold by Lincoln/Mercury.