Junkman

muahahaha...

I got the picture from the Clarence Young website. They say it was a publicity photo shot in 1965, so apparently all you see is 1965 promos. There is room for speculation what happened to the promos after the photo session. Did they go straight into the dumpster, or were some kids in the neighbourhood lucky enough to snatch a few and blow them up with firecrackers?

In many European countries, the break for the taxation is 2.0 Litre. Hence a 2.3 will not appeal to many buyers, since for a mere 300cc you end up in a higher tax bracket. So it's usually up to 2.0, or much over 2.0 what appeals to most buyers. Ford Germany for example learned this lesson, when they started to offer the Taunus and Capri with 2.3 Litre V6 engines. This was no big deal with the German taxation system, but rendered the cars very expensive to tax in BeNeLux and Italy, where they promptly failed to sell. You might have wondered, why many large European cars are available with 2.0 Litre engines despite those actually are too small for them. Now you know the reason for it. As for the 5.0 V8 vs. the 3.8 Supercharged, I repeat it again: The 3.8 Supercharged was unsuitable for European driving habits, hence Ford did not offer the model in Europe. And they had made the right decision, many grey imported 3.8 supercharged cars ended with severe engine failures, which usually resulted in write-off, since a new engine, plus shipping, plus tax, plus customs excise, plus profit margin, plus installation usually exceeded the economical feasibility. On the other hand, a European EXPECTS a US-Car to be V8 powered. This is one of the main reasons why some people in Europe opt to buy a US Car at all.

Do you already have a basic set of tools and supplies? Have you built models before? You may be interested in the 'On The Workbench' section first. There you can see how other people build their models, maybe even one you have in mind yourself. If there is anything specific you would like to know, just ask.

Found this on one of my surfing safaris: How about a spot the promo contest?

Yeah, I wouldn't paint my head with silver paint either.

That pretty much depends on what you would like to build.

http://smwshow.com/ I'll be there on Saturday. Anybody else going?

Actually, Heller used clear plastic for plated parts, at least in the first edition of the 1:24 Citroen 15/6 kit.

The use of swirled or half transparent plastic for plated parts is not restricted to Jo-Han and not uncommon. Now please, please take my word for it and don't make me rummage through the entire dungeon until I find my soaked plated parts box to make pics to prove it.

It wasn't the only one. I had the choice between three different colours at the time and could have ordered it in others. I also know people who bought them, too. Who knows whether it was not a similar scheme as the BMW powered T'birds earlier - the cars were shipped engine-less and received their engines in Europe.

AFAIK they were shipped without engines from America to Steyr-Puch in Graz, Austria, where they received their BMW engines. They were then sold through the German Ford dealership network.

I have no idea who built it. Could have been Ford Belgium, a third party contractor, whatever. They were listed in the BeNeLux sales brochures though and mine was not the only one.

What about the 87 Thunderbirds with the six cylinder BMW Turbodiesels sold in Germany?

Bender lists the last SMP kits, and the last SMP Promo (a Corvette) for 1961. So the company was either absorbed by AMT, or it folded and AMT bought some of the assets.

Does it list the Chevy powered Buick Electras and Cadillac DeVilles for export EEC? Does it list the cars that were built in Switzerland and Antwerp? Does it list the Dodge Spirit come Chrysler Saratoga? Does it list the Chrysler Voyager, Chrysler Daytona, Chrysler Laser?

The 3.8 supercharged was only faster for a quarter mile. 50 miles at 130 on the Autobahn and it was toast.

I don't really consider it that important what you call what. If I dig up my, or recieve photos from the current owner of the car, I'll post them, but it's not something I will make the primary mission for the rest of my life. I know what I had, that is plenty enough for me. I said it before, and I say it again, the Supercharged V6 wasn't officially sold in Europe, because it did not survive sustained high speeds. And to the person who claims it was based on a Cologne V6: No, it wasn't. It was based on the Essex V6.

BMF and BMF only. Hey, I even wear a tinfoil hat...

What do you need to know?

They also sold Buick Electras and Cadillac DeVilles with small block Chevy engines. Not faked. Built that way for export. With kph speedometers reaching all the way up to 220 and odometers in km. That was the easiest way to tell them away from grey imports, wich had dual mph/kph scales reaching up to 85mph only and odos in miles. The Plymouth Voyager was sold as a Chrysler, same with the Omni/Charger/Laser. There were weirder things, but I can't remember them all. Oh yes, the Dodge Spirit was sold as a Chrysler Saratoga. What wasn't sold 'officially' was the 3.8 supercharged Ford. It didn't survive sustained high speeds on the Autobahn. It threw the rods. There were quite a few 'cooked' grey imports to prove the point in the early Nineties. The 5.0 SC was an official export model, complete with orange turn signals, no side markers, and no third brake light, to meet EEC specs of the time. The car is now in Poland and I just emailed the present owner to send me pics. The ones I have would be on paper and I have no idea where I dug them under somewhen the past twenty years. It is silver metallic with a light grey interior. It has the full SC gear front, back, and on the sides, wheels, and IIRC special front seats. And it has the steering wheel with the SC badge. The first of the 'modern' supercharged American cars that was officially imported was the Buick Park Avenue Ultra. And guess what. Lots of them dropped their rods onto German Autobahns, so they were quickly withdrawn.

Yes it did.

It seems to be quite obvious that they must have labelled EEC Export versions with the V8 as SCs, because I had one of them. The supercharged V6 version wasn't available unless it was a grey import.

It was a 1991 SC 5.0L, bought from Intercars B.V. US-Cars in Herve, Belgium. It was an EEC export version.

Remember the Nagano "Drug Racing" dragster kit?