Junkman

Jo-Han always was a model company only. The supplier of plastic parts to the car industry who wanted to diversify into model production was Seville Enterprises.

We currently have a heat wave too, which means, it stopped raining for a moment.

That's exactly THE point. For fullsize Unibody Mopars, it's either Jo-Han or bugger all to this day. But every time I say this is a crying shame, I am shouted down. I totally agree with you, that the next logical step for Moebius (or any other kit manufacturer) would be one of the first Unibody Letter Series Chryslers. I also prefer the G to the F, but either one of them would do me just fine, thank you. Imagine having the Moebius '55, the AMT '57 and the whoever '60 or '61 parked next to each other on your shelf. What a nice representation of the first three Letter Series generations would this be? Oh, and could some resin casters please fill the gaps in between those? BTT: I received this information from Dennis Doty regarding the design of the Jo_Han molds. It looks like I was wrong regarding the molding machines, though: "I don't have a photo of the Jo-Han tools, and don't think I have a photo of the hobs. It is not easy to explain. Regular tools are either cut into the mold bases, or as separate inserts made to drop into a mold base so optional versions can be made. The mold bases for the Jo-Han tools were very different. These were made to hold individual "hobs" which were the individual mold sections. As an example, for a body there would be hobs for the sides and the top, and maybe more, depending on the complexity of the body. Then there would be individual hobs for each part necessary. I don't know how these were assembled to make the runners to connect the various parts, and the male/female hobs to make the parts of the correct thickness when molded. I believe that the bases could be used in a regular molding machine as the Jo-Han molding machines didn't look much different than those at AMT - just a LOT older and in need of constant repair - the repairs being done by my late good friend, Bill Schwarz. Okey is having these models/parts molded, so I must assume the mold bases will work in a regular molding machine as I would just about bet the old Jo-Han molding machines were melted down for scrap as they barely worked."

So you put the body of a new-for-1960 Chrysler "Unibody" car on an old Chrysler body-on-frame chassis?

+1!

No crisis can last forever.

The real Jo-Han died a slow and painful death during the Eighties. One could see the decline in quality back then, the kits became worse and worse as the decade progressed, not so much because the molds wore out, but due to less and less skilled staff working the equipment. Seville did a valiant job cranking out over 30 reissues in promo form under the X-EL banner. This must have been extremely difficult, considering Jo Han molds were made to a unique design and could not be used in standard injection molding machines. It proved so difficult, that Seville was constantly behind schedule (at some stage by as much as two years!), for which they got quite some beating from the customers, and the whole thing probably never turned them a profit in the end. When the crisis hit the Detroit auto makers in the Nineties (Seville was mainly a plastic parts supplier to the car industry), Seville pulled the plug and X-EL production ceased. Whatever happened in the buyout by Okey Spaulding is unclear, but each and every version of the story I heard cannot be topped in naivety, credulity and downright dimwittedness on the side of Mr. Spaulding. Even after all these years, he never clearly told the story of what really happened, which is very sad indeed. What little info I have is courtesy of Dennis Doty, who worked for Jo-Han, and later X-EL, and he has nothing good to say about his former employers, but revealed to me, that Mr. Spaulding really got the shaft end of the deal. Mr. Doty had left Seville for becoming a writer and editor in Texas before the deal with Mr. Spaulding was struck and had no part in it. In fact, it was Mr. Doty who assisted Mr. Spaulding in identifying what was there after the deal turned out pear-shaped. So the big deal is that there is no deal. Jo-Han is dead as a tin of corned beef and there is no way to make that cow graze the meadows ever again.

I like those 1/32 Aurora boxes. There were loads more, but they are so rare, they border obscurity.

The Dragula is there. That alone should be reason enough to drive that hour up from Chi-town. The scenic route is along the lake shore, then hook a left in North Chicago.

R&R makes a 63 Convertible in resin.

10 out of 10 for political incorrectness:

No, the man who designed the delta wing is 55 years behind his time. The way things look atm, a '57 De Soto would be faster, too.

It's currently (18:45) running in position 52.

They are anything but excellent representations and best relegated to the big historic model scrapheap. It is a crying shame that the subjects are ignored by the model industry ever since. Each of them would be nice to have from a new tool. Thanks god at least the Diecast guys have picked up on a few of them. And yes, I'll happily trade away the few I have left.

So far it is boring, as predicted (by me).

You can watch it on Le Mans TV with permanent classement and commentary in English: http://live.lemans-tv.com/ It allows you to switch forth and back between 12 channels, including the 24h onboard camera of the Corvette, the Nissan Wedge pit, the Joest Audi livestreams for each of their cars, the Audi Sport North America lifestream, the Toyota livestream, as well as the 24h cameras of Greaves and Signatech/Nissan. My tip: Do ten laps in the Corvette with the sound on full blast! After this, you are used to the pace. Then switch to one of the Joest Audis. You will not believe the difference in speed.

Very good, sir! This is the complete list.

It's raining. http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Le-Mans/forecasts/latest

1955 Pontiac 1956 Pontiac 1956 Plymouth 1956 Oldsmobile 1956 Plymouth Taxi 1956 De Soto 1957 Oldsmobile 1958 Oldsmobile 1958 Cadillac 1959 Rambler Wagon 1959 Dodge 1959 Plymouth 1959 Chrysler 1959 De Soto 1959 Cadillac 1962 Studebaker Convertible 1963 Oldsmobile Starfire Convertible 1963 Chrysler Turbine Car 1966 Rambler Wagon 1968 Cadillac De Ville Hardtop 1968 Imperial Hardtop 1968 Chrysler Convertible 1969 AMC AMX 1970 Oldsmobile 442 1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Which one did I forget now?

Mine is Rick Dore's '36 Ford Roadster. Because I like it.

Entirely btw., you forgot to list 'Fear Is The Key' in your signature.

Can I have it now?

This is going to be boring.

There are hardly any colours where the differences are bigger.

So I have to pay the postage for five instruction sheets that are only for the bin. Modern times. We got to get rid of the forests somehow.