The Junkman

First time behind the wheel: '68 Chevy Impala wagon. I say first time because it was a high school driver's ed class and because my parents were divorced and living 40 miles apart I LITERALLY HAD NEVER DRIVEN A VEHICLE. It was a short stint. I got to drive his vehicles ('65 Ford Econoline van-170ci straight six/auto/manual choke) and an early '60s VW van) on the weekend visitation/holidays. And finally built up enough experience to pass a driver test after a year on a learner permit instead of the nominal 6 months.

No Fennec Shand for the (re-named) Boba Fett space craft. I'm out then. (Star Wars new Imperial overlords-Darth Disney-thought "Slave 1" wasn't in keeping with the current canon.) Wallet also safe for another month.

Wonder how much their detour into 1/20th scale may have thrown them off.

Mustang markings look like a tape kit. If it was a Mach 1 it would proudly say that. This just says "Mustang". Like the color though.

Got out of the house and went to Point Reyes Station, on the Pacific Coast about 35 miles north of San Francisco. Frou-frou weekend tourists and entitled bicyclists (oh, so many). Nonetheless while looking for parking I came across this beauty. The thing I liked best: this piece of rolling art was USED! A small bit of rock pitting on the front, there was minor denting above the driver's door latch, the dashboard was weatherchecked and the seats needed to be reupholstered. It looked just like what you'd think a 65 year old car would look like if you used it as designed. As we were leaving the town my wife said there was an old car coming around the corner in front of us but before I could get the cell phone camera into action, it was past. A Citroen Traction Avant in near cherry condition, all black with grey interior. Now for more pedestrian vehicles, this one from in front of the Home Depot in my town.

Not that it makes any difference except for whomever dropped $4 (followed by so many zeros) for this car but was it 5R002 (as described) or 5R003 as written along the top of the firewall? Knowing the issues with restored, or more correctly-overrestored cars, I like these photo layouts for giving an idea of how the car should have looked and not the final word.

With my limited experience with film productions (repeated support, road closures, smoothing over sharp edges with local residents) I will guarantee there was at least 2 and likely more Squad 51 rigs available for use during filming. A "hero" car the main car in use and a backup. The backup often gets used for 2nd unit filming so different aspects of the filming can be shot at different locations and at the same time. Which makes sense if you realize that a lot of bucks get lost if the filming schedule get interrupted-highly paid people sitting around doing nothing because a car/truck won't start etc. To say nothing of the insurance that won't pay off if the film company doesn't do everything in its power to keep going. I was on a film shoot years ago for "Pontiac Moon", unremarkable except that Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen got married after starring in it. The company had two (2!) 1951 Pontiac Chieftain convertibles on scene and at least 2 Amphicar 770s. Neither of those are/were common. And naturally one of the Pontiacs broke but production didn't stop.

The Porsche 934 the old Heller kit? BMW 320 Group 5 the old ESCI kit? And with the classic Ferrari kits in their possession (275GTB, Daytona, California, etc) why not shake those loose?

Let me add (again). ANY up to date-as in any year model of the past 10 years-American made full size pickup. Ford, Chevy/GM, Dodge; any of them. The larger ones like the F-250, 2500 etc would be a bonus. With the exception of the Revell Raptor snap kit and the Meng F-350 I can't think of any recent kits.

I understand that at one time there were three Porsche 917s, all of which had won the 1971 Lemans 24 Hours.

Its not just a custom car but an icon for an entire branch of the automotive world and lifestyle. No, I'm not exaggerating. Its a touchstone and a car against with most all others of that ilk are measured. Easy for me to say, I can't shake loose of the pieces to make a model of one but I don't begrudge whoever took it home.

No, 1995 was the year they switched to the Monte Carlo. Monogram was "johnny-on-the-spot" with a new body. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/monogram-2447-3-goodwrench-monte-carlo--133261

I must be the only person in the world who is completely unmoved by "Eleanor". Just a cartoon car as far as I'm concerned. Otherwise I'm a sucker for Mustangs having owned 3 and having driven one "at work".

Not exactly thick on the ground over here either.

I am so ready for the Boss 351 and variants. The floodgates are open for E-vehicles although they don't fit in my current life reality situation so we may as well go along with it-model kit wise.

Why do vinyl tires in any case? Offering tires in the same styrene as the rest of the kit would completely eliminate the problem along with being painted/trimmed with the same techniques.

Kinda made my point re: "regular" Mustangs and Chargers as opposed to electric versions.

Look at the advertising. You didn't see magazine ads in the '60s touting the Mustang's and the Charger's ability to transport kids teams to the game. You saw sleek women and manly men offering entry to a lifestyle to aspire to. The implication of performance and sophistication (even with a 200ci straight six). This is completely off that track. I can see in a while we'll see window stickers on Mustangs like I've seen on a certain Toyota hybrid car-"Nice Prius: said nobody"

Very few people thought "Falcon" when the Mustang was first introduced but then again Ford didn't call it a "Falcon" either. Same with the Mustang II and the Pinto. There is a certain understanding of what a Mustang represents and it has remained true for the past 47 years. Calling the Mustang E a Mustang just dilutes the meaning of the definition and fuzzes up the brand identity. Recall they did the reverse of this by dropping the Taurus nameplate (and identity) and calling it the "500" for a couple of years. The E might be a perfectly acceptable EV (don't know-I'm not in the market as I live in a "tech thin" area with few charging stations) but in no way is it a Mustang. (old guy rant off now)

I drove one "professionally" on and off from 1982 until 1994. All 5.0's with manual transmission. Straight line-nothing kept up with it. Turn at the end of the road....well that's when the Prairie Schooner era suspension came into play. Get in a chase and you need one hand for the wheel, one hand for the tranny, one hand for the radio. Bad (stock) seats, don't ever let one side be on the wet and the other on the dry and then accelerate beyond briskly-it would swap ends faster than you could say "OH, S**T". You can tell by my avatar that I haven't sworn off of them, though.

Aston Martin DB5-not just the James Bond connection but a sensuous body style with a proper amount of performance. And any 68-69 Ford Torino Fastback with a 390 or 428 c.i engine. Same with a 67-68 Mustang. Beauty and power.

I showed a Vega a couple of weeks ago. Last week, outside of a Trader Joe's in Santa Rosa CA I saw a second but this was a Cosworth Twin Cam in black with gold trim and black interior just like this No picture because the driver had the gall to be sitting in it at the time. Seemed presumptive of me.

The 6 series BMW coupe has always been my favorite BMW body style since it first came out in the late 70's. Never driven one or even sat in one but admired it from afar.

Years ago, a friend of mine who was a CHP officer went to back up the city police on an incident along with a number of other officers. This was during the early '90's when all the cops were driving Ford Crown Victorias. The incident was done and he went to leave, hopped in the car, fired it up and as he was driving away he found that the radio wasn't where he left it. His car keys were a match for the city police car and that's what he had driven off in. Embarrassment was general. We had understood that the key codes were classified but OTOH the world of police vehicles is a small one.

I'm not 100% certain but I think he was referring the generally loose tolerances for key slots in '60s ignition switches. I recall leaving the car running and being able to physically remove the key while the ignition was still positioned in place. May have well just used a toggle switch.