charlie8575

I agree. Many here have derided 1970s cars as badly-built luxobarges. Well.... to a degree, yes. But, everything suffered from a malaise- the European cars weren't much better, and the Japanese hadn't really figure out rust-proofing, in addition to having steel that, for whatever reason, was more prone to rust (one of the reasons why Chrysler products of the 1970s rusted so badly was their use of a large quantity of Japanese steel.) But I like the "luxobarge" exactly for that reason- they're comfortable. Their seats don't force my back into funny positions or irritate my sciatic nerve. I actually fit in the car. And, when trimmed out with tasteful paint and soft-trim selections, they do look nice. I was heading into class yesterday to take my final (compressed-schedule weekend course,) and driving by, I saw a beautiful 1975-'78 Mercury Grand Marquis. Champagne with a dark red vinyl top, interior and vinyl body-side mouldings. No tape stripe "decor" packages (which I never liked,) and no Avocado Green, bright blue or Harvest Gold in sight. A nice break from cars that now come in one of 38 shades of silver, gray or black, with the occasional other color thrown in for supposed "variety." I see the 1970s as an effort made to maintain true individuality in the face of growing outside interests, in automobile design; the decline of car design as an art-form, and evolving into more of a regulatory mimic and lawsuit-avoidance tool, thanks to cadres of lawyers, government windbags, the "greenie goblin" as I call them, and other private interests, most notably the insurance industry. Most of the safety and pollution control we now have would have evolved naturally with market demand, instead, having it forced on us has, in the long term, compromised the end product. Oh, and for the record, my 1970s GM cars were among the most rock-solid, reliable cars I ever owned. And I must agree with Dr. Pamp- I would really like a new Continental Mk. III or boat-tail Rivera, as well as a 1977-'79 full-size Chevy, especially one of the coupes. I've seen some other calls for cars I would like to see, too. And perhaps we will someday. There are engineering and design techniques out there can make this happen, and at substantially less money. I know- I'm looking into them now. The manufacturers, to borrow and slight re-word a phrase from an old UPS ad, need to think outside the box to get neat stuff to put in the box. Charlie Larkin

Remember, until the mid-1960s, "stock car" was exactly that. A factory-built production car modified for racing. Charlie Larkin

I'm very similar. Very few cars made during my lifetime (I'm 36) truly interest me. While there plenty of cars that are nice enough and I would drive, there aren't a lot that really scream "plastic!" I have some odd tastes- I love GM B/RWD C/D-Bodies and Ford Panthers. I also like K-Cars and their derivatives. I like AMCs. I like cars people don't normally think about, because all too often, they are actually forgotten, and they're still a part of the history of motoring. I never really got into sports cars or performance cars, even when I was a kid. But I find the cars of the early-mid 1970s and back much more intriguing generally. They had character, style, and distinct personalities. As the crash barrier, wind-tunnel and central-planning windbags became more and more of a force, that went away, and not just with American cars, but all over the world. I do think, though, it would be nice to have a wider availability and a wider variety of newer cars. While many of the everyday cars are the uninteresting, boring snoozers to most of us (the aforementioned forces have all conspired to make our cars not only look like, but drive alike,) models of the everyday car should be kitted- part of preserving the history of the progress of automotive design. Yes, cars like a Taurus, Lumina, Dodge Stratus, and yes, as much as I personally dislike them- perhaps even a Toyota Camry. The cars that most younger kids can relate to. While it's great to fuel dreams with Ferraris and BMWs, we sometimes forget that for many years, regardless of the source of the money came from, all those great classic 3-in-1 kits, were of the everyday car, too. I think we really need to return to that type of product to keep interest. I'd buy them partially to support the effort, and because I can still make an interesting model, even if the 1:1 subject may be less than interesting. Charlie Larkin

If Floquil or Polly-S get cut, they'll be hearing about it in spades from model railroaders. Perhaps I should go grab a few bottles of colors I might need to be on the safe side, though. Charlie Larkin

I'll buy a bunch of each! Let's hope they remember to stretch that Fairlane to the 118-inch wheelbase instead of the Custom/Ranchero/wagon 116-inch wheelbase. Charlie Larkin

Perhaps a little bit of one, Rob. I don't know if we'll be back to the really high-points of the mid-1990s, but with some of the stuff coming out over the next 6-8 months and items that are already out, I think yes, right now is a good time to be modeling. Charlie Larkin

I can always use another '51 Chevy and the Malibu wagon. Hopefully, it won't be as badly warped as the Racing Chumps one I have- almost unbuildable. I actually will probably be getting a resin body to put on it so I can at least use most of the kit. The Gremlin is just too cool not to have and I might even grab a Meyer's Manx just for something different. Charlie Larkin

That syringe brush sounds useful. I'll be interesting to see what Testors has in store for the new car colors, too. Charlie Larkin

Cool, that means it's within driving distance! All of about 12 hours. Charlie Larkin

I WANT one of those Cutlasses! And I'll take a case of the new Sho-Cases, too! And a Hornet convertible to put in one of those cases... Wonder what else Moebius has up its sleeve? Charlie Larkin

Put me down for at least one each of the Olds, Ford, and Corvette. I'm not huge into Corvettes, but I do like the 1956-'62 cars. This looks like it could be nice. So....anyone seen what Moebius and Galaxie Ltd. are up to yet? Charlie Larkin

With a little time and effort, that'll make a very, very nice car. Charlie Larkin

Some very cool stuff coming out. I'll be buying at least one or two of those '57 Fords and the 88s. Wonder if they did the 88 for people who want to do early NASCAR to have something for their Hornets to race against? At least one 88 will be converted to a 76 if I can find a suitable base for the flathead six. Charlie Larkin

Dave, my suspicion is that enough of those cars were undercoated, that black would be just fine. Otherwise, it would most likely be primer with a small amount of overspray on the floors and black frames. Coming out nicely either way. Charlie Larkin

Yes, please! Charlie Larkin

Try the warm water method first. You have the part and it'll cost you nothing additional to experiment. If it doesn't work, the AMT hood is the next-best solution. Charlie Larkin

Very cool. I love Morgans, and it's nice to see one being built. Charlie Larkin

Hmmmm....now this ought to be interesting! I like Italias. They're beautiful little cars. They're what the Jet should have been, and almost was. Charlie Larkin

This is a very interesting question, and I think one that deserves some very careful and thoughtful analysis. On the one hand, you have a class of model (rods) and it should imply that a rod is a rod, and, shiny or not, should be in that class, there to sit judged amongst its peers. Yet, on the other hand, because of the innate biases of most people towards bright, shiny objects, these rusted masterpieces all too often suffer from lack of attention, and that can result in truly superior models losing, which, in addition to being unfair, is discouraging the purpose of judging- to praise the truly successful builds. Perhaps the time has come for a special "beater" class. As it becomes more and more common to build in that manner, I could see it coming to some of the major shows, and it may catch on well enough to work. Charlie Larkin

Still waiting for clarification on that. The fancier trim like the kit depicts might actually have been a Bonneville interior, retro-fitted to Catalinas (which I guess was pretty common because it's so nice-looking,) as soon as I have further information, I'll pass it along. I also see that a lot of the plainer upholstery pattern is cloth, which is quite believable, the vinyl, being a more flexible material, both literally, and design-wise, opened itself up to more creative expressions. Charlie Larkin

Ah....now I see. Velvet Black was the exterior paint color. Available on all models. And I must say, black looks especially nice on these cars; Matt made a good pick. As I said before, some interior bits and pieces might have been s/g black, this was often the case with GM. The black would also have been used on GPs with black interiors for parts that would normally have been color-coordinated with the upholstery, like the window frames and the dash. Charlie Larkin

I don't have that much paint to waste, even if the waste is a by-product.... Charlie Larkin

The black interior was only available on the Grand Prix. I saw suggested by one guy that Grenadier Red with a black interior would make a most striking combination. I must say I agree, as that's a nice, deep cherry color, as opposed to the more tomato red we'd see in later years. I also remember seeing a Grand Prix in silver with a black interior, and that was a rather nice-looking car, too. One associate of mine was nice enough to share the excerpts from the Master Parts Catalog; if I could figure out how to attach a .pdf to this post, I'd be happy to do so. Charlie Larkin Edit: re-examining the MPC data shows black was also available on the Bonneville, with the convertible using leather trim.

Hi, Matt. My sources have come through. e-Mail me your e-Mail address and I'll send you the information I have; it's in .pdf form. Charlie Larkin

That's unfortunate. I'll just have to wait for it all to come out on video, then. Charlie Larkin