Chuck Most

Other than the convertible-specific bodies and related parts, the 1:25 Monogram '55 Chevys are the same, so you shouldn't have any trouble doing that.

Except for the part about not being a Christina Applegate fan, I totally concur! And yeah, Katy Segal does get better looking with age.

I still had the stock Styleside bed left from my old '93 "Retro Ranger", so I combined it with some spare Model King Open Road Camper parts and some spare tires/wheels and made a low-buck beater utility trailer... Now I just have to scrounge up a hitch and hook it to something!

This is basically spares from two parted out AMT El Caminos, and a Regal nose from an old stock car snap kit. I also dropped in a Vortec 4.3 V6 from a '94 Sonoma, just 'cuz I could. I'll probably replace the hood later on, but it's 'pretty much' done! It's loosely based on a local guys's 'beater with style' that I used to see cruising around town about ten years ago, only the paint job on this model isn't nearly as rough as the 1:1 car!

You mean Ed O'Neil?

That's true! "The Car" was pure '70's B-Movie chintz. Since I wasn't yet born, I can appreciate it for what it is without bias, but when I see a movie like that, I'm glad to be a product of the '80's! Then again, I was born the same year 'Tron' came out... Christine took place in 1979 (even though there's a character in it who drives a Reliant!?), and was published first in 1983- I'd guess that 'The Car' might have had some bearing on Christine, but I've never seen anything to confirm or deny that- King has said he had the 'killer car' plot in his mind years before he began writing Christine. He did explore the subject a bit in the short story "Trucks", which I believe came out in the "Night Shift" compilation.

Yep, he's one of my favorites, as well. I don't think anyone at that time could've been a better choice as Will Darnell!

Those white cars later got red resprays, as the various cars which potrayed Christine were smashed into bits. I can't remebmer how many were used, but a few actually survived filming, including a manual-transmission model they called 'Bad Christine' because the stunt drivers would forget to depress the clutch when they started it, causing the car to lurch forward. The startled drivers would shout "Bad Christine!", and the name stuck. I've heard John Carpenter added the assebly line sequence to hint that Christine was different from the other cars, even though in the book it's implied that it was the 'evil' of Roland LeBay who controlled the car. I do like the assembly line scene though. Yeah, I'm not sure why she 'bit' the inspector, but "Cigar Dude" WAS asking for it! Yes, Dave- not only were the books 'kill scenes' a bit more dramatic, but the parts where King describes Christine's damage healing itself is pretty creepy too- much of that is hidden in the movie, except for the scene in Darnell's garage. Oh- Did anyone else notice how the headlights were smashed- then as Christine started rebuilding herself, they came on, even though a later shot shows them still smashed, and a shot after THAT shows them undamaged, but not turned on?

Tamiya is the best spray can paint available anywhere, from anyone. Adheres well, lays down smooth, and doesn't take sixty years to dry. I love the stuff!

Good point...

Mine will be a full-on Kustom sled.

I don't see anything TOO untoward going on... I look at it, and I see a Hudson. I really don't understand how anyone can possibly expect any model kit, even one engineered with today's technology, can be 100% accurate and true to the 1:1 in every way. Hasn't happened yet, doesn't happen now, probably never will happen until we've developed some type of Star-Trek-like miniature replicator technology. Am I absolutely, positively, 100% confident that this kit is totally accurate? Nope. And I don't care. No kit is perfect. The rest of the kit looks up to snuff, and besides, I haven't seen the Hudson built up yet, so I really don't want to judge any inaccuracies it may have until everything is painted, detailed, and assembled. I've cracked open a few kits and thought "Man, that looks terrible", only to be proven wrong once the model was done.

In the book- Christine was a red and white 4-door 1958 Plymouth Fury. Now, in real life, there was no such thing- all '58 Furies were white and gold 2-door hardtops. King has confessed that Christine was kind of written in fits and starts over the years, and he chose to make Christine a 'Fury' because he liked the name. King is an author first, and a car historian a distant second! In "The Mist", there's a character who drives a "4-door International Scout". But I guess such things are okay in a fictional story! I really don't care for how Mr.Darnell 'gets it' in the movie when compared to the book. In the movie, he gets inside the burned hulk of Christine (after she's dispatched Reperton and his buddies...AND after Darnell BURNED HIS HAND on her door handle!), and gets crushed against the steering wheel by the power seat. In the book, he's sitting in his living room watching A Christmas Carol, and Christine smashes though his picture window and mows him down as he tries to retreat upstairs. Yeah, that might be a bit harder to choreograph, but which would be more exciting to watch? I'd really like to see sombody do a movie of King's "From A Buick 8". THAT book creeped me out- I thought it was way better than Christine, but I guess it would be more of a thriller than a full-blown horror movie. And a '54 Buick is a bit more scary looking than a '58 Fury, if you ask me!

Check your local hobby/craft/dime store for some of these-

I was wondering that- the kit was tooled in the early '80's, so I doubted it would have a coilpack setup.

Very nice! I wish Round 2 would reissue this kit, even though the one I'd build wouldn't look this cool.

I'll pay you a thousand bucks for it! (The kit, not the camera batteries.)

If I had to pick just one? Bullet nose Stude. There. I said it!

It is sick, twisted, totally insane and COMPLETELY uncalled for. Or, to cut right to the chase... I LOVE IT!

Looks like it's going to suck, big time. I'm not surprised- most films with cars playing prominent roles do suck big time. I can stomach "Christine", because I love seeing a big finned Mopar t-bone a first-gen Camaro, and you get to see a pre-Baywatch Alexandra Paul, but that movie would have been way, WAY better had it stuck closer to the book (which wasn't even one of Stephen King's finer efforts, if I may be so blunt...)

I know it's a 2.5 4-cylinder, but aside from that I'm not sure. I can't tell if it's supposed to be a gas or diesel engine. I don't see a distributor on it, but I don't see an injector pump, either! Can anyone shed some light on this?

I love the R/C Charger, and how could I not dig the VW Beetle pickup? Very nice work.

I've never built it box-stock, but I have used the chassis a few times for other Mopar pro-streeters. It's a pretty good kit.

Very cool- the only time I've seen this kit was in a Monroe shocks sweepstakes magazine ad from the late '70's! Like Nessie, I'd heard of it but never seen it... until now!

Looks to be a late '50's Transtar. Other than the nose, it was identical to the earlier R-series trucks.