PeeBee

Other than all of the 1/24 vintage sports and racing cars I lost in a fire (Heller, Tamiya, nine MFH Ferrari kits, HRM Cobra Daytona, etc.), of the more traditional 1/25 kits that I had as a kid and wouldn't mind getting a hold of now are: - "The Wild Ones" MPC '29 Model A woody/pickup w/Hot Curl, the Stingray bicycle and great, edgy box art; - AMT "Wild Dream" and "King (Don Tognotti's) T" double kit; - Johan '66 Olds Toronado; - and there's a whole slew of early- to mid-'60s annuals and promos that I wouldn't mind getting my hands on. I was able to bag a couple of holy grails such as a factory-sealed flat-box Johan '67 Eldorado (no tire melt!), Revell '66-'67(?) release of their VW Microbus w/box art graphics that aped the BBDO VW display ads of the day (I had a 1/1 '66 21-window sunroof bus with the same paint scheme as the box model), and a factory sealed,1st release, Revell Porsche Carrera Speedster. There's probably a few more I could think of, but I already have way too many kits so I try not to think too hard about it.

The Lindberg '53 convertible came with an up-top? I always assumed it didn't, and therefore passed on that kit. I won't buy convertible kits that don't include up-tops.

I'm going to build the '60 Ford Starliner just like the yellow "custom" version on the box of the last release. I usually build stock, but that car just looks really cool.

Ford got it so right with 55-57 'Birds, didn't they?

The backwards hood scoop on my '74 T/A had a removable plate (why did they block it off in the first place?). Anyway, with the scoop opened up (permanently on my car) and the windows down, the carburetor sucking air and gas was loud and clear. Cruising along at 100-120+ you could almost see the needle on the gas gauge move. I had to choose between gas and food when I owned that car (college days) and I lost a lot of weight.

We have lots of illuminated glass cabinets in our living and dining rooms, and they're all full of crystal and china. If I had any of my cars upstairs they'd get all busted up anyway. It's bad enough when the twenty-somethings frequenting the premises lately make it down to my man-cave. Funny that the young people don't paw all that glass that's on display and break that... PB.

I don't know if this is true, but from what I've read over the past hundred years or so the earlier kits (cars, airplanes, etc.) were "box scale." Apparently the kit manufacturers scaled the kits to fit into the boxes that they were purchasing at the time. Of course, this may be pure BS, and there's a bunch of guys on this forum way more knowledgeable than I who may be able to de-bunk, or elaborate, on this. I remember building the Deuce "Drag Strip Hot Rod" in my Aunt's attic over a Thanksgiving weekend many moons ago. And, I remember that the kit came molded in maroon plastic. PB.

HMMMM. I'm thinkin' this stuff might work well as a "touch up" for kit chrome that's been cleaned of flash, mold seams and sprue lugs.

Holy smokes! I got that Crusader 101 for Christmas when I was around 5- or 6-years-old. I loved that car! I remember how much I enjoyed playing with it, for the few hours that I was able to. Unfortunately, my father felt it was cheaply made; too much plastic, I guess. My mother did all the Christmas shopping and knew I would love it (and she was right), but dad insisted that it go back to, ahem, the North Pole. Oh, well. PB.

My Auburn kit is giving up its dash panel to a Deuce roadster, and the boat tail body might find its way to a Johan '31 Cadillac. PB.

What I find interesting is the amount of young people today (50 and under) who don't know how to do "things," like using tools (for carpentry and mechanics), performing simple maintenance on their cars, etc. I see it in my own family. I have 5 kids (3 boys, 2 girls, now young adults) and my oldest son is the only offspring to have developed a quantitative level of skills to perform mechanical tasks. It's a good thing he possesses these skills because he is a professional contractor. I'd have to say the one running the closest second to my son is my younger daughter. She even knows how to weld, although I don't believe she'd be able to change the oil or replace the timing belt in her car, demo and install a new bathroom and kitchen, etc., without some guidance. Oh, well. They all have their own, other talents and interests. Joe Z., you mentioned Polk's Hobbies earlier in this thread. That brought back a lot of memories from my "yute." It's hard to imagine a hobby shop occupying five floors on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, at any point in time. That's where you could find the Heller kits, all of the large scale stuff, Tamiya, etc. That was a great store. PB.

Hmmm. I've had a lot of fun with cars. Childhood: Cruising to the Cape in my Mom's '60 Bonneville convertible. Getting my first ride in a Corvette (Dad's best friend's '65 Coupe). And then riding in the '67 Firebird 400 that the Corvette was traded in on. Neat car. 4-speed, Radir mags (with "knock-off" spinners) and lakes pipes. Riding in my cousin's TR3. Teaching myself how to drive in a '31 Model A, and then in an oval-window Beetle. Teen years: Driving my Mom's '65 GTO convertible. Taking my Mom's '75 Coupe DeVille on dates (definitely NOT PG). Driving the '69 GTO convertible loaned to me on numerous occasions by one of our close family friends. My first ride in a BMW 3.0 CS coupe (I was stunned). Getting picked up regularly when hitch-hiking by a Porsche 911, a Bristol, a Honda 750, and a Chevelle SS454 (same guy who owned the Honda). Cruising in my 4-speed '64 Impala SS409. Road "trips" with my buddies in my '66 21-window sunroof Microbus. Pulling wheelies on Main Street with my best friend in his '68 Camaro SS396 Super Stock. Literally, a Super Stocker. When he bought it for $1,700.00(!) it had only ever seen track use. Radio delete, no heat, no insulation, 4.88 rear end, M-22, it got zero mpg and you could eat off of the chassis. College: Cruising in my '74 TA 455SD. Cruising in my '61 sunroof Bug. Driving up Route 7 to Lime Rock (I've done this many times in many interesting cars) with aforementioned best friend in his '65 Corvette convertible. Cruising to the Cape (same family cottage from childhood) with my best girl (and wife of 32 years now) in my Cal-Look, 2.0 Liter, Webered, cammed and Monza exhausted '71 Karmann Ghia convertible. Adult: Driving my first brand-new car: an '83 Rabbit GTi. Driving to Newport in my Miata. Driving to Lime Rock in my Miata. Driving at Lime Rock in my Miata. Driving my best friend's (same best friend) '67 Corvette L-89 427 coupe. Driving Formula Fords. Setting off car alarms (regularly) in the family '85 Suburban (lift kit, 33" wheels, headers, cam, etc.) at the Battery Terminal Garage in lower Manhattan. That's about all my five kids have left me time for. Oh, well. They're way cooler than cars. PB.

I wore out my 45 of "409" back in the day, along with "Dead Man's Curve." "Hot Rod Lincoln" (the Commander Cody version) would've suffered the same fate had it not been a digital recording.

The quality of Chinese 1/1 auto parts is horrible, too. I doubt they care, either. I don't think they're too concerned about repeat business because they know that orders for cheaply made parts will just keep rolling in. I won't buy parts made in China (or anywhere else) anymore unless they're OEM. The auto manufacturers can't hide behind the internet so they must run Q&A on their suppliers. What I find astounding is that parts I bought with venerable, name brand supplier's names on them (Monroe, for one), and manufactured in China, were so bad that they were unusable. PB.

That's funny, I have an AMT '68 Roadrunner on the bench painted '68 Avacado Green, from Scalefinishes. Do you mind if I use your interior for reference? PB.

For general model car hobby or 1:1 automotive related topics ONLY.

I don't get the car / WWII aircraft connection. It's either a road vehicle or an aircraft. I get that some early rods used the seats out of bombers, and perhaps other parts to contain fuel, etc., and those would be neat details to include on a traditional hot rod build or restoration. But this is like, yeah, yeah, we get the joke already! My dad flew bombers in WWII and this would be the last thing in the world he'd ever be seen driving. Then again, my parent's generation were grown-ups...

Think of it this way: It would take about the same money (and effort) to restore a '56 Ford convertible as it would to restore that boring old 4-door sedan. And, even with the convertible, you have to be careful about how much you're going to spend on a restoration vis-a-vis what the car will bring on the market. You wouldn't want to dump $80-100K into a resto for a car that's never going to return that kind of money. Imagine the bath you'd take on that 4-door (if you could even find a buyer)! That's one reason why that car is sitting on the roof of a junkyard. PB.

Brad, did you put that model on your Mom's head when she wasn't looking? Or, was she just being a good sport? PB.

Weren't the Ferrari 156s ordered destroyed at the end of the racing season? I thought I remembered reading something along those lines years ago. If true, I wonder if it might have had something to do with these being Ferrari's first mid-engine F-1 cars and them not wanting the cars to fall into the hands of other teams. It wasn't exactly new technology though, and Colin Chapman was the showing the racing world where F-1 was really headed by then. Maybe Ferrari was keeping the engine under wraps...(?) I've definitely seen more hot-rodded '32s than I have stock over my lifetime (especially coupes and roadsters), but in my neck of the woods stock Model As far out-number the hot-rodded cars. Even the '32 Woody that was my wedding transportation was hot-rodded. It's stock appearing, but the owner switched out the "B" motor for a warmed over Flathead and changed over to a 12-volt system to make the car more drive-able for the Copperstate 1,000 runs he used to go on every year (he passed away about three years ago, but the car's still in the family). PB.

Wasn't the Lindberg '40 Ford Coupe a "reversed engineered" AMT '40? And, I believe there's an Asian firm (I think it's Chinese) that markets reverse engineered Tamiya kits. PB.

1. Roger that on the Wild Dream/Tognotti's T kit (my mom let me get that kit back in '63); 2. '61-'63 Continental Convertible (but with an up-top included); 3. '57 Craftsman T-Bird (open the hood, add the Revell Supercharged engine and dog-dish caps w/steelies for an F-Code); 4. '69 ('70?) 1/25 AMX, and; 5. yeah, the Watson Roadster/Indy Lotus combo (with correct tires). I get two bonus picks because I copied two picks that were already made here: 1B. "The Wild Ones" with original box art (don't forget to include Hot Curl and the Stingray bicycle), and: 2B. I was going to add the Astro 1, but I see that it's already here, too, so how about the 289 Cobra WITH the Halibrands and original stock steering wheel included this time (add an up-top and correct Lemans-style hardtop if you're really serious about marketing cool kits). PB.

At least the Mazda's are smiling. That old Buick has a frown. A lot of cars had frowns immediate post-war. You'd think they'd all be smiling during that era. My take on the Audi's and Lexi is that they've been trying to appeal to dog-people, particularly the owners of boxers, Great Danes and bulldogs. Or, perhaps the fans of chocolate ice cream who like to lick the bowl. I never tire of looking at the P-51. What a beautiful machine that was. Whatever committee designed the heavy-handed new Camaro was obviously made up of kids who grew up on Transformers. Heck, they even co-branded the new Camaro in one of the Transformer movies, didn't they? Anyway, that car's styling doesn't hold a candle to the '69 car it's trying to mock. Same goes for the new Challenger, in my opinion. PB.

Terrific TRs! Lee, those would be 1/24 scale, curbside.

Clifford, that coupe is really cool. PB.