oldcarfan

I crawled up into the attic above my shop and went through the boxes of stored kits and finally got inspired to pick my Cannonball entry. I've also been arguing with our puppy, she's 9 months old now, a Corgi/Jack Russell and she thinks every toy she has needs to be in the back yard and every stick in the back yard needs to be in the house. Here she is hanging out upside down with her sister, a Chihuahua/Jack Russell.

My dad had an early '68 notchback in this same color. I'd love to see AMT do a new body for their fastback version. I think this is a model that needs to see some light.

I've picked my contender for this year. I plan to enter a first generation Volkswagen Rabbit/Golf. The car just barely squeezes under the wire, having been introduced in March 1974 as a 1975 model. The base kit will probably be an ESCI Rally Golf. I have this kit along with the AMT and Revell versions and also an AMT Scirocco so I should have enough parts hopefully to make an interesting entry. Edit: I just went out and opened the boxes to see what needs to be done for my entry. You all may know this, but it was a surprise to me. The ESCI kit and the AMT kit are the same except that the AMT version's parts trees were cut down to fit the smaller box. The racing parts for the ESCI kit seem to be missing from the AMT kit as well. Guess they wre trimmed off in the molding process. Also, the AMT kit has a lot of flash whereas the ESCI kit was molded in the 70s-80s so it's a lot cleaner. In comparison, the Revell kit looks like a much newer tool and offers both the left and right hand dashes.

I bought a sanding pad assortment from Hobby Lobby yesterday and tried it out today while watching A Christmas Story. I think I made some progress. I got the swirl out and the paint is smooth. I'm not great at high gloss polishing so I'm not sure it'll get a whole lot better. I'm thinking this may be my Cannonball entry this year. This is the old Italeri/ESCI VW Golf Rally kit.

I found my kit and it's the same one. Got it at Wild Bill's Hobbytown in Dallas last year for $39.99.

I was raised in a Ford family, not sure what family drama caused that. My dad's parents were Chevy folk but under my dad's influence I hated that brand. Nowadays I don't really dislike any brand except a certain electric brand.

I've been going through my stash looking for a Cannonball entry. I pulled out my VW Golfs, I have a Revell, an AMT and this one which is an Italeri. When I opened this one I remembered I painted it a couple years ago and then lost interest. When I painted it, I was pretty proud as it was smooth and without scratches, a rarity for me. The paint seems to have developed some sort of swirl since being put back in the box. The paint was either Krylon or Tamiya, I can't remember which over Duplicolor primer. I've never had a reaction like this. The swirls are just deep enough i can feel them when I run a fingernail over them. Nothing was touching body so it wasn't from contact. I suppose it could have been a reaction from within the plastic, but it's only in this one area. If I build it I'll try to sand the damage out or put it into the Purple bath and start over.

Maybe he wants to be comfortable at the drive in movie tonight!

I'm hoping to see some new stuff there. I rarely shop there anymore because I've already bought the kits I want from there. I wonder if they would respond to a campaign to have them carry different brands? In the early 2000s they carried some Tamiya kits for a while.

I looked at this the other day in the store. Is this the badly retooled kit or is it an old promo based reissue?

I'm stumped. I just spent two hours out in the shop pulling kits and putting them back. I kind of want to go with an IROC Porsche look, or a Trans Am style Camaro or Mustang, but little European cars always appeal to me. I have a couple of Renault 5 kits and VW Golf kits. Guess I'll have to come to a decision as the New Year gets ever closer. On another line of thought, can we use a stock appearing wheel with a modern tire?

I wondered about that. I bought one of the Revell kits, but put it back into the box because the proportions looked off to me. It seems bigger and the way the side windows angle up seems a bit off.

I built one of the old Revell kits long ago and decided that as it wasn't that accurate I would just have fun with it. In my mind I imagined it as a fiberglass bodykit that you would put on a VW pan. From that standpoint, it made more sense to me.

To my eye, Johan did a near perfect body for a stock 72 Gran Torino. Maybe Revell can be convinced to do this body to go with their Starsky and Hutch 75 Gran Torino. The chassis on both cars was the same. Then they could do a kit for the Clint Eastwood movie and one for the Fast and Furious movie.

I got one the other week. I know the model is crude by modern comparison, but I still love the 60s-70s MPC and AMT kits.

The Ford 2.3 liter Pinto engine can make good power when turboed!

This should be a cool entry! Is this the same kit as the rally version?

I've been browsing the type of cars raced in 1975. Group 5 in Europe and IMSA were getting pretty wild and wide. NASCAR went to LeMans. As for Cannonballers, gas prices had gone down a little, so even a 4 door Dually with a 454 could be an option!

The world changes around us no matter how much we wish it wouldn't. Hot Rod, Car&Driver, Automobile, SAE, and so many of the other publications that made up my youth are gone. Some are still around in online limbo, but it's sad.

That's been me for most of my life. I have a touch of ADHD that likes to appear periodically. Usually about 3/4s of the way through a project I'll see a shiny object and off I'll go.

I'm having trouble deciding. I've got a lot of ideas floating around, so I'll have to narrow my focus. I'd like to do a Trans Am, or a Mustang, but I'm really partial to small foreign cars. The BMW 320i, the VW Golf, and the Ferrari 308 all debuted in 1975 so I guess these would be admissible?

In the 60s Revell experimented with Parts Pack featuring engines, or frames or as in this case motorcycles. They did a Harley, a Triumph, a BSA, a Honda, and I think that's all. They reappeared occasionally but the last time I know of was in the 80s when they came out as Grease 2 movie tie-ins. I heard the tooling was lost, so I'm guessing this new release is a retool.

I found one of these in a hobby shop last year for $40. It looks to me like the same kit as the Johan one.

I'd love that too, but from what I've heard, Parts Packs don't sell well on their own. But you stuff them in with another kit and they get bought up.

I'm down for pretty much any topic for the next race. Since it's been mentioned, I've already been reading up on the 1975 event. Being a research nerd, I've included a picture of the contestants from the Car & Driver magazine cover from 1975. They ran a wide array of vehicles. Note the 1974-ish Chevy truck in the back with the camper shell and the Chevy van. The van was entered by the Polish Racing Drivers of America. According to reports they burned around 350 gallons of gas carried in 55 gallon barrels. Good thing it didn't crash! It also looks like there's also a Ford Gran Torino wagon back there as well. There were the usual Porsches and as well as Brock Yates' very own Dodge Challenger. Just out of curiosity, can anyone identify the other station wagon? It's behind the red 911 in the first picture, and in front of the white Porsche in the last picture. I think it might be a brown Datsun or Mazda. If you're looking for something different, one team drove a Travco motor home filled with Italian food, wine and beer. Also if we are going back in time to 1975, don't forget your shopping list. You'll need folded paper maps, a massive gas tank, oversize lights, police scanner, CB radio, and FuzzBuster! Maybe pack a cooler with peanut butter sandwiches, candy bars, caffeine pills, and Thermoses filled with coffee. This article might be of interest. https://www.cannonballdino.com/post/the-amelia-founder-and-the-cannonball-run