larman

I guess it depends on what you remember and when you were born. I was driving age in the 80's so most of the cars I was involved with were hohum. I had a '74 Charger, 400, 4bbl motor. great looking car, but a new RT would spank it in every way, except possibly looks. My grandmother had an '86 or '87 Chevy Celebrity, she bought new, I currently have a 2016 Chevy Malibu and it is better in everyway, INCLUDING looks. Back in those days my buddies all had 5.0 Mustangs and a few had Camaros or Firebirds, they were the hot cars of the day. A V6 version of the Mustang or Camaro would pretty much run with or dust the highest perfomance 80's versions now. A GT or SS would destroy its 80's counterpart in any performance contest. That's not counting the Shelby or ZL1 which are flat out monsters. There are those who say, 'Yeah but everything costs more". Does it? When you consider economies of scale. Maybe it does, but I have a better chance of affording a modern muscle machine now than I did when I was a kid. Back then I had low paying jobs and was also paying for schooling. Yes, it is also true it is not as easy to work on newer stuff, but there are plenty of modern hot rodders who do. And honestly with a stock SS Camaro, RT Challenger or GT Mustang throwing down 4 second 0-60 times, or less and 12 to 13 second 1/4 times or less, do you really need to further modify them? The one thing I guess I miss would be being able to buy a car that had all the performance options, with out the frills, like a big block late 60's Biscayne Sedan. Of course, that really hasn't been possible since probably the early to mid 70's. I am probably inviting a good amount of flaming from those whole love the good old days, but the stuff I have now IS the best I have had, and on a side note, I just got a ride in my buddies 2016 ZL1 Camaro the other day. It is by far, the fastest stock street car I have ever been in. I hope that in 15-20 years, that car seems as dated as the 80's cars do now. That's the way it should be.

Another donor that works pretty well is the AMT '70 Challenger convertible, they can be found cheap, especially the 80's era one that was molded in thin yellow plastic. The windshield posts are often warped or smashed on these, making them great donors. I have seen unbuilt ones for $5-10 at shows many times, not to mention cheap built ups. I found a decent unbuilt one at a local flea market cheap and I am thinking about using it under the very same '69 Barracuda you are talking about. I also got my Barracuda cheap at Hobby Lobby, which is why I didn't want to put more money in parts than in the actual model. My plan is a Race Hemi like street machine. And I am not going to go to crazy super detailing it, I want to have fun with it and make it a simple build. It is a bit of nostalgia for me because I built one when I was a kid back in the 80's, "The Avenger" version that was molded in orange. That one was partially a '68 and partially a '69. I remember I painted it with Testor's rattle can yellow, and built it as a street machine. It is in the big parts box in the sky now, lol!

I would LOVE a decent '68 and '69 Chevelle, hopefully we will see them. Of course, we could also use a decent '70, but it's been done a couple of times, so I doubt that will happen!

I understand why people get annoyed with the jacked up prices for parts, but it happens everywhere. Not just on Ebay, I was just at a local flea market a few weeks ago and a guy had an out of box 1/18 low line diecast '57 Chevy that had seen better days, FAR from perfect. Fair value would have been around $20-25 for a nice one in the box, this one was probably worth $5-10 as it sat and that would be a HARD sell. What was the seller asking for it ....$330! Because it was very rare. FWIW, at the same market I got an old issue MPC Maverick Iron Horse, started ,not painted for $5, a near mint 80's issue "Recharged" Johan '64 Dodge Super Stocker (molded in off white) for $30, a nice built up MPC 1970 Chevy pick up for $10 and a nice unbuilt MPC "32 Chevy Roadster street rod kit, issued mid 70's. The one with the headers out over the fenders for $12. I thought all those prices were fair, I am guessing there were others there who didn't, but I am happy I got them. I also just bought a bunch of new parts on Ebay from a seller who starts his items with fair starting bids and let's them go where they will. He also sells some stuff with BIN's that are very reasonable, he combined shipping so what I got was very reasonable. Some stuff he had got bid up, so I let that go, other stuff went my way for decent prices. I bought the parts to repair/restore a bunch of common cars I have that otherwise would not have been worth putting money into, so it worked out nicely for me and I guess the seller did ok too. Bottom line is, there are good deals out there as much as there are bad ones, maybe more so if you keep looking.

Love it, great color!

Absolutely great build! Love everything about it!

Yet another fabulous project! Great colors, and that unique interior pattern is awesome! -Larry

Not 100% sure, but I think that block is from an old Lindberg hot rod kit, an early hemi, perhaps the one that was in their "32 Ford Roadster". It's got a molded in distributor and intake, and look's like it was poorly cribbed from an old Trophy Series AMT kit. A hallmark sign of those Lindberg kits.

I found An AMT '57 Ford and 2 McEwen Barracuda Funny cars for $7.49 at the HL in Easton, Pa. 2 Thunderbolts at the one in Trexlertown, Pa., also for $7.49. They had the the Snake and Mongoose dragsters, Mazda RX7, '53 Ford Convertible, '69 Yenko Corvette and a Porsche 914, all marked down at the Easton store, but I did not take those. Trexlertown had the Mazda, the '53 Ford and Yenko Corvette. they also had the '76 Torino and S&H Torino, I left those too. Also checked the Phillipsburg, NJ store last week and they had nothing marked down, they may have some now, but I haven't been back. $7.49 is dirt cheap! HL had much better deals this year than Ollies.

Nice work, very well thought out!

Had to do a double take on that last pic to make sure it was a model ! Great work!

That's super nice, great resto!!

Very nice!

Complete awesomeness!! Beautiful work! -Larry

Not to be cynical, but does it really matter? The oldest group listed (50+) will have enough models to keep them busy for as long as they are alive or able. Same with the 40 to 50 crowd ( the group I am in). After that, what difference will it make? We will be dead or unable to build anyway. Our collections will be sold or junked. Bottom line is the world is changing, it always has. This is just part of it. Enjoy model building for yourself, and share it with those who have a similar interest. The rest will be what it will be. Just my 2 cents, that isn't worth a dime, lol! -Larry

Oh my, That is NICE! Love everything about it!

That is beautiful work! Amazing!

LOL! No! But I do have some vintage glue tubes and liquid containers around here somewhere....

Here is my current project. AMT Trophy Series '32 Ford Coupe.The plan is to replicate a 1962 era NHRA A/Altered. The caveat being that it will be built entirely with original Trophy Series parts. This is what I have so far: Coupe body, which I have completed the rough chop on. Chassis has had floor and molded in exhaust removed. Will have quick change rear from the '25 T. Front wheels are spindle mounts from an original Double Dragster kit. Rears are open steel wheels from the '40 coupe. These may be swapped for the mags from the '49 Ford coupe. The motor will be a Pontiac from the '36 Ford. At this point, I am thinking topped with 6-71 supercharger from the Double Dragster. In the interior, I have a '40 Ford steering wheel, '36 Ford Shifter, foot shaped gas pedal from the Double Dragster, fire extinguiser from the '36, seat from the '25 T. Might make it center steer.I am planning on removing the radiator from the shell and using the Moon gas tank from the Double Dragster out front.There is a lot more to do, but I wanted to post pics since it is up on wheels. The front will be lowered a bit and the back raised, so it has a nice hot rod rake. I don't think it will be channeled down either. Just sitting that way now. I will also add a hood with no side panels. I am not sure about color yet, but I have quite a bit of work until it gets to that point anyway. - .

Wow! Great work! You nailed the look perfectly!

I tapped out at the mid season this year, and I had watched it from the beginning. I stayed with it because I figured I should finish it out, but it has been so lousy for at least 2 seasons that enough is enough......Would there really be that many fancy, high tech weapons out there in a post apocalypse? Furthermore, there certainly seems to be unending ammunition for said weapons. Add to that, the fact that most of these people are horrible shots, even though their lives depend on it. Would Negan, or Rick for that matter make so many mistakes? In that world, threats would be eliminated. Period. There would be no chances for escape and ethics would take a back seat to survival. I know it is scifi, but it could be a little more rooted in reality. -Larry

While I love a nice model A and they are certainly more affordable, in the most traditional sense, the '32 ( roadster in particular) is the king of the hot rods! When Model A's are rodded, what are the traditional mods? Deuce frame, Deuce grille....because the guys that rodded them wanted a '32 but either couldn't afford one or find one. Of course, these days you can get repop bodies in both steel and glass, so it comes down to personal preference. -Larry

Love this one! Great idea and perfect execution! -Larry

Those are all great! Nice work! -Larry

Very cool! Totally different, probably the best looking Matador I have seen! Nice that you kept it all AMC! -Larry