Harry P.

What neighborhood is that?

No, not actually still a kit. A kit is an unassembled collection of parts. Once it's assembled into its final form, it's not a kit anymore. Like my cake analogy. Once everything is mixed and baked, it's not cake ingredients any more... it's a cake. Not a "combined and baked ingredients" cake. Just a cake.

She was diagnosed with MS in 1987. And let's not forget Margaret Thatcher... just slightly more important in world history (but didn't look as good in a sweater as Annette)...

You're absolutely right, though. A "kit" is only a kit until it's assembled, at which point it ceases to be a kit. If I have the ingredients for a cake on hand, and I mix those ingredients together properly and bake the result, I'd ask you if you'd like to try a piece of my cake, not a piece of my ingredients.

The word "Kitbashing" has been used for years to describe taking various parts from various kits and combining those parts to create a model that doesn't exist as a kit. Simple as that. "Heavy mods" or any mods at all aren't necessary for a model to be a result of "kitbashing." Example: you could take the engine from one kit, seats from another, wheels and tires from another, and a body and interior from another... they could all fit together without any mods necessary. Kitbashed.

How about this one? Real or model? The answer: MODEL!

Looks pretty good, I like that color. If it was me, I'd paint the sun visors black to match the rest of the interior, and foil those emblems on the rear fenders.

If you look carefully, you'll find that you glued something on the wrong way. Even on a badly engineered kit, the hood would close. For the wheel, use some 5-minute epoxy. That'll hold it.

The engine compartment looks great! Very realistic.

What's keeping the hood from closing? And why don't you just glue that 4th wheel on?

Man, that paint is smooth as glass! And the open vent window is a real nice touch.

Not all of us.

WooHoo! 10,000! Ohanas Maximus! Where's the balloon drop?

Not only is it a Photoshopped image... it's not even a Mustang! It's an Aston Martin!

Remember "planned obsolescence?" Some of those cars back in the day were already beginning to rust away before you got them home.

Said with good ol' American swagger. Ah, but a much simpler time then. Back in the '50s you rarely saw anything but American cars on American roads. Sure, once in a while the odd MG or Jag or even a Volvo or two would be seen, but those cars were always owned by the eccentric college-professor types who wore tweed jackets with the suede elbow patches. Joe and Jane Sixpack wouldn't be caught dead driving one of them "ferrin" cars like a "Toyoder." American cars ruled the roost here because the world was a very different place then. We can tell ourselves that American cars were the best, but we didn't have anything else on our roads to compare to! But them ferriners sure caught on quick. And they taught us a thing or two along the way.

Exactly. We can't include a contest if we don't get any coverage sent in.

Yes, I've heard that too. For some reason Buicks mean prestige in China.

GM had to cut somewhere. The corporation was too big, too bloated, too inefficient, too much product overlap and too many redundant models. You can argue til the cows come home whether Saturn, Pontiac and Olds were the "right" divisions to axe... but they really had to cut something. If I ran GM I would have also cut Saturn, but kept a few Pontiac models... maybe a GTO of some sort, and Firebird, for the name recognition/heritage alone, if no other reason... and sold them as "specialty" models at Chevy dealers. Cut Pontiac stores, but keep a few of the cars. And I would agree that they didn't need Olds and Buick, they basically serve the same "near luxury" buyer segment. Olds skewed slightly older than Buick, so Olds got cut.

If the automakers thought they could make money doing it, they'd be doing it.

I don't mean the overall size. I mean it looks all puffy and bloated... like it was a ballon car that would look correct when filled with the right amount of air... but they put in too much. Reminds me of the Pillsbury dough boy! I know... design and styling is a very personal thing, no "right" or "wrong"... but for me, I like a design that looks a little "leaner" or "taut." Just my opinion... I'm not a fan of the new gimmick of throwing as many sharp creases and "character lines" into the design as you possibly can, but at least give me a little sharpness or edge somewhere!

Bill, 2-seater sports cars will never be more than a small niche market in the US no matter how well designed and engineered. The majority of Americans like their cars big, comfy, and cushy... with an automatic and as many cupholders you can possibly squeeze in. The segment of the US consumer base that buys cars like the Fiero or Reatta or Solstice, etc. is tiny. There's no money to be made in bringing cars like that to the US market. At best they maybe create a little buzz for the manufacturer and maybe draw a few more eyeballs into the showroom... but they'll never sell in big numbers here. The average American consumer just isn't interested.

Not a fan of the Solstice design. It looks like they over-inflated it.

They kept the old design for several years longer in Brazil, after they went to a new design in the US.