Eric Macleod

I built this kit maybe 20 years ago. I found that I did not like the "look" of the headlamp assembly. I have yet to correct that item on my model though I always intended to replace the Heller headlamp assembly with a (much superior) set from a Johan kit. I solved the wheel problem by stripping the chrome and painting the wheels. I liked the painted wire wheel look better. I will follow this build with interest! Eric

Hey, Let's see the chassis! As for the Duesey above, the green car was a fairly recent rebody. It sold about 2 years ago at by R&M, I think at the Amelia Island Concours. I do not think it is the same car as the maroon and silver car pictured above. There were at least two of these rebodies done to replicate the original car that Noel Thompson owned (and still may own). Look carefully and you will see that neirther of these are Muphy cars. In fact, they are both Derham Convertible Coupes, the lines of which I actually prefer to Murphy. If you don't have one, a very worthwhile book to buy is Fred Roe's Pursuit of Perfection which remains the gold standard of Duesenberg regerence books 25 years after it was published. It has tons of useful reference photos. If you have not gotten to this point, you might think about doing some of the assembly of the chassis before you paint it. I have found they go together better that way Bummer. I did not win the lottery!

You are off to a great start! I have driven and worked on a number of Duesenbergs. They are one of the few Capital "C" Classics that really run and drive as well as they look like they should. I will watch this build with great interest! Eric

I have often thought the people who build hotrods out of this kit should get together with those of us who build stockers only. We could do a lot of good trading! Your model looks like a great start to a fine looking rod indeed. Keep us posted. Eric

I would just contact Andy Martin (who owns Aardvark) and ask him about the wheels. As for lacing the wheels I don't know anyone who makes them. KennB has a tread on this forum about how to do it. He makes it look easy but...I know better. I totally agree about the JoHan Cadillacs and Mercedes. Too bad they never did other Classics! Let me know if I can do more to help. Eric

I have seen a 1:1 Duesenberg Torpedo Phaeton in that color scheme and you are right, it was slick. I have built the kit in question several times and it is very nice. I couple words of advice though. Make sure the wheels are pointed in the same direction and that they are strait up and down. That can be a bit of a challenge with this kit. Also, I think the model begs for seperate window cranks and door handles to dress up the interior and maybe a better set of gauge faces. One thing that is a real detraction is the set of wire wheels. First of all I think a Duesenberg Torpedo Phaeton should have a set of solid disc wheels (not all of them do but they sure look good that way). You can get a set of discs from Aardvark Models and they are very nice. Alternately, if you prefer the look of wire wheels you might think about either shaving down the spokes of the kit wheels and redoing them with Alclad or really shooting for the moon with a set of hand laced wires. In any case, I welcome you to the hobby and to the small group of us who build Duesenbergs. It is really nice to have a young builder who likes the classics! Have fun. Eric

I am going to be the voice of dissent. I have always liked the 4 door T-birds and would love to own this model myself. Beautiful job on this one! Eric

I built two of these Sciroccos as a middle school student and still have one of them. I painted it a funny light metallic green. I thought it was a good model. In high school I swear half of the kids had cast off VW Rabbits and Dashers but nobody got a Scirocco. I later had a VW Rabbit and then GTI (probably the most enjoyable car I ever owned with a roof) but have never had a chance to drive a Scirocco. I always wondered how it compared to the GTI. That is a bit off the topic. I think you will enjoy the kit. Eric

Personally, I consider this one a real little jewel. It is one of my all time favorite model kits and a favorite to admire on the shelf. The car is simply beautiful and the model offers a good reflection of that beauty. So, you have had a chance to work on a 1:1 Alfa of this vintage? What a treat! Isn't that about a $2-3 million car? WOW! While I have messed around with some Duesenbergs and Rolls Royces I have never had the opportunity to work on an Alfa. You are a lucky guy indeed. Eric

Ken You certainly have my interest here. I have wanted to build a couple models that are not, and never will be available in kit form in 1/24 scale. Perhaps if I can tag along here...I plan to take you up on your challenge and see what I can do. My interests by the way? '29 Ruxton Roadster, '13 Mercer J-35, 33 Marmon V-16 an d'29 Franklin 137. We'll see! I am off to the hobby store on Thursday and may lag behind but will try to get caught up. Eric

Any progress on this project?

I have yet to put my fingers on a photo of one of these cars. I thought I had one in my collection but no luck yet. This is indeed a most impressive model. I only wish I had 10% of your skills! I will be able to use the technique on a Model T I am working on and you have inspired me to take a crack at building a whole body...for a Model T. That is a totally different animal than what you are doing! I look forward to additional steps along the way. Eric

I think this is the most impressive "on the bench" posting I have ever seen. I am learning a tremendous amount here. I appreciate your comments about eyeballing things but you must have a very skilled pair of eyeballs indeed! I will follow this with considerable interest. As a for whatever it's worth, every year there is a "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" car show near my house. There is an MG similar to your build up from our area that has shown up at least a few times along the way. I will try to dig up a photo of the car and post it if you are interested. It is Brittish Racing Green with dark tan hides, of course!

I agree that to turn a V-8 Shelby into a strait six would normally be an abolination. You have done this one justice!

That is pretty cool! I love the colors. Well done!

I particularly like the Continental and the Packard. Beautiful work!

I have watched this posting with interest. Over the years I have built all of the models discussed here. I would be curious which one people think is the best overall. Personally I really like the Monogram '31 Packard Phaeton in metal. It is a model I could build over and over. As for non-Monogram models it is pretty hard to beat Johan's lineup. I have struggled mightily to do a good job with the Cadillac Fleetwood Town Car's pinstriped body but have never come up with an acceptable way to approach that one. A question was presented earlier about the Rolston Roadster and if it is a model of a real car. The answer is "sort of." Terry Adderly of Troy Michigan used to own J-550 (he still might. I just don't know), which was the only Rolston Roadster mounted on the long wheelbase Duesenberg J chassis. It is a beautiful car and Monogram did a pretty good job on it...except, they, like they did on all the other Duesenberg models, left it as a supercharged car. In order to have a correct version of J-550 you would need to either close up the holes in the fender and scratch build hood sides and manifolds or get ahold of Andy Martin at Aardvark models where you can get ahold of a transkit for such purposes. Truth of the matter is except the Torpedo Phaeton, almost all of the Monogram Duesenbergs would benefit from such a transformation. One other comment. S. Jordan, I have spent a fair amount of time admiring your work on the 540 K Coupe. All I can say is WOW! Eric

This one is not a muscle car but the car that got away from me was a 1962 Lincoln Continental Convertible. When I got the car it was light jade (a sort of light metallic green) with a matching interior. I wanted a yellow car so I strripped the green and had the car painted Jamacian Yellow. Then I changed the interior ( a brute of a job) to a Black/white leather combination and added a white top. It ran great and looked better. I drove the car to an AACA meet and won a first Junior with it the very first time the car was out. Later I wanted a Full Classic car and found a 1931 Buick 90 series 7 passenger phaeton I could afford...if I first sold the Lincoln, which I did. The moment I saw the Lincoln being loaded in the trailer I was regretting my decision but a deal is a deal...or so I thought. I called on the Buick (I had placed a deposit on the car) only to have the dealer tell me "we sold it and we're sending your deposit back to you." Never, ever should have let the Lincoln go. The kicker is I have since owned 7 more of those cars and none of them were as good as that '62. I am currently in the process of buying Lincoln Convertible number 11 (yes my math is correct, the car I am discussing was my third of the 10 I have owned so far) which I plan to paint Jamacian Yellow with a Black/White interior!

The actual car is currently owned by the Henry Ford in Dearborn and is on display at the Henry Ford Museum. Brian Joseph of Troy Michigan (who is better known for his work on "lesser" cars, particuarly the Model J Duesenberg) got the car running a couple years ago and it was out driving around at the Old Car Festival a couple Septembers ago. The Bugatti is indeed a light cream colour with dark green trim and has dark green upholstery with a dark green, almost black top. The car is mostly original looking though it is an older restoration done in the late 1940s or so. I hate to say so but it really is a sort of tacky car that could really use a full restoration. Despite that, in talking to the currator of the Henry Ford they are inclined to leave the car as is. There are lots of images of the car on Google images if you want to look it up. Good luck with this most interesting model!

I stand corrected and I omitted one. The Heller Bugatti is indeed a Type 50 not a Type 57, however, the Type 57 is available as a burrago diecast. It needs a lot of work including a complete new set of wheels and tires but could be made into a respectable Type 57 as the shape of the model is about right. True enough my list is a mixture of 1/24 and 1/25 scale models but they all look pretty good together. My omission is I learned there is a '37 Cord Sportsman out there that was done by a Japaneese manufacturer. Anyone know who built it as I do not. Eric

I have followed this thread with considerable interest. Does anyone know if any progress has been made? I am not typically a Chevy guy but would break the mold to get ahold of a few of these! Eric

This is a really beautiful model. Can you tell me more about the wire wheels? I am always interested in the source of such things. Once upon a time I built one of the Matchbox models but can no longer remember which one. It did not look nearly as nice as yours. Well done and great choice of colors. Eric

Last thing, and this is probably more than you ever wanted to know, here is the complete list (to the best of my knowledge) of all of the CCCA models ever made in 1/24 scale. The 1/24 Scale CCCA Classic Models Pyro/Lindberg (5) 1935 Auburn 851Speedster 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton 1948 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet 1929 Mercedes Benz SSK 1931 Bugatti Royale Victoria Monogram (15) 1934 Duesenberg SJ Weyman Torpedo Pheaton 1934 Duesenberg SJ Murphy Town Car 1935 Duesenberg SJ Rollston Roadster 1931 Duesenberg SJ Murphy Speedster 1931 Rolls Royce Phantom II Roadster 1931 Rolls Royce Phantom II Phaeton 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton 1927 Bugatti Type 35B 1938 Mercedes 540K Cabriolet B 1938 Mercedes 540K Coupe 1930 Packard 734 Speedster Runabout 1930 Packard 734 Speedster Phaeton 1931 Packard 840 Custom 8 Phaeton 1932 Cadillac 452B V-16 Phaeton 1941 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet Johan (5) 1931 Cadillac 452A V-16 Cabriolet 1931 Cadillac 452A V-16 Phaeton 1931 Cadillac 452A V-16 Town Car 1934 Mercedes Benz 500K Speziel Roadster 1934 Mercedes Benz 500K Coupe Limousine MPC (4) 1928 Lincoln L 7-passenger Phaeton Locke 1928 Lincoln L Roadster 1932 Chrysler Imperial Convertible Sedan 1932 Chrysler Imperial Convertible Coupe Heller (7) 1930 Alfa Romeo 8C Roadster 1929 Bentley 4 ½ Litre LeMans Racer 1935 Delage D8S Cabriolet by Chapron 1934 Hispano Suiza 6K Town Car Kellner 1932 Bugatti 57C Coupe 1938 Delahaye 135 1939 Mercedes Benz 540K Speziel Sports Roadster Testors-Itelleri (8) 1933 Cadillac 452-C V-16-Joan Crawford Fleetwood Town Car 1933 Cadillac 452-C V-16-Al Jolsen Fleetwood Convertible Sedan 1929 Bugatti Royale Berline de Voyage 1929 Bugatti Royale de Villers Town Car 1929 Bugatti Royale Coupe Napoleon Town Cabriolet 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom-II Maharaja Convertible Sedan 1934 Mercedes-Benz 500K Cabriolet C 1933 Chrysler Imperial Phaeton by LeBaron Bandai (1) 1935 Duesenberg SJ Sedan

One other comment. The Mercedes 540 K by Heller is one I fought with many years ago. Here is is. As you can see, this is a long way from the truly beautiful car that Mercedes built. Eric

I have had the opportunity to buld every model of a CCCA (Classic Car Club of America) Classic in existance. If you want an extensive article I wrote about the topic for the CCCA Bulletin I would be glad to get it to you. As to my opinion, I agree with the posters above with the exception of the Chrysler Imperial by Testors. I have found that one looks a little "off" somehow and has never really captured the essence of the real car. That being said it is not a bad model, it just is not as good as the Monogram kits. The Duesenberg Town Car is a very good choice as is the Packard Phaeton. if you Google images of Packard 734 Phaeton you will find some good photos of several of the remaining 734 Phaetons, though you will find almost all of the correct 734's have rear mounted spares. The exception is the Jepson/Kerr car that is painted in a very nice color scheme; Blue fenders, red undercarriage/ silver body with blue reveals, blue interior, chrome wheels...though as you can see that one has already been done! Good luch with these and if I can be of help let me know. Eric