`65 Plymouth Hemi Super Stock "Melrose Missile"-Moebius/Model King

[SteveG]

Unless you find photos to back it up. these engines could have been orange or as a lot of racers did back then,,,,, it might have been black

 

My gut feeling is this car was NOT a factory Hemi car . The Hemi was pretty much relegated to the sedan not the hardtop.

That's not true Bill, there's plenty of documentation about the Factory built and supported 65 Plymouth and Dodge Hemi Hardtop cars which all started out in the 2 percent configuration with the Hemi Cross-ram. The Melrose Missile was one of them. Later they were all modified into the more famous fully altered AFX cars.  The A990 Hemi Sedans came later and plenty were modified using Chryslers over the counter light weight parts kits and some got a similar altered wheel base conversion just like the Hardtops. They just didn't the get the full factory support like the Hardtops did.   

-Steve

[gtx6970]

Steve.

I'll respectfully dis-agree.

All the 1965 RO+WO (aka race hemi cars) were sedans.

The factory built hardtop AFX cars on the other  hand started off as a body in white i believe....i think . 

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2016 by gtx6970

[Dave Metzner]

Yes the instruction sheet is wrong, I managed to get the right photos of the ORANGE Hemi engine into the sheet but missed the old paint color reference in the copy.

Hemi engines were Orange from the factory, as were the Max Wedge engines before them.  Chrysler painted their high performance engines Orange and the grocery getter engines blue at that time.

Race car engines were often bare iron color as real racers didn't waste time painting engine blocks and heads, a lot of real race engines were not fresh from the factory..

 

[Jim_Kampmann]

Steve.

I'll respectfully dis-agree.

All the 1965 RO+WO (aka race hemi cars) were sedans.

The factory built hardtop AFX cars on the other  hand started off as a body in white i believe....i think . 

 

 

 

Steve is correct. Chrysler put four hardtops together for the '65 NHRA Winternationals. The Melrose Missile that Moebius produced is one of those cars. Refer to the excellent book titled "Maximum Performance" by James J. Schild. The other three cars were the Golden Commandos, the Ramchargers and Color Me Gone. 

Thanks,

Jim Kampmann

[gtx6970]

Steve is correct. Chrysler put four hardtops together for the '65 NHRA Winternationals. The Melrose Missile that Moebius produced is one of those cars. Refer to the excellent book titled "Maximum Performance" by James J. Schild. The other three cars were the Golden Commandos, the Ramchargers and Color Me Gone. 

Thanks,

Jim Kampmann

This is very true. But put them together,,, from what ?
Mopar used vin designations to determine what engine the body had .  And that vin starts with RO for a Belvedere  sedan and WO for a Coronet sedan .

But by VIN they are not Hemi cars. Just cars with a Hemi in it .

Anyone have or know the vehicle identification number for any or all of the above 4 cars .Did they start life as a body in white like the AFX cars did, or were they cars pulled from the line destined to be something else ? I dont know .

[Jim_Kampmann]

This is very true. But put them together,,, from what ?
Mopar used vin designations to determine what engine the body had .  And that vin starts with RO for a Belvedere  sedan and WO for a Coronet sedan .

But by VIN they are not Hemi cars. Just cars with a Hemi in it .

Anyone have or know the vehicle identification number for any or all of the above 4 cars .Did they start life as a body in white like the AFX cars did, or were they cars pulled from the line destined to be something else ? I dont know .

Bill,

The cars were put together from a 'body in white' by Chrysler with A990 sedan parts. The Melrose Missile hardtop remained in California and was converted into the A/FX altered wheelbase car.

There's plenty of information out there if you want to find it. 

Jim

[1972coronet]

"RO" = R- Plymouth Midsize , O- Super Stock

"WO" = W- Dodge Midsize , O- Super Stock

The 1965 Coronet and Belvedere 'Super Stock' cars had V.I.N.'s as follows : "WO51" and "RO51" ; the "5" = 1965 model year , the "1" = Lynch Road Assembly Plant .

Just a reminder ; "Reverse" lights / "Back-Up" lights weren't required until 01/01/1965 , so some early 65's will be sans back-up lamp provisions . Why am I mentioning this ? For the rivet counters whom wish to properly replicate an early '65 production version .

[wrenchr]

Just placed my order!!! 

Jason Crabtree.

Edited May 20, 2016 by wrenchr

[vairnut]

Recieved 2 of the kits in the mail Friday. Both boxes had bulges on top from the body not being inside the box bottom when sealed. Both bodies are straight so I got lucky this time. Did get 2 replacement Satelite bodies for $10 shipping from Moebius. They really need a deeper box to fit this kit in. 

Edited May 23, 2016 by vairnut

[hack-n-whack]

I got my Melrose Missile from the Modelcave. Thanks Moebius for kitting a series of kits heretofore never done in plastic! I just wish I had more info on MM's interior. I like what they did with their Belvedere kit interior. Did the Melrose Missile have a Satellite or Belvedere interior?  I know that I have to make a roll bar too. I agree with vairnut. Moebius does need a deeper box for all those parts.

[High octane]

I had to order my "Missle" from my LHS and paid a steep price for it, however I do believe in supporting my LHS and would sorely miss them if they "folded up." I only open 'bout 30 % of my kits, however I did open the Missle today to see if there was any body damage due to packaging. I even manange to get all the parts back in the box minus the body. The was everything was "crammed" in the box, one would think that this was a 3 in 1 kit. While I remember seeing these Super Stocks race back-in-the-day, I have no idea when I'll get to building my Missle kit as I have a lot of other models I'd like to get built also.

[gtx6970]

 Did the Melrose Missile have a Satellite or Belvedere interior? 

My money is on it had  the satellite interior.

 

 

[Jim_Kampmann]

My money is on it had  the satellite interior.

 

 

My money is it did not. Each 'Mule' car from Chrysler came with all of the A990 stuff. 

Jim

[Dave Toups]

Yes the instruction sheet is wrong, I managed to get the right photos of the ORANGE Hemi engine into the sheet but missed the old paint color reference in the copy.

Hemi engines were Orange from the factory, as were the Max Wedge engines before them.  Chrysler painted their high performance engines Orange and the grocery getter engines blue at that time.

Race car engines were often bare iron color as real racers didn't waste time painting engine blocks and heads, a lot of real race engines were not fresh from the factory..

 

I read somewhere that Jake King used to paint the Hemis he built for Sox & Martin Ford blue! He started out racing Fords after all

[hack-n-whack]

Re: Satellite or Belvedere interior : Moebius has a (nearly) correct factory race-car interior in their Belvedere sedan kit (the one with the red car on the box cover). It still has a deluxe Satillite dashboard. I   would much rather remove the excess trim ( radio, heater and glove-box trim ) than try to add it on. I'm not sure if the steering wheel needs modification. Maybe some Mopar expert can chime in and further enlighten us. Also, the dual quad manifold isn't correct for a hemi, but that's nitpicking as it's correct for a wedge motor. While no kit is 100% accurate, I'm glad Moebius kitted it!.