Art Laski Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) Starting a new build for a friend of mine. A few years back he asked me if I would build him a model, and he asked about an Edsel Ford Model 40 Speedster. I had no idea what this even was, so I did a little internet research on the car, then went looking for a model of it. It turns out that this was a one-off car Edsel Ford had built in the early thirties. Long story short, it resurfaced a few years ago and was recently restored. Here are some pics of the car: You can read about the history of it here: http://www.fordhouse.org/experience/edsel-fords-1934-special-speedster/the-story Once I know what I was looking for, I set about seeing if one was produced in scale. I immediately found that there were die casts out there, but he was more interested in having a model built by me. However, all the searching I was doing came up with nothing for a while. Then somehow, I found out that one was produced in resin in 1/25th scale by R&D Unique several years ago. The release of this kit actually predated the restoration, so it was based on the unrestored version, which was painted red when it was located. So now I knew it existed, but R&D Unique has been out of business for a few years now, so finding one was going to be a challenge. In fact, I searched for a year and came up empty. Then at one of the local shows here in So Cal, I was vending next to a guy that had several unique resin kits that I was particularly noticing. As we were chatting about different kits, he pulled a bin out from under the table and said, “I bet you haven’t seen one of these before!.” I just about freaked out and told him I had been looking for one for over a year. So I asked him “How much?”, and he replied, “Oh, this one wasn’t for sale.” At the end of the day, though, he gave me his number and told me to give him a call. So I did and he was willing to let it go after all. As mentioned, it’s a resin kit, and also requires a donor kit. Here's the R&D kit: Here’s the ’37 Ford Pickup donor kit: And the pieces used from the kit: I started some work on the body and the front end fell off! It loks like it was poured just a little, then the rest filled up. I decided to replace the molded in bezels with the kit pieces. I’m also going to replace the louvres and grills. Edited February 19, 2016 by Art Laski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) This should be fascinating. This is a car I've never seen done in 1/24-1/25 scale, and had seriously thought about scratching on a modified '34 chassis. The first version of the car had a different grille and headlight treatment, so I guess I'll have to try that one instead. I'll be following your progress. Edited February 19, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CometMan Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Great project Art, will be looking forward to seeing your progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne swayze Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Quite the project! Hope you every success with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTJUNIOR Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Very cool subject Art. Are you planning to put a motor and transmission in it or is it going to be curbside? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Very cool looking car and what a great project. For some reason it makes me think of a pedal car. : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Teresi Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Art.....glad to see you exsploring new things......this looks like a great project for you......I know this will be awesome when your finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 I always liked this car and will enjoy watching you put one together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 What a great project.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Dittos, Art! GREAT project. It was a very interesting car in its day, and there's nothing quite like recreating a one-of-a-kind. Watching this one . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Looking forward to seeing this being built. I liked the direction Edsel Ford was going with the design of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 hmm great project !! very curious !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Great project Art. I'm in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtx6970 Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Be a pretty cool project. of a rather unusal subject,,,which means I'm in Got to say I'm not a fan of the way they did the headlight / front lower nose area. Still cool overall though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louie Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Definitely good stuff Art. Anytime I see your name Art I know whatever it is That you are working on is going to be great. Thanks. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 This is going to be a fun build to follow.Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landman Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Very interesting & challenging. The odds of finding one were astronomical yet you found it. I'll be sure to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 I was wondering if the present grille and headlights had been changed since sealed beam headlights did not come out until 1940. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 This should be fascinating. This is a car I've never seen done in 1/24-1/25 scale, and had seriously thought about scratching on a modified '34 chassis. The first version of the car had a different grille and headlight treatment, so I guess I'll have to try that one instead. I'll be following your progress. Thanks, Bill. That is how it looked in its original incarnation. Looks like a lot or work to get that version to me! It's kind of cooler looking , though. Thanks for looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 Great project Art, will be looking forward to seeing your progress!Thanks, Craig, Appreciate you watching.Quite the project! Hope you every success with this.Thank you, Wayne! I'm not going crazy on this one, but it's a rough beginning.Very cool subject Art. Are you planning to put a motor and transmission in it or is it going to be curbside? Tony, thanks for looking. No, I won't be going into that level of detail on this one. I've got some other builds I'd rather spend the time on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 Very cool looking car and what a great project. For some reason it makes me think of a pedal car. : )Thanks for looking, Ray. It does have that look of the pedal cars from that era, especially when it was painted red!Art.....glad to see you exsploring new things......this looks like a great project for you......I know this will be awesome when your finished. Thanks, Brother. I'll be applying everything I've learned from you, or sure!I always liked this car and will enjoy watching you put one together.Thanks, Mike. Appreciate the comment very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 What a great project.. Thanks for looking, Carl. Dittos, Art! GREAT project. It was a very interesting car in its day, and there's nothing quite like recreating a one-of-a-kind. Watching this one . . . Yeah, it's pretty unique. Thanks for watching, Danno! I'll have it at DSC for sure. Looking forward to seeing this being built. I liked the direction Edsel Ford was going with the design of this. Me too, Andy. It's a nice-looking car. If only Edsel's name had been associated with this instead of the Edsel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 hmm great project !! very curious !!Thanks for looking, Richard!Great project Art. I'm in.Thanks, JC. Hopefully it will be a short ride! Be a pretty cool project. of a rather unusal subject,,,which means I'm in Got to say I'm not a fan of the way they did the headlight / front lower nose area. Still cool overall thoughGlad to have you along, Bill. Yeah, I kind of like the original version a little better, but I can still appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 Definitely good stuff Art. Anytime I see your name Art I know whatever it is That you are working on is going to be great. Thanks. Jeff Wow, Jeff, thank you! That means a lot, and I'll do my best on it. I wish I had a little better foundation to start with, but the challenge is making it look good. I'm up to it.This is going to be a fun build to follow.Thanks for sharing.Thanks for following along, Tom. My pleasure to share...Very interesting & challenging. The odds of finding one were astronomical yet you found it. I'll be sure to follow.Pat, you're right, I was lucky to find one, because I looked high and low with no success for a long while, But here's the funny part- 4 months later I found another one at a show for a fraction of the price I paid for this one. I snapped that up too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted February 20, 2016 Author Share Posted February 20, 2016 I was wondering if the present grille and headlights had been changed since sealed beam headlights did not come out until 1940.It definitely was. The original version is pictured above in this thread. I'm not sure what year that change took place, but maybe your observation pins that down a little. Thanks for looking, Jeff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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