Are you ready for the (Gold) Rush???

[Faust]

By now, I’m sure anyone who knows me realizes that I do have a soft spot for MPC kits. The good folks at MPC seem to have been on the same wavelength as me when it comes to what makes a great car kit. Good interior detail, bizarre subject matter and a heaping helping of ‘zeitgeist’ are all essential.

They must also have known that I LOVE street vans, since they made a bus-tonne of them back in the day. Mind you, there were a lot of the real things back then too! More than any other maker, I think, MPC really seemed to embrace Vannin’, and that means there are a lot of good (well, interesting, at least) van kits out there.

Recently, Round 2 reissued one: Bad Company. This was the 1982 annual of the mid-‘70s Dodge van. However, there were many other Dodge street vans before Bad Company. One of the rarer ones seems to be Gold Rush, a completely crazy custom van that could only have arisen from MPC in the ‘70s. My brother managed to snag me a copy, and I present to you an out of box review for this wild roller at the link below.

For whatever reason, I don’t seem to be able to find many other reviews of this thing, so maybe it’s been forgotten? Well, I couldn’t let that stand! Check it out, and rest assured, THIS THING WILL GET BUILT!!

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/mpc-124-gold-rush-custom-dodge-van-oob/

 

Edited March 24, 2016 by Faust

[Renegade]

Very cool old kit. Great find.

[Mark]

Watch the decals when you build it.  A buddy of mine built one of these a few years ago; he said the decals were the toughest part of the build because the MPC decals from that era (even when new) fell apart when you dipped them in the water.  I think he shot them with clear before trying to put them on.

[louie]

I absolutely love All the stuff that mpc did back in the day,same with this kit. Love it, Love it, Love it. Thanks for sharing this one.     Jeff 

[fomocomav]

Those tire marks you speak of in your review are not unique to MPC.  I have a Jo-Han Toronado windshield I could use as half of a mold to get a perfect resin tire if I needed to.

[Faust]

Thanks for the warning about the decals. I will try to remember that, Mark.

I know what you mean, Jeff. It's just such a great, over-the-top combination of senseless excess and almost childish abandon. MPC's subjects were great, but their customs were often even better!

[RancheroSteve]

Not my thing at all, but I totally appreciate your enthusiasm, your sense of humor, and your writing skills!

Edited March 25, 2016 by RancheroSteve

[CapSat 6]

I read the title of your post and thought to myself: "oh no he didn't...". 

Then I opened the post, and thought "oh yes he did!!!". 

Loved the review. The subject reminds me of those radically-customized vans you used to see in the old "World of Wheels" show magazines. There were some custom vans made back in the day that weren't too far off from this one. 

I always had a soft spot for MPC kits...as I was born in the '70's, and MPC in the late '70's always seemed to be on the leading edge of automotive tastes for the time...Muscle Cars were almost mythical by 1979 (you'd usually see "real" Muscle Cars parked on the street or in a yard in Philly where I grew up...rarely driven even by then). More often, you would see new Trans Ams, El Caminos, and...custom vans. 

"Mushroom Man"'s new model Econoline was one of them, with porthole windows and wooden bumpers (with -you guessed it- " Mushroom Man" burnt into them). Not all that controversial, when you consider we had a real live head shop in our neighborhood as well. Also, there was Daryl, the Philadelphia Fireman, who had a mostly stock '79 Dodge Van, with airbrushed murals down both entire sides of the van, of cartoon firemen fighting a fire in an Old West town, one with a damsel in distress over his shoulder. That Van ran around Roxborough for about 15 years, and I never once thought of shooting a picture of it, although I kick myself now thinking about that. 

Good times!!!

Edited March 25, 2016 by CapSat 6

[Tom Geiger]

An old favorite of mine!  I love the old MPC series of Dodge vans. I once pulled out half a dozen rebuilders looking for one to cut up for parts... then I noticed that each one was different.  MPC faithfully updated that van every year including details like the roof stiffening indents.  For all that good faith, the one major thing that's wrong with this series was that they started out with the long wheelbase Sportsman 300 window van, and never shortened the van to normal wheelbase, which most of the custom vans of this era were based on!   

The other big issue if you are using the IMSA flair custom option is that it interferes with the side doors.  They simply wouldn't open!  So I had thought about puttying in the door lines as a 1:1 vanner would have had to do.  

I've had this kit forever and back then I traveled on business to Denver a lot. We stayed in a hotel called the Greystone Castle up on 130th St in Thornton, and the night club attached to it was called "The Rush".   So I day dreamed about building this van as a light commercial advertising vehicle for this night club.  I would simply cut "GOLD" off the decals and how hard would it have been to find a decal "THE"?   But the poor quality of the decals (I see yours are mis registered too!) kept me from attempting the project. And with a 50% chance of them disintegrating upon contact with water! Still, I'm hoping you build it.  Maybe mask off (using Tamiya Tape) some of the color separations?     

Anyway, thanks for dredging up an old memory probably best left back in the past.  Still, I would be amused to see you actually build it in the right spirit!

Edited March 25, 2016 by Tom Geiger

[High octane]

And here I had thought that THIS was the Gold Rush..................................

[Faust]

Bill:

I know exactly what you mean; I have a couple of the old Hot Rod Show World books, and there are vans similar to Gold Rush in there as well. It's a shame it doesn't have anything as wild as the awesome murals you're describing, because that is indeed how I remember these vans. Wild scenes of buxom viking chicks riding polar bears or wolves, wizards, lightning, castles, fog, dragons... either that or desert wates or space themes. Good times, man, good times. I loved those things at car shows when I was younger. Always wanted one, but my age and the age of such vans didn't quite synch up. Good thing is now I can make my own!  

Tom:

I can guarantee that I'll build this in the right spirit. The key will be to make the interior reflect the exterior's colour scheme. That's always the hard part: How can you paint the interior such that it is imaginative, but still reflects what would seem to be a contiguous train of thought and approach to colour? Thankfully, the full '70s pallette of orange/gold/brown are represented, so I have lots to choose from.

Thanks for the compliments, guys!

[CapSat 6]

Since we're in the mood...here are some pics I was able to get at Chryslers @ Carlisle. A few custom vans are showing up there every year lately. 

This beauty seems to be a recently restored one...no murals, but check the interior: 

 

[CapSat 6]

This one was for sale, in pretty decent shape:

 

[CapSat 6]

Here's the interior (shot from the side doors) of one for sale that was less than mint. Vintage interior here!

 

[High octane]

Here's the interior (shot from the side doors) of one for sale that was less than mint. Vintage interior here!

 

Those custom vans are really cool, as my brother-in-law used to build them back in the early 80's.

[Faust]

Oh man, those are awesome!

Talk about inspiration! 

No wonder they're "shaggin' wagons", look at all that shag carpet in there! They look more like cat condos than vans!

Those things are just great, and they are certainly good examples of what could be done with a rolling box! I can't get over how overblown most of those vans are and were. Such a good time!

[disabled modeler]

This one was for sale, in pretty decent shape:

 

Yes..!  Now this one is what I am trying to find to build a replica of one I use to own....mine was a factory sold custom...thing was beautiful..!

[Tom Geiger]

 

No wonder they're "shaggin' wagons", look at all that shag carpet in there!

actually shaggin' had nothing to do with carpet!       

[Faust]

Oh, I'm not so sure about that. 

Mind you, rug burn might be an issue

[RancheroSteve]

I still see some pretty wild vans around on the street:

 

 

[Deathgoblin]

I really like the separate "bedroom" in these.    

[CFMgarage]

Watch the decals when you build it.  A buddy of mine built one of these a few years ago; he said the decals were the toughest part of the build because the MPC decals from that era (even when new) fell apart when you dipped them in the water.  I think he shot them with clear before trying to put them on.

Mark, I usually just lay down another (light) layer of urethane clear or testors decal bonder and I'm good.

[Joe Handley]

Here's the interior (shot from the side doors) of one for sale that was less than mint. Vintage interior here!

 

That carpeting looks familiar, I just can't remember if it was from one of the houses I've lived in, or in one belonging to a family friend or a relative...........

[Joe Handley]

Oh, and on the IMSA flare issue, maybe make that door some sort of gullwing door arrangementp.>

[louie]

Oh, and on the IMSA flare issue, maybe make that door some sort of gullwing door arrangementp.>

now that's a great idea. I never thought about this for the side barn doors. I had a few of these kits way back and always wondered how you could open up the doors with the IMSA flares in the way.   Thanks.     Jeff