Bernard Kron Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 (edited) '29 Ford Roadster Pre War Lakes Style - The Race Of Gentlemen Beach Racer This is my last one for 2017, just under the wire. I built this '29 Ford Roadster for the upcoming NNL West in Santa Clara, California. One of this year’s Theme Tables will be dedicated to the wildly popular The Race Of Gentlemen (TROG) meets that happen once a year in Wildwood, New Jersey (the original one),and now in Pismo Beach, California. It’s dedicated to recreating the early days of hot rod speed trials and entries are limited to hit rods and motorcycles of the immediate pre and post-war era. Racing is in short, straight line contest on public beaches, along with various demonstrations of driving acrobatics and daring do. There’s even a kustom car parade and show that’s now included on Saturday night. It’s a long-weekend affair and draws huge crowds. One popular style of car that the organizers have always included is a pre-war style 4-banger dry lakes style car, very often a ’29 Ford. Quite often they’re festooned with period logos of racing clubs, garages and speed equipment. In point of fact this is not totally “accurate” in that, while cars decorated in this manner existed at the time, they were generally promotional cars used in parades, as starter’s or pace cars at race tracks, and for display work in showrooms and at trade shows. Race cars were somewhat simpler in their décor: while permanent painted on race numbers were very common, trade logos and trade names were used sparingly, and if you had a sponsor you usually acknowledged them by naming the car after them – in this case it’s the Gilmore Red Lion Special. Gilmore Oil Company was a major regional oil and gasoline company based in Los Angeles. They were both drillers and refiners. Most of their drilling rigs were in the Signal Hill area down by where Los Angeles International Airport is now. They also operated a chain of gas stations. In the 30’s they sold a high octane ethyl gasoline called Red Lion and promoted it by sponsoring racing cars, speed boats and airplanes. This model celebrates Red Lion Gasoline, which featured some great graphics. All the decals on the car are home-made and the logos and trademarks are all authentic, lifted directly from period advertising. I tried to keep the color scheme and details as period correct as I could, inspired by Gilmore sponsored machines of the era. The car itself is based on the AMT ’29 Ford Roadster. Like the real race cars of the period it is largely stock, with stock chassis and suspension. The motor is hopped up with a Riley 2-Port high compression head with overhead intake valves (an F-head design). The Riley 2-port comes from a Revell ’30 Ford Sedan kit. The wheels and front tires are from an AMT ’34 Ford 5-window coupe, the rear tires from a Revell ’40 Ford Standard kit. The whitewalls have been blacked out. Otherwise the kit is the only other source for parts and, with the exception of modifications to accommodate the fenderless aspect of the car, it’s pretty much out-of-the-box. Thanx for lookin’, B. Edited December 31, 2017 by Bernard Kron
TooOld Posted December 27, 2017 Posted December 27, 2017 Another '29 roadster , I love it ! Really like the Gilmore decals on this one .
Bernard Kron Posted December 31, 2017 Author Posted December 31, 2017 Thanks everyone. The AMT '29 Ford Roadster kit, particularly the newly released Mod Rod re-issue is the perfect source for doing one of these. It even includes some of the period speedparts and the stock chassis and crisp body moldings are just the ticket. I'm glad you all enjoyed my humble rendition. Thanx again!
Phildaupho Posted December 31, 2017 Posted December 31, 2017 You captured the look perfectly. I would sure like to attend one of these events.
DustyMojave Posted December 31, 2017 Posted December 31, 2017 It came out very nice Bernard. In the 1930s my dad who was a kid at the time, through various connections, wound up getting a plane ride with famous aviator Curtis Turner, who was sponsored by Gilmore Red Lion. During the flight, he was holding a lion cub mascot in his lap. One of his favorite memories. Dad passed away in 2000, so I can't get any more info from him about it now.
Bernard Kron Posted December 31, 2017 Author Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) 15 hours ago, Phildaupho said: You captured the look perfectly. I would sure like to attend one of these events. Thanks Phil! Likewise for me. Dennis Lacey reports that the Pismo Beach race is no more and that they're looking for a venue further north perhaps in Oregon or even Washington! Fingers crossed! 15 hours ago, DustyMojave said: It came out very nice Bernard. In the 1930s my dad who was a kid at the time, through various connections, wound up getting a plane ride with famous aviator Curtis Turner, who was sponsored by Gilmore Red Lion. During the flight, he was holding a lion cub mascot in his lap. One of his favorite memories. Dad passed away in 2000, so I can't get any more info from him about it now. Thanks Richard. Neat story. A little web crawling yielded some interesting pictures. First off Roscoe Turner and "Gilmore the Flying Lion", flying fit and later in life...: Your dad undoubtedly flew in the 1930 Lockheed Air Express which Turner obtained for Gilmore specifically because it could haul passengers and, along with his air racing exploits in the famous Weddell-Williams 44 pylon racer, Turner added additional promotional power to his Gilmore relationship(s). With the Air Express Turner had the ability to include his pet lion cub which became a feature of the flights. Gilmore (the lion cub) grew too big in 1935 and his flying days were over, but Turner kept him until Gilmore the Flying Lion passed away in 1952, at which point Turner had him stuffed and displayed Gilmore in his home until Turner's death in 1970. In 1976 Gilmore the Flying Lion became part of the Smithsonian Institute's collection of Americana and memorabilia. Here's a picture of the two airplanes in their famous Gilmore livery: Here's a color picture of the Weddell-Williams 44 which inspired my color and decal scheme: Edited December 31, 2017 by Bernard Kron
unclescott58 Posted December 31, 2017 Posted December 31, 2017 A very nice model. I did something similar with one of the cars from The latest Mod Rod reissue.
crazyjim Posted December 31, 2017 Posted December 31, 2017 Very cool. Is that the build from the February 2018 SA issue?
Bernard Kron Posted December 31, 2017 Author Posted December 31, 2017 9 minutes ago, crazyjim said: Very cool. Is that the build from the February 2018 SA issue? Thanks again guys! Jim, my car is based on the AMT '29 Ford Roadster kit the Mod Rod version of which has recently been refreshed and re-issued by Round 2, as Scott just referred to. The SA car is a chopped coupe and was built by the author of the feature, Tim Boyd. I'm pretty sure it's the temporarily MIA Revell '30 Coupe which was released last year.
Lovefordgalaxie Posted December 31, 2017 Posted December 31, 2017 It looks so cool, I can hear the four banger running!!
Snake45 Posted January 1, 2018 Posted January 1, 2018 Different, interesting, and cool! You captured the feel of these things perfectly.
Bernard Kron Posted January 1, 2018 Author Posted January 1, 2018 Thanks so much, once more. I'm surprised (and delighted) at just how strong a connection this vintage style of race car is making, Proof is, of course, in the enormous popularity of TROG itself, and also here on the forums with posts on cars done in this style. They really are the roots of hot rodding so its nice to see the interest they garner. Happy New Year everyone!
DustyMojave Posted January 1, 2018 Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) That same paint scheme and graphics were used in the day on at least a couple of sprint cars (one of which was being vintage raced with WRA http://www.westernracing.com/ in the 80s and 90s) and a midget that I've seen. You did a good job putting it together in a manner that would certainly have been approved by the Gilmore ad department. Edited January 1, 2018 by DustyMojave
tim boyd Posted January 3, 2018 Posted January 3, 2018 On 12/31/2017 at 9:18 AM, Bernard Kron said: Thanks again guys! Jim, my car is based on the AMT '29 Ford Roadster kit the Mod Rod version of which has recently been refreshed and re-issued by Round 2, as Scott just referred to. The SA car is a chopped coupe and was built by the author of the feature, Tim Boyd. I'm pretty sure it's the temporarily MIA Revell '30 Coupe which was released last year. Bernard....yet another winner from your modeling desk, and timely as all heck, too! As for the Feb 2018 SA Vintage Beach Racing demonstration car, it is essentially the Revell '30A Coupe body, the Altered States extreme chopped top, the kit's "skeleton" interior reformatted to a highboy (non-channeled configuration), and almost everything else from the oft-reissued Revell '31 Sedan kit. Interesting that we both used the Revell kit Riley two-port engine, and the headers from two of the AMT 1929 Model A Roadster kits!!!. The primary purpose of that article was to offer lots of ideas for your own Vintage Beach Racer builds. (Just an FYI....while the article was completed in early October, it just hit the newstands a week or so ago, well after Bernard's build was complete, so the originality shown here is all his!.) TIM
Bernard Kron Posted January 9, 2018 Author Posted January 9, 2018 On 1/1/2018 at 3:32 PM, DustyMojave said: That same paint scheme and graphics were used in the day on at least a couple of sprint cars (one of which was being vintage raced with WRA http://www.westernracing.com/ in the 80s and 90s) and a midget that I've seen. You did a good job putting it together in a manner that would certainly have been approved by the Gilmore ad department. On 1/2/2018 at 4:41 PM, tim boyd said: Bernard....yet another winner from your modeling desk, and timely as all heck, too! As for the Feb 2018 SA Vintage Beach Racing demonstration car, it is essentially the Revell '30A Coupe body, the Altered States extreme chopped top, the kit's "skeleton" interior reformatted to a highboy (non-channeled configuration), and almost everything else from the oft-reissued Revell '31 Sedan kit. Interesting that we both used the Revell kit Riley two-port engine, and the headers from two of the AMT 1929 Model A Roadster kits!!!. The primary purpose of that article was to offer lots of ideas for your own Vintage Beach Racer builds. (Just an FYI....while the article was completed in early October, it just hit the newstands a week or so ago, well after Bernard's build was complete, so the originality shown here is all his!.) TIM Thanks Richard and Tim. Richard, even though I don't remeber I I can't see how I didn't "abosrpb the image below in doing this car. The coincidence is just too great, even down to the color choice... Tim, I'm glad you liked. I'll be sure to check out the article. You're always such a trove of modeling lore, especially for us kit bashers!
Bernard Kron Posted February 5, 2018 Author Posted February 5, 2018 Just got back from the show and... Completely unexpected but deeply appreciated...
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