Tri-Five Chevrolet (no 56 Convertible)????

[ranma]

Don't get me wrong here I like the Tri Five Chevrolets, But I wonder why Revell hasn't made the '56 Bel-air rag top? They done the Convertibles for 55 and 57 yet skipped 56. Does any model company make a 1/25 '56 Chevy Convertible? I know that Franklin mint made them, But I'd like to see them in plastic really!

[Tom Geiger]

Nope, never done!  I too have a diecast of a '56 convertible.

The good news is that the body for the 55-56-57 is essentially the same car.  So it should be easy enough for you to cobble up a '56 convertible.

Note that there isn't a modern kit of the '57 Nomad either.  Revell has the old 1/25 from the dark ages that is one of the most awful assembling kits of all time, and the fairly simple 1/24 old Monogram one,  but I'd like to see a modern tool in the new series.   Even this one is easy to modify from their 56 Nomad.  

So we just will have to wait and see what Revell does for their next act...

Edited May 4, 2018 by Tom Geiger

[espo]

2 hours ago, ranma said:

Don't get me wrong here I like the Tri Five Chevrolets, But I wonder why Revell hasn't made the '56 Bel-air rag top? They done the Convertibles for 55 and 57 yet skipped 56. Does any model company make a 1/25 '56 Chevy Convertible? I know that Franklin mint made them, But I'd like to see them in plastic really!

I agree since I'm a big fan of the "middle child" '56 Chevy's. I would welcome a '56 Convertible as well as a Bel Hardtop.

[Tom Geiger]

11 hours ago, espo said:

I agree since I'm a big fan of the "middle child" '56 Chevy's. I would welcome a '56 Convertible as well as a Bel Hardtop.

I owned this one "back in the day".   You can see the tail end of my 65 Barracuda and 66 Valiant in the driveway.

[BubbaBrown]

Why in the world they made the 56 a del ray and not a bel air I'll never know. Seems like the bel air would appeal to more people . The del ray is even hard to find on chevy info. Its like it didn't sell enough real cars to exist. Thank goodness for MCW.

[Snake45]

23 minutes ago, BubbaBrown said:

Why in the world they made the 56 a del ray and not a bel air I'll never know. 

Because the simpler 210/Del Ray trim is just so much prettier than the Bel Air trim. They did exactly the right thing. 

[Peavus]

I had a 210 hardtop back in the day. Not many of those made

[espo]

My father bought a new '56 Chevy 210 4 door in blue and white with the standard interior. The Del Ray was offered as a dress up for the interior, much like the Ventura option on the Catalina in the early days. As I understand it the interior trim option started in the '54 model run and went thru the '57 model run. In '58 Chevrolet offered it as a standalone model called the Del Ray. In high school one of the guys that I hung out with had a '56 210 2 door in black & white with the Del Ray interior and it looked a whole lot better than our pedestrian 210 with the standard cloth interior and rubber floor covering. While I'm thankful for the Revell 210 sedan I still would have rather have the Bel Air since it was definitely better looking.  

[Mr. Metallic]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 5:51 AM, Tom Geiger said:

Note that there isn't a modern kit of the '57 Nomad either.

So we just will have to wait and see what Revell does for their next act...

No 55 Nomad either, although the old AMT kit builds up well, perhaps that is why Revell hasn't done one. On the other hand, like you say, the available 57 Nomads are not very good, so why we haven't gotten a new one from Revell yet is surprising.

[SfanGoch]

The same could be said about a slew of '50s autos which seem like no-brainer subjects as scale model kits. 

[Chuck Most]

From what I'm told, drop-top model kits don't sell nearly as well as fixed-roof variants. I'm more surprised that we don't have a good '57 Nomad. 

[Snake45]

Could a good '57 Nomad be made by kitbashing the Revell '57 Bel Air 2DS body with their '56 Nomad?

[Tom Geiger]

29 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Could a good '57 Nomad be made by kitbashing the Revell '57 Bel Air 2DS body with their '56 Nomad?

Exactly! I’ve seen it done, on one of the forums. I believe SE LTD offered that conversion as a kit

[SfanGoch]

MCW makes a '57 Nomad body with interior tub and other parts for use with the '57 Bel Air Sedan. 

[horsepower]

On 5/4/2018 at 7:59 PM, Snake45 said:

Because the simpler 210/Del Ray trim is just so much prettier than the Bel Air trim. They did exactly the right thing. 

Nope. As an owner of a '56 Bel-Air sedan I'd have to disagree with you there, the exterior trim is just the cherry on top of a very great ice cream sundae with the fancy nuts and extra flavor abundant in the interior also.?

[NOBLNG]

Love these cars! One of my regrets in life is that when I was 16 years old, I found a Bel Air convertible sitting in a farmer's field with 1964 California plates on it. The front bumper was in the back seat and it had a tow bar on it. The top and the interior were trashed, but no exterior rust anywhere that I could see (rare in Manitoba). I was told by the farmer who the owner was and that he lived in a small town in Alberta.

Through a fluke of luck I was at a kids party in a neighboring town and low and behold, here was a phone book for the town in Alberta. I looked him up, sent him a letter (no e-mails or texts back then). He said I could have it for $500.00.

Being a stupid kid and wanting something I could drive, I bought a '67 Falcon instead. Oh well, I am happy where I am in life, and who knows how one little decision could change the coarse of things? Sigh...

Edited May 10, 2018 by NOBLNG