Aurora's Show Rod kits in 1:32 scale

[blunc]

This thread was inspired by another thread:

Aurora made more than one show rod model kit but used kit names that didn't require licensing (I'm guessing here). One of the first that I spotted being the Car Craft cover version of the Li'l Coffin which (as far as I can tell) came out as "32 Skid-Doo"...as mentioned in the Li'l Coffin thread.

 

The next Aurora show rod I spotted was the Silver Sapphire or, otherwise known as the Little Deuce Coupe from the Beach Boys song...which Aurora sold as the Ram Rod

 

I am wondering if anyone here has ideas or info on what cars or show rods Aurora use as inspiration for the following kits:

Old Ironsides

Meat Wagon

Hot Surfer

39 La Salle Hearse

Beatnik Box

Snap Dragon

"T" For Two (I think I spotted this one but forgot where)

Sad Sack

Wolf Wagon

Road Raider

Moody Monster

Woodin Wagon

Scat Cat

The Charger

Shiftin Drifter

Hi Stepper

The Spyder

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by blunc
typo

[Greg Myers]

T for Two http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0911sr-tall-t-1960s-hot-rod-jim-cruces/

[Casey]

 

[Russell C]

Just spotted it in a current ebay sale, the Beatnik Box has an interesting supercharger setup. Would be handy if it was done in 25th scale....

[ChrisBcritter]

27 minutes ago, Russell C said:

Would be handy if it was done in 25th scale....

AMT put a very similar two-pot McCulloch setup in their '61 Ford and '62 through '64 full-size Mercurys; the blower unit above looks like the one in the '57 Ford kit.

Edited September 25, 2018 by ChrisBcritter

[alan barton]

Did someone say 1/32 scale Aurora?  I am a nut for these things and have managed to amass all the original hot rods - I must admit to not chasing Old Ironsides, The Meat Wagon or the Heavenly Hearse because they did not appeal to my traditional definition of a hot rod.

What I can tell you is that pretty much every one of these cars was originally featured in either Car Craft, Hot Rod or Rod and Custom around 1961 - 1964.  I thought I had written down all the corresponding articles and magazine issue dates somewhere but can't seem to find it right now.

The ones I know for a fact existed in real life are as follows.

Shiftin Drifter - right down to the rear bumper and taillights

Scat Cat including the Rolls Royce grille shell

The Spyder

Beatnik Box

32 Skidoo - the early version of Dave Stuckey's Lil Coffin before Darryl Starbird bought it.

Wolf Wagon (including the bed rails and rippled exhaust pipes

Moody Monster - a very famous drag car, Hugh Tucker's silver 29 Chevy.  The only thing missing is the full hood that Tucker usually ran.

Tee For Two - the only one that used the original car's name.  I modified my version to run a flathead but the real car later replaced the flathead with a Chevy, still with the unique exhausts out the front of the car.

If Road Raider was the Buick Touring, then that is in the magazines as well.

I hadn't found The Charger before until I followed the link in this thread to another thread that I somehow missed before.

I figure if such a high proportion have appeared in magazine articles, maybe they ALL did?  Unfortunately my early sixties Car Craft and R&C collection has a few gaps so I can't be sure but it makes sense to me.

I believe that Snap Draggin, the 27 T coupe, is the rarest of all of them.  I am very fortunate to have a restored one in my collection.  It not only had a 390 Ford instead of a 409 Chevy, but also had totally different wheels and tyres to every other model in the series as well as posed front wheels.  The grille was a very squared off version of the Ala Kart or Silver Sapphire grille.  Not that pretty and I didn't lose a lot of sleep over the fact that mine was missing!  With a  copyright date molded in the floor for 1965, I believe this was the last Aurora hot rod to be designed.  I would love to know if, with the significant engine and wheel changes, if it was to be the start of a new generation of hot rod designs that sadly never continued.  I guess we can only speculate now.  I will see if I can find some photos of my collection too post here.

Cheers

[Russell C]

25 minutes ago, ChrisBcritter said:

AMT put a very similar two-pot McCulloch setup in their '61 Ford and '62 through '64 full-size Mercurys; the blower unit above looks like the one in the '57 Ford kit.

Aha, I see 'em now, via the Drastic Plastic instructions for a '64 Marauder & the '57 Ford Flashback. Good to know.

[Mike999]

A quick shout-out for Aurora's competition in 1/32 scale hot rods: the Monogram "Forty-Niners" series, so named because they sold for 49 cents.  The "Pickup Ford T Hot Rod" is shown below. It was re-issued at least 2 more times, once in a Mattel box with the original art and again with a photo of the built model (which didn't do it any favors).

I found this kit at a flea market recently.  The original owner painted the top and interior brown, then lost interest.  He didn't glue anything. Parts like the triple carbs are pretty sharp and well detailed for a cheapo kit, and I'm thinking about building the little monster.  The same seller had an untouched Aurora 1/32 scale Show Trailer that I also grabbed.

 

 

[alan barton]

OK, the Road Raider wasn't the Buick Touring, it was the Model A Phaeton with the half top.  If you look at the cover of the Ventures album you will see the same car on there with the band!  Here's some photos of my built Auroras.  And Mike, you're right about the Forty-Niners.  They also make a cool little rod that is a throwback to a simpler time.  The channelled 32 roadster they do is very neat.  Wanna trade the trailer?

In my humble opinion the 1/32 Aurora hot rod models are very underestimated kits.  The quality of engineering is very high and the fit is as good as you could ask for. Sure they have multi piece bodies but they fit better than any multi piece body you ever attempted in 1/25th scale.  I have made no attempt to modify any of the models you see below. Some were built from virgin plastic while others were restored from glue bombs.  When you use modern hobby paints plus Bare metal foil and a few adult modelling skills, they can look quite smart on the shelf.  I only wish Molotow pens were available when I built these at least I can use them for the half a dozen or so 1/32 scale kits I still have to build.

.Me, I love them!

 

[blunc]

nice collection

[Mike999]

21 hours ago, alan barton said:

And Mike, you're right about the Forty-Niners.  They also make a cool little rod that is a throwback to a simpler time.  The channelled 32 roadster they do is very neat.  Wanna trade the trailer?

Thanks for asking, but don't want to trade it just yet.  Still drooling over it.

EDIT TO ADD:  Those are some great builds of the little Auroras!  Really enjoyed looking at them.

Here's a link to Thomas Graham's fantastic book about Aurora model kits.  It has pix of all the 1/32 scale hot rods along with history and background.  That book is where I learned that all but one of the 1/32 hot rod kits had Chevy 409 engines with minor intake/exhaust changes for variety.  The one exception was the last 1/32 kit issued, Snap Dragin IIRC, which had a 390 Ford.

This is the 2017 edition of the book, which includes Aurora re-issues from Atlantis, Moebius, and Polar Lights. Of course, it's already out of date...

https://www.amazon.com/Aurora-Model-Kits-Moebius-Atlantis/dp/0764352830

Edited September 26, 2018 by Mike999
omit

[Mr. Metallic]

19 hours ago, alan barton said:

In my humble opinion the 1/32 Aurora hot rod models are very underestimated kits.  The quality of engineering is very high and the fit is as good as you could ask for.

 

Shhh! I'm just getting into collecting these, and if you start touting their attributes it's going to make it harder for me to keep building my collection.

All kidding aside, I dig these fun little time capsules. I acquired built-ups of the woody (the version with the tv camera and stuff all over) and the 32 Ski-doo earlier this year for a good deal. Always on the lookout for others.

Edited September 26, 2018 by Mr. Metallic

[alan barton]

No worries Craig, that is exactly how I felt when I started gathering my collection!  I found a bunch at the Toledo Toy Fair back in 1996 while I was living in Canada for the year and then set about finding the rest of them. I have three brothers and as kids we had Snap Draggin, Shiftin Drifter, Scat Cat as well as a bunch of Lindberg and Pyro rods.  Hey, they were cheap and often all we could find over here in Western Australia.

I still have a Hot Surfer to rebuild from a Hot Dogger (I think), a Ram Rod that has taken extensive restoration owing to the first builder misaligning the body panels and the Chevy pickup to restore from a gluebomb.  I have also started a major rebuild on a rough Scat Cat (I actually had to fabricate an entire missing quarter panel!) which will be a track nosed salt lake roadster, to be towed by the Chevy.

Tonight I will see if I can post some photos of my completed Scat Cat, Moody Monster, and the Buick and Tee for Two ( the one posted above was given to me by a friend over thirty years ago - after building my own I returned it to him for nostalgia stake as it was a childhood build of his.)

And Mike Cassidy, I'm a bit busy with some other projects at the moment but when I get the chance I will flick through my Car Crafts and see if I can find the articles detailing the cars for you.  If you have any other questions about Aurora rods, be sure to ask.

Michael Smith, yes that is a great book and a big help to identifying all the Aurora's - I'm lucky to have an earlier one in my library.

Cheers

Alan

Edited September 27, 2018 by alan barton
Typo

[Mike999]

Just found an interesting eBay sale.  A complete, built and partly painted Show Trailer. With the Sad Sack, Wolf Wagon and Beatnik Box, all built and/or incomplete.  Auction ends Saturday at 11:47PM.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AURORA-1-32-SCALE-MODEL-CAR-HOT-ROD-SALVAGE-YARD/173554939037?hash=item2868ae349d:g:42sAAOSwCMVbqa2v

 

[blunc]

On 9/26/2018 at 6:53 PM, alan barton said:

(snip)

And Mike Cassidy, I'm a bit busy with some other projects at the moment but when I get the chance I will flick through my Car Crafts and see if I can find the articles detailing the cars for you.  If you have any other questions about Aurora rods, be sure to ask.

Michael Smith, yes that is a great book and a big help to identifying all the Aurora's - I'm lucky to have an earlier one in my library.

Cheers

Alan

Thank you Alan, I've acquired enough kits to attempt replicating the original subject vehicles along with some stock Pyro kits that can be used to replicate builds of more current customizers.

Additional reference material will be very helpful.