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[ea0863]

And also in HRM December 1983, the introduction of the Dodge Caravan minivan. A particularly honest advertisement, if I do say so myself...  

Edited December 11, 2022 by ea0863

[ea0863]

I don't know what to say, except it's cool and it's different; a Chrysler Imperial full-dress racer called "Mopar City Missile"! HRM January 1984

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And another page from the "unlikely racers" category; a Dodge Rampage UTE all set up to race. HRM January 1984

Saw this one recently that was kind of tweaked, with a hemi, mounted in back...  

And sometime we need to talk about mini-UTEs in general, and Aussie UTEs in particular...

The folks down under make some really cool ones, and I'd love to find a scale model of one to build - like this beautiful Holden UTE (if it looks like a Pontiac GTO, that's because essentially it is).

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by ea0863

[ea0863]

Too awesome!; 1968 Caprice Estate Wagon turned racing machine. One of my first cars was a '65 Belair station wagon with a 283, and I loved that car. Too bad it's virtually impossible to find Chevy station wagon scale models from that era, except for the ever present '65 Chevelle wagon.

[ea0863]

Finally, from the out-in-left field "cannot even be found by Google" files comes this article from HRM February 1984. Even with the description listed, I still couldn't find either car exactly.

 I'm thinking the one in the forefront is a Crosley racer that may have been sold eventually to someone named Banta and repainted.

The car in the background I'm certain is a DeTomaso Pantera, but I can't find anything on it.

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Nice article in HRM March 1984 of a gentleman named Gary Conley who made quarter scale running engines. 

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An ad in HRM March 1984 which I would totally have ignored, except I noticed mention of Mark Hamill.

Turns out it's the car from "Corvette Summer". I wonder if the movie was any good? The car is funkadelic!

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A great series of photos in HRM April 1984 for truck lovers. This is just a couple of pages from the article - I personally like the '55 Chevy Cameo best, although they are all wonderful!

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This futuristic interpretation of a roadster is just plain awesome (I think it's called the California Star)! I'm totally disappointed that I can't find a scale model kit, or diecast, of this creation. HRM May 1984

Edited December 11, 2022 by ea0863

[ea0863]

As a shout-out to our Canadian friends, a beautiful '66 Acadian Canso. HRM May 1984

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A super-classy '57 Chevy in HRM June 1984. There were a whole series of article on how it was built for Hot Rod Magazine - only to be given away to some lucky bum! 

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I read this article repeatedly, and still don't know what year this Pontiac Firebird Formula was. The build-up kinda' reminded me of the old Johnny Cash song "One Piece at a Time"  (Hilarious car song by the way). All I can say is it looked great in these photos.

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Ad for Monogram NASCAR Pro Stock racing cars. HRM August 1984

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And who knew GM marketed Fiero go-carts? Ad from HRM August 1984

I so want one!

Edited December 11, 2022 by ea0863

[ea0863]

Sweet '67 Fairlane! HRM August 1984

[ea0863]

HRM September 1984 hailed the return of the Thunderbird with a number of interesting custom versions. I liked them all, but the Mercury Cougar racer was my favorite!

It may take me a minute to find a model of this vintage Mercury. Off-hand I'm not finding it...

Edited December 12, 2022 by ea0863

[keyser]

Close enough. Your total choice. 
55 with Halibrands in back best of bunch. 

[ea0863]

1 hour ago, keyser said:

Close enough. Your total choice. 
55 with Halibrands in back best of bunch. 

I could certainly get the right look with that one. Thank you!

[ea0863]

As I have been going through the 80's issues of HRM, it began to feel as though a lot of the cars being showcased were derivative of earlier works. An article in November 1984 seemed to touch on this with two beautiful creations that certainly made a statement. The first was a '40 LaSalle 4-door, the second a '34 DeSoto Airflow.

[ea0863]

A very tasty '81 Buick Regal Pro Street. 

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And just to keep the red car theme going, from the same issue comes a '70 Cuda hemi convertible <sigh>. I wonder how many million this changed hands for last go-around?

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Rounding out 1984 was the return of artist's renderings - one of my favorite segments in HRM to be sure.

A modernized '53 Studebaker by Steve Swaja (think '63 XR-6 Experimenal Roadster) was cool. Darrell Mayabb went with a '57 Edsel meets '84 Corvette Sedan Delivery.

Dave Bell went with a caricaturish approach. And Tom Daniel ("Son of Troublemaker") did my favorite; an '82 Camaro UTE.

The same Camaro can be seen in another of Daniels' drawings as well;

Just WOW, this guy's stuff is amazing! http://www.tomdaniel.com/

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by ea0863

[ea0863]

Of course the sale ads never disappoint, as HRM December 1984 had this little gem

I'd never heard of it before, so I looked it up and it turns out to be a part of the Petersen Museum now. It does not appear to have been mass produced as a scale model, although a couple of builders have adapted other models to make it work.

One builder in particular did a great job documenting his efforts at http://www.showrods.com/gallery_pages/stage_fright.html

Edited December 12, 2022 by ea0863

[Scott Colmer]

You hit my favorite time period for HOT ROD. Includes the Pat G. years.

 

Keep going and you will find the HOT ROD model car contest. Great stuff

[ea0863]

35 minutes ago, Scott Colmer said:

You hit my favorite time period for HOT ROD. Includes the Pat G. years.

 

Keep going and you will find the HOT ROD model car contest. Great stuff

I'm looking forward to it, and will definitely post them here! Thanks for following along