Big Drag...what exactly do I have here?

[jbwelda]

i bought this Big Drag model built on ebay some years ago, from a guy who had a lot of 1/8th scale buildups, some right out of the box, some highly customized, some mildly modified. he probably had 6 or 7 of them actively being auctioned when i saw this Big Drag. i ended up winning this one and could have gotten a really great looking 32 ford custom but i was unsure of whether the guy could pack them up nice, i didnt want a box of parts.

anyway the big drag arrived in absolutely perfect condition, the guy had build inner supports and protection and despite being pushed and dropped clear across the country, it was unscathed.

the more i looked at it, the more i was amazed. there is pretty much ZERO glue stains or screw ups or anything. absolutely nothing was painted; i went in and did a couple things like black out the tips of the headers, stuff like that, but when i took delivery nothing was painted. looked straight out of the box.

but the more it sat on the shelf the more i wondered: hey wait a second, the big drag came in blue only as i recall, and wasnt there a turtledeck and here i have a pickup bed? so i started thinking maybe it had been built up from a Big T reissue in yellow (was there ever one?) and the various parts packs still available.

only problem is, there seem to be some big drag only parts: the center steer dashboard and steering gear primarily.

and whats up with these mega cool halibrand spoke front wheels?

so i dug out some old mags on the "big" cars i had and sure enough, as you can see in the pics, what i have isnt it.

heres a front end shot of it, notice the straight axle. also note the lever shocks, clean factory looking wheel

mountings, i didnt shoot the left side but if i had you would notice the big T etc radius rods are missing and instead this drag link steering gear you can sort of see from this angle. also note the magazine cover behind it illustrating what a "real" big drag should look like.

heres a shot that shows the halibrand wheels and the simplified, drag link steering. note that nothing is painted; all

that yellow is yellow plastic as is the orange engine block.

a shot of the interior showing various big drag accourtrements. note center steer dashboard

and it doesnt look like it was drilled out, looks molded in.:

finally, a shot of the halibrand wheel, sorry about the glare, if i had more of these

i would take care of that problem by stripping the chrome and painting them magnesium

metalizer!

im afraid i didnt get a good shot of the pickup bed, but its there, in yellow plastic with a white

tonneau cover.

so what do you think? is this a reissue of the big drag that i never heard of? is it custom built?

if it was custom built, besides the obvious parts, do you know where for example the front wheels

came from or any of the other parts?

i would kinda like to see a magazine article done on the more obscure big models monogram

made back then; seems to me each had their own unique parts and only some of those parts

were available in the parts packs, a history of the reissues and accessories would make a great

article!

(i should also post this in the big scale section and i might in a day or two)

edit: hey wait a second, i just noticed: Michelin tires?

Edited February 5, 2009 by jbwelda

[DR Dubois]

Whatever it is , it's awesome! Nice find.

[Smart-Resins]

Looks like a parts box build to me! The fronts may be from one of the dual engine dragster kits? The body probably from one of the big T re-issues and the interior parts from the big drag. That would be my guess. Esp. since you atated he had many built ups! Jody

[jbwelda]

thanks jody, thats more and more what im coming to think as well.

a couple of history questions if anyone knows their "big" history:

was the big t issued in yellow? if so approx what year?

was the big drag ever reissued at all?

i was also thinking maybe the front end and wheels and maybe tires (michelin though?) came from that double engine dragster recently reissued...does anyone recognize the assembly from there? and the lever shocks sure look at home on the front end...they definately do not look like the lindberg lever shocks from say the big red rod.

i would really really love to read a complete well researched article on the big cars, their variants and reissues and that sort of thing. maybe a MCM history writer could consider it? maybe *I* should consider it?

thanks again and anyone else with any ideas please chime in.

[Smart-Resins]

The big T had a issue in the mid 80's I believe as a street t with some big n littles with chrome reversed rims, very nice, but hard to find. I am pretty sure they released the body molded in yellow to match the box art and other items were tan, but I am not 100% posative of this. Otherwise, I really cant help any more then that as I was only into 1/8 about a year and did not have the opportunity to buy much. I think OldHermit could help ya out there. Find him out and ask. Hes been arond for some time and have built about everything big scale. Thanks. Jody

[old-hermit]

I'm no expert but you don't have a "Big Drag". The front axle, spring, shocks and wheels apear to be from the Lindberg "Exterminator Dragster". The front tires are from the R/M Street T or Golden T. Both identical except the gold plate instead of chrome. R/M produced several versions of the T, each different in several ways. The engine appears to be an R/M SBC with the blower from Lindy's dragster (moon tank also). The interior could be from a parts pack. The rest looks streight from a Big T kit. That's about all I can help you with but there are several large scale "experts" out there that should be able to tell you more. Here is a link to pictures of box art and year / color info that might help. http://www.largescalemodeler.com/eighth/models/boxart.html

i would really really love to read a complete well researched article on the big cars, their variants and reissues and that sort of thing. maybe a MCM history writer could consider it? maybe *I* should consider it?

Please do consider it, I'd like to know a little more history too.

Edited February 5, 2009 by old-hermit

[TimKustom]

I built a "Big Drag" a couple of years ago so I'm pretty familiar with it.

As mentioned there was an issue of the Big T that was yellow issued in the '70's. It had chrome reversed wheels and maybe non white-walled slicks. The next issue was a red one with the "Fad T" parts that was reissued in black with the gold parts also mentioned.

I do see some Big Drag parts on this build. Namely the Tach, Dash, Steering wheel and headers and roll bar. Those headers might have come in the Yellow issue, but I'm not sure. These parts could have come from a "Drag accessories" parts pack that was offered around the time the original Big Drag kit was offered.

The wheels and blower drive appear to be from the Lindberg Dragster.

Here is my "Big Drag Rod" a combination of the Big Drag with the Big Rod with a few parts from the latest issue of the Big T thrown in.

Regardless of what your build is, it is KOOL whatever you call it.

[old-hermit]

Tim, did you have your T at the ACME NNL a couple of years ago ?

If it's the one I saw there you did a fantastic job on it.

[TimKustom]

Tim, did you have your T at the ACME NNL a couple of years ago ?

If it's the one I saw there you did a fantastic job on it.

Yes, it was at the ACME show a few years ago. Thanks for the complement.

Didn't mean to Hi-Jack JB's thread, but I think we've gotten to the bottom of his build.

1975 issue Big T, with the "Drag Accessories" parts pack (headers and moon tank are in that pack). Front Axle appears to be a Monogram part as does the blower and scoop (blower parts pack?). The orange plastic engine block should have come from the Big Tub?

The front wheels and the fuel injection appear to be from Lindberg Exterminator Dragster. Pretty cool kitbash.

Edited February 5, 2009 by TimKustom

[Smart-Resins]

Timkustom, veru nice build there. I was wondering along those lines. HEHE. Glad you too chimed in to help the man out. As you stated, nice kit bash all the same! Jody

[dave riggs]

Don't forget, when Monogram issued the Big Drag, they also issued a Big Rod that was molded in yellow.

[Art Anderson]

Don't forget, when Monogram issued the Big Drag, they also issued a Big Rod that was molded in yellow.

I believe that Big Rod was the T-bucket with the turtledeck. Monogram put out a series of parts packs for the Big T right after that kit was released, and most all those parts made it into the other variations: Big T, Big Drag, Big Rod, and Big Tub (this was a touring car body).

Art

[jbwelda]

thanks so much for the replies, all great info, exactly what i was hoping for!

one thing, i do have a drag racing parts pack and it has most of the parts except of course the center steer dashboard. thats kind of a puzzle because its molded in yellow too...but it could have been drilled out i suppose, it doesnt look like it to me but could be.

so the front end and wheels come from that exterminator dragster? i think that means i have to buy at least one of those just for the wheels (and all the motor stuff too!). i have stayed away from the lindberg big models because i always found them kinda toylike compared to the monogram series. they did have some cool parts in them, i love those lever shocks and these wheels of course!

on a big tub i recently built and posted here i used a skull shift knob from some lindberg issue of their big red rod. the funny thing about this one, again bought on ebay but unassembled, is that it all was anodized in clear red, really strange. maybe the former owner somehow did it with candy paint but it sure looks like anodizing and im not sure why he would just spray ALL the trees indiscriminately. anyway, i used the red anodized skull shift know, stuck some blu tac in the eye holes and painted it white. gave it a black wash and some detailing and then removed the blu tac...glowing red eyes! thats about the only thing i could think of to use that anodized red!

thanks for the tip on the website; i had visited it before, i can tell from the link being "used" in history. it is another great resource.

thanks again for the replies and great info!

art: the big rod had the large chrome fuel tank that was also a parts pack piece.

the big drag had the turtledeck...

Edited February 6, 2009 by jbwelda