As promised,,,,the unpublished sidebar on new front engine rail dragster kit suggestions from my "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits" book...

[tim boyd]

As mentioned in the nearby thread on the best all time drag racing kits, several of you have suggested that the hobby needs some newly tooled classic 1960's style front engine rail dragster kits.  Needless to say, while the chances of that ever happening are remote, I had drafted the following sidebar on the topic for my CarTech Books offering called "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits", published in late 2020. 

As it turned out, I had way more material than we had room for in the final publication, so the following sidebar, written in September, 2019, got left on the cutting room floor, as they say in the movie business. 

But thanks to this forum and the Model Cars Mag team that oversees it, I can copy and paste the stillborn text here for your reading interest.  Thanks for looking, and feel free to comment or add your thoughts on the subject if you wish...TIM 

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START SIDEBAR:

What If Someone Decided to Introduce A Newly Tooled Front Engine Rail Dragster Kit?

                Yes, this proposition has more than a healthy dose of wishful thinking, but hear me out.  It’s not likely to happen, but it’s not an impossibility either. 

                Why do I say that?  First, few would have expected Revell to make the investment in 2010 to produce all-new kits of a pair of 1960’s funny cars (the 1969 Chi-Town Hustler and Hawaiian Mini-Chargers), nor to develop a completely new tool replicating their 1960’s “Sizzler” dragster kit, but they did.  Second, two of the newest players in the model scene – Moebius/Model King and Salvinos JR Models, are producing newly tooled 1960’s Super Stock and  A/FX, and 1970’s to early 1980’s NASCAR Winston Cup racers, respectively.  So why not an all-new kit of a historically relevant front engine digger? 

                OK, if you’re with me so far, then what famous rail dragsters would be the best candidates to be kitted?  When Jon Asher was Editor of Peterson Publishing’s Drag Racing magazine, he assigned an article to drag racing historian Chris Martin that was titled “10 Best Top Fuelers of All Time”.   Recognizing the point at which that article was written (late 1989), just three of the cars on Martin’s list have been replicated with 1/25^th scale kits: Don Garlits’ 1986 streamliner, the Walton-Cerny-Moody 1972 rail, and Garlits' first ever rear engine rail of 1971.  Noting that MPC’s kit replicated the dragster after Garlits added the enclosed body ahead of the driver’s compartment and rear airfoil above and behind the engine, maybe we should more accurately say 2 ½ (or only 25%) of Martin’s Top Ten list, have seen scale model kits. 

                The biggest gap in model kit coverage of the 7-decade history of fuel dragsters remains the rapidly evolving period of the mid to late 1960’s, so that’s the richest area for future kit coverage.  The following front engine dragsters in writer Martin’s Top Ten list have never seen a 1/25^th scale model car kit:  

·         1963-64 Greer-Black-Prudhomme car

·         1965-66 Hawaiian car

·         1966 Surfers car

·         1972 John Wiebe car

(Personally, I’d be inclined to add the famous Freight Train double engine dragster to the list - OK, it was a Gas dragster instead of a Fueler - but still…).  

                My point?  Any of these four (or five) would make a great subject for an all-new 1/25^th scale full detail front engine rail dragster model car kit.  So, which one would you choose?  And who would you choose to make it – Moebius, Salvinos JR, or the standbys Revell or Round 2 (via their AMT, MPC, or Polar Lights brands)?

                Oh, and by the way…what were the other three remaining “10 Best” Top Fuel Cars on Martin’s list?  The following rear engine railers:  the 1983 car of Larry Minor-Gary Beck, Joe Amato’s 1984 car, and Eddie Hill’s 1988 dragster that carded the first-ever sub-five second E.T.   Those would make for some cool model kits too!  The full article can be seen in the November, 1989 issue of Drag Racing Magazine.

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The following images and caption were to be used for the sidebar,,,

Want a model of the famous “Freight Train” dual engine AA/Gas dragster?  You’d have no choice but to kitbash your model together from many different kit and model car aftermarket sources, as builder Steve Perry has done here.  The “Freight Train” could be a compelling choice should one of the model kit companies decide to produce a new 1/25^th scale dragster kit.   

(Steve Perry Photos)

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Edited March 26, 2023 by tim boyd

[LDO]

Cool article. I would definitely buy a Greer/Black/Prudhomme kit, plus Freight Train and Eddie Hill’s 4.99 car. Maybe more. 
 

Thanks 

[echo]

I would love to see an all new '60's FED. a long shot as you said but who knows ?  The Surfers' car has such a great minimal look and would be one I would buy.  There was such a technological leap in dragster design from before '65 to after.  Before there was a lot of individual looking cars,  after they started to get more sophisticated and somewhat similar features.  Pre '65 there were shorter wheelbases, weedburner headers, outrageous full aluminum bodies and injection scoops.  After '65 the chassis lengthened, zoomie headers came into their own and somewhat minimal bodies.  These are only my own thoughts about the era.  Besides the Surfers' car, the Frantic Four '64-'65 full bodied car, Tommy Ivos' Barnstormer. S & H Special Stellings & Hampshire car.  Since there isn't much to these cars the kit box would be mostly air, how about getting back to two cars in the box as a retro kit, since we're dreaming why not dream big ?  Since we're at it how about some photo etched spoke wheels or3D printed wire wheels, the weak point in my opinion of the FED kits.  I wouldn't care who manufactured them, Revell, Round 2 or Moeibus, though the latter could make it an evolving series as they have done with their offerings.  Great opportunity for an ambitious 3D printer too.  Good subject Tim.

http://georgeklass.net/uploads/3/4/5/1/34518983/1_2192_orig.jpghttp://georgeklass.net/uploads/3/4/5/1/34518983/1_1980_orig.jpg

 

[Daddyfink]

I would love to see some early stuff done, but, the biggest problem I see with that is the limitations of the chassis for the kit maker. Most of these cars where one off types, or made by someone in their garage or shop for themselves. 

Sure they can be adapted to bash different cars, but for the kit maker, how many different versions of the Greeks early Chizler can you make? Now, with that said, The Surfers car, which was made by them in a motel garage, is base on the Chizler, so that is a second possibility.