History of Monogram's 1955 Ford Trucks

[Fabrux]

Inspired by the subject selection of this year's USACC Build Off I delved into the history of Monogram's 1955 Ford truck kits that have been in production steadily since their introduction in 1977.

https://www.sprue.xyz/articles/monograms-1955-ford-trucks

[Stef]

Nooice, Chris. Your retrospectives are always nostalgic and illuminating, thanks!

[espo]

While always being a fan of the subject of these kits, the body proportions have also been a big disappointment. 

[Ulf]

Very useful, the Panel Truck is incredibly cool. It would be something for AMT to further develop its 1960 F100 pickup. 

[Casey]

On 9/4/2023 at 11:27 AM, espo said:

While always being a fan of the subject of these kits, the body proportions have also been a big disappointment. 

Admittedly, I'm far from an expert on panel truck proportions, but the kits do seem a bit bloated in a few areas.

On the plus side, the American Racing Torq Thrust wheels found in the '70s issue pickup versions (and the orange 1/24 Monogram '69 Camaro kit) are superb, and perfect for use on any other 1/24 kit on which you can fit the matching staggered Goodyear Rally GT tires.

[tim boyd]

Chris...really well done.  Thx for sharing...TIM

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 1/22/2025 at 12:02 AM, Casey said:

Admittedly, I'm far from an expert on panel truck proportions, but the kits do seem a bit bloated in a few areas...

Yup. Biggest problems are too much "forehead" over the windshield, and an inflated-looking too-tall hood.

AMT's '53 pickup, the same body as the '55, got the proportions pretty much dead-on.

Measuring is hard.

Edited January 23 by Ace-Garageguy

[espo]

7 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Yup. Biggest problems are too much "forehead" over the windshield, and an inflated-looking too-tall hood.

AMT's '53 pickup, the same body as the '55, got the proportions pretty much dead-on.

Measuring is hard.

The same may be said for the front edge of the hood. Still the best game in town though. 

[OldNYJim]

Your entire site is great - nice work, and thanks for sharing!  I’m excited to dig into it more!

[Fabrux]

Thanks!

[1930fordpickup]

Here is a fairly straight shot to our old 55 Ford camper bus. This was after it gutted for the goodies that went into the 68 bus.

[Ragtop Man]

I've picked up and sold off a few of these over the years... try as I might, they just didn't get the corpuscles pumping for me.

That said, I am curious about how one of the bodies would drop over a Monogram '80s Bronco or  F-150 'bullnose' 4WD chassis? 

[Fabrux]

Should be a fairly straightforward swap, but I'm imagining that the F-100's inner fenders will likely need trimming to accommodate the bullnose's coil spring and shock mounts.

[leafsprings2]

 Some of us want the the '55 Big Jobs. Still waiting for a high quality 3d resin in 1/25. Would be nice if we got the big 317 Lincoln V8 too.

Edited July 16 by leafsprings2

[Ragtop Man]

5 hours ago, leafsprings2 said:

 Some of us want the the '55 Big Jobs. Still waiting for a high quality 3d resin in 1/25

Awwh heck yes. I'd think the Monogram Cab on a go-to straight rail chassis (Louisville, Opel Blitz?) would get you pretty close.

[PintoKING]

This is the old AURORA kit, in 1/64 scale I believe.  There were a few other versions, one of them a power-shovel excavator and low-bed trailer.

[stavanzer]

It's about time for Revell to dust off the tooling for the '55 Panel Truck version of this tool, and give us a fresh version.

If they threw in some Stock(ish) looking wheels and tires, it would probably do pretty well. Add in some Light Commercial Decals to sweeten the deal.

[1972coronet]

10 hours ago, stavanzer said:

It's about time for Revell to dust off the tooling for the '55 Panel Truck version of this tool, and give us a fresh version.

If they threw in some Stock(ish) looking wheels and tires, it would probably do pretty well. Add in some Light Commercial Decals to sweeten the deal.

I'd be good with not only stock rims / tyres / hubcaps, but also a regular , single 4 Bbl. intake (vs. the originals' rare Autolite inline four barrel, and the later issues' fuel injection setup).

Some nicer aftermarket rims would be lovely, too. Not those "Vectors" from the original, either ( !! ) , nor those 1990's junks in the F-100 kit .

Okay, since I'm dreaming here... an interior whose appointments aren't out of a c.1996 "Gold Card Build" catalogue.

[stavanzer]

1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:

I'd be good with not only stock rims / tyres / hubcaps, but also a regular , single 4 Bbl. intake (vs. the originals' rare Autolite inline four barrel, and the later issues' fuel injection setup).

Some nicer aftermarket rims would be lovely, too. Not those "Vectors" from the original, either ( !! ) , nor those 1990's junks in the F-100 kit .

Okay, since I'm dreaming here... an interior whose appointments aren't out of a c.1996 "Gold Card Build" catalogue.

I agree. There is so much that could be done to freshen up these kits with Minimal effort. Just stock hubcaps and steelies on the usual re-tread ex-Monogram tires would help, and as you note a Four Barrel Carb on the 289 would be great.

Add in a Ladder and a couple Racks, and you could sell it to a whole new generation of builders. It doesn't have to be Stock, it just has to look Stock. (from the outside, anyway).

The guys who want all stock will have to convert it. With Resto-Mods and Resto-Rods being popular Revell could surf the trends.

[meechum68]

I enjoyed the article, and realized I have the Purple 55 and the Black Harley 55 Panel in my stash.  Was cool to see the other Itinerations of what was produced back then.