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.