Ed "The Ace" McCulloch's Revellution FC car

[Goodtimes]

 

Hello everybody.

I've been a modeler for some time and I have some funny car kits, which I really like.

I'm researching a lot about the history of the FC category but I have a question about a specific car. The car in question is the Ed Mcculloch Revellution, but specifically the model with the pink roof.

I don't find much literature covering this specific car.

My questions are:

- Is this specific car a Plymouth Duster? From which year?

- Is there any kit in 1/24 or 1/25 scale that has this correct body? The Revell kit I think is wrong.

- What is the chronological sequence of cars that Ed Mcculloch raced? It's clear that they used different cars like the Duster and the Demon, but I don't know the correct order.

I would be very grateful for any information on this specific car.

Thank you very much.

[Mark]

That's one of the later ones.  You might try searching draglist.com by year, there may be a picture or two accompanying each individual listing.  That would help establish a timeline and put the various cars and color schemes in order.

[Goodtimes]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

That's one of the later ones.  You might try searching draglist.com by year, there may be a picture or two accompanying each individual listing.  That would help establish a timeline and put the various cars and color schemes in order.

Great idea.

I didn't know it was possible to search by year on this site.

I'll see what I can find.

[Goodtimes]

I've been doing some research on Draglist.com and found some interesting data.

The first Revellution car raced in the 1971 season. It was a completely blue Plymouth Cuda, different from the traditional color scheme of these cars, with white sides and a different color roof.

Between 1972 and 1976 McCulloch only raced Dodge cars, first the Demon and then the Dart, alternating roof colors between blue and red.

But in the 1977 season there were two cars, first a Dodge Dart and, in mid-September, a Plymouth Arrow debuted. It was the only time these two cars had a pink roof.

The list of cars by year:
1971 - '71 Plymouth Cuda
1972 - '72 Dodge Demon
1973 - '71 Dodge Demon
1974 - '73 Dodge Dart
1975 - '75 Dodge Dart
1976 - '76 Dodge Dart
1977/1 - '76 Dodge Dart
1977/2 - '77 Plymouth Arrow

Well, putting all the pieces together, I imagine that the car in question is actually a '76 Dodge Dart that raced at the beginning of the 1977 season. It turns out that, in the Revell kit, a different body is offered, I believe a '73 Dart or Demon. In this kit, the engine is behind the windshield, very different from the car in question.

Well, I think I'll have a lot of work to do from now on to make this kit look like this car.

[Mark]

All of the "Dart" and "Demon" funny cars used Duster bodies.  Look at the hoods on them, they all have the narrow center bulge as on a Duster.  The grille and taillight detail was simply airbrushed on so as to resemble the Demon.

The later ones were likely the same body, altered with some fiberglass work on the front.  Whoever was making the bodies probably didn't want to create an all-new plug for making a new mold for the later style body.  They may have made a mold for the newer design grille area, and just grafted that to the earlier bodies still coming off of the original mold.

[Goodtimes]

Hi Mark.
Actually, thinking about it this way, it's quite possible that it was like that. It would be the most sensible thing at the time and would reduce production costs.
Anyway, looking closer at the bodies, they don't have major differences in the structure, just in the front and the blower opening.
Thanks for your help.

[Muncie]

A few more bits of the history,,,

The Revell kit represents the 1972 Duster which is one of the early dragster style funny car chassis - it was just after the Logghe style chassis in funny car history.  The chassis in this car and the Revell kit is a bit wider (tires were smaller) and the chassis/wheelbase were shorter that what came later.  The car was featured on the cover and four pages in the March 1972 Car Craft Magazine.  I think Revell spent quite a bit of time with the real thing to develop the kit and in my mind it is very accurate for the 1972 car.  Revell used that chassis for a long time on other funny cars - long after the real thing became obsolete (longer wheelbase and the chassis became narrower for larger rear slicks).

The "English Leather" car is featured on three pages in the June 1975 Hot Rod Magazine.  The chassis is longer with a 117" wheelbase, is narrower than the earlier car, and the engine location is farther out from the rear axle.  The body was extensively modified by Northwest Racecars who also built the car.  (NW Race Cars also did work for Twig Ziegler's Satellite - to my eyes, this car and Ziegler's Satellite are very similar.) There used to be a couple of resin bodies for this car.  One had the correct wheelbase (which is too long to for the original Revell chassis) and the other was even longer to fit the later Monogram funny car chassis. Decals available that fit the body that came in the older Revell kit. 

You can get there, but it takes some work.