Wedge dragster kits

[Ben]

I was just looking on Ebay and found the Spirit of 76 wedge rail and was wondering if this was the only 1/25 or 1/24 kit of a wedge dragster? Has the Spirit of 76 rail ever been reissued or are there plans of having it reissued?

[Fuel Coupe]

right off the top of my head there was the AMT flying wedge and Steve McGee's Black beauty.

I wish round2 would bring these back

[Ben]

right off the top of my head there was the AMT flying wedge and Steve McGee's Black beauty.

I wish round2 would bring these back

Hey Shane, thanks! Do you know if those other two wedge kits were basically the same kit as the Spirit of 76 but with different decals?

What I would like to do is build the Snake and Mongoose wedge rails.

[Fuel Coupe]

Ben,

I know the two amt kits were the same but I don't know about the spirit kit.

Have you looked into Competition resins, They offer two wedge bodies but I'm not sure how close it is to what you are wanting to build and my interests revolve around F/E diggers.

You can buy the bodies through Slixx...

http://www.slixx.com/cr3001.htm?id=1751

and

http://www.slixx.com/cr3002.htm?id=2656

Hope this helps

[Ben]

Cool! I was wondering if anyone offered the wedge body in resin?! I wonder what donor kit is sugested for them? Thanks for that info!

[1320wayne]

Any of the 70's era rear engine kits should be a suitable donor for this build. I've never built one but if you search a bit further here in the drag section you will find a build done by John Teresi. You can probably pick his brain as to how he built his.

[Ben]

Any of the 70's era rear engine kits should be a suitable donor for this build. I've never built one but if you search a bit further here in the drag section you will find a build done by John Teresi. You can probably pick his brain as to how he built his.

Cool! Thanks!

[iBorg]

The Spirit of 76 was based on the Garlits RE-1. The AMT kits such as the Black Beauty were based on the Tommy Ivo rear engined kit. I think the Garlits kit is the better of the two chassis kits although the AMT wedge seems a bit closer to 1:1. If I wanted a wedge, which I do, I'd use either the Garlits or maybe the Revell kit and make the body from Evergreen sheet.

Mike

[Ben]

Is it true that McEwen never ran a wedge dragster. I know Prudhomme had the red and white one. What has me puzzled is, what did Mattel base the yellow and blue wedge dragsters of the Snake and Mongoose, Hotwheels on? I'm guessing they are simply "what ifs"?

[tbusch]

Hey Shane, thanks! Do you know if those other two wedge kits were basically the same kit as the Spirit of 76 but with different decals?

What I would like to do is build the Snake and Mongoose wedge rails.

This is weird. Looking through some old built models packed away last night and found both McGee dragster and Spitit of 76 in the same container.

They are not the same body. The McGee body is like the Prudhomme car, the Wedge part of it is long and starts about halfway on the chassis. The '76 body is short, it reminds me of the Poncho Rendon car that Connie Kallita crashed at Indy in '71, The wedge part starts about the drivers compartment.

Mongoose never built a wedge car. His first rear engine car was built by Don Garlits IIRC.

Remember seeing Prudhomme's rail in a Car Craft magazine when it came out (yes I am old) and thought it was the neatest looking dragster ever built.

Snake's dragster was built by John Buttera, and what a piece of workmanship. It is at the Garlits museum and it is a lot different from the Chris Karamesines wedge that was also their. It has moveable flaps at the rear for adjusting to different track conditions.

I have pictures from the garlits museum if you would like to have some reference material. I do not know how to post pics on a site. I can send them to someone if they want to see them here.

Terry

Edited September 24, 2010 by tbusch

[Ben]

This is weird. Looking through some old built models packed away last night and found both McGee dragster and Spitit of 76 in the same container.

They are not the same body. The McGee body is like the Prudhomme car, the Wedge part of it is long and starts about halfway on the chassis. The '76 body is short, it reminds me of the Poncho Rendon car that Connie Kallita crashed at Indy in '71, The wedge part starts about the drivers compartment.

Mongoose never built a wedge car. His first rear engine car was built by Don Garlits IIRC.

Remember seeing Prudhomme's rail in a Car Craft magazine when it came out (yes I am old) and thought it was the neatest looking dragster ever built.

Snake's dragster was built by John Buttera, and what a piece of workmanship. It is at the Garlits museum and it is a lot different from the Chris Karamesines wedge that was also their. It has moveable flaps at the rear for adjusting to different track conditions.

I have pictures from the garlits museum if you would like to have some reference material. I do not know how to post pics on a site. I can send them to someone if they want to see them here.

Terry

Hey Terry, thanks for the offer on the pics! I'll take you up on that on a later date if I get around to building the Snake wedge. I have seen one picture of it in the Garlits museum but that's all. Have you seen the resin body from Competition Resins? I was wondering how close it is in comparison to the Snake wedge? I think it will be the easiest to obtain.