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Is It Wrong


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Several years ago I was driving my Austin Mini past the local drive-in when a guy in 66 Charger with 383 emblems pulls up next to me and asks me if I have a hemi in it. It was humorous but I replied in the negative. Later on it came to me what I should have said to him - "Naw. It's just a 383!"

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You know, I've always said there are no dumb questions. Only dumb answers. I've been think about this ever since it was first posted. I've tried to ignore it. But, it keeps on gnawing at me. I'm sorry to say this, but this maybe the one dumb question!

First braking a model building code? What code is that? It's model building. Anything goes. And second a Hemi in a '70 Road Runner? As noted, Plymouth themselves in the day thought it was okay. Option "code" E74 - 426 ci 8v engine. $841.05 extra in the '70 Road Runner.

Like I say, I tried avoiding this posting. I really do not want to embarrass or put down the person who started it. But.... This maybe the one dumb question.

There, that's off of my chest. I can now move on.

Scott

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MVC005S-vi.jpg

Back in the late 1980s I built this '32 Ford Vicky from the AMT kit. It was built for contests and quality wise it was worthy of competition in that era. But Man, did I set off a controversy. People weren't as enlightened to out of the box modeling as we all are today...

32vicky_underhood1-vi.jpg

When the tilt nose got opened, there was nothing there! Just a proper steering column, master cylinder and spare tire. The gas tank is up in the tilt nose, and it was even plumbed. The radiator cap was the gas cap. The Deora bucket seats are hinged and tilt forward. There is a scratch built baby seat in the back.

IMG_2409-vi.jpg

And the engine of choice? VW Beetle! The entire chassis was redone VW as if this was a Ford VIcky fiberglass kit car. The dashboard and door panels were even VW, and the wheels are Porsche items.

Man did this car set off a poo storm! Guys at shows would actually get angry and yell at me. There were contests that refused to judge it. At one show a very well known person in the hobby told me it would never place because it was unrealistic. "Nobody would ever build a car like that", and we had a big laugh because the first in class at that show was a '39 Chevy with a Ferrari drivetrain. Somehow that wasn't only acceptable, but was enthusiastically rewarded.

At another show where I watched them give out trophies and ribbons to models that weren't even wired and one in particular that wasn't even painted under the hood, I confronted the promoter who told me they 'disqualified' my model since it was wrong and disrespected Fords. Another told me I would've placed but I forgot to put in a battery. The guy was speechless when I told him it was a VW, the battery would be under the rear seat! There even was a cable from the starter that went through the firewall.

In those days I would go to shows with John Slivoski and we'd laugh like idiots all the way home as my Vicky would never place, and would get odd remarks. I had built the model to make a statement and man did we get reactions. We'd never get mad that it didn't win anything, we thought it was pretty funny. Then we had the wind knocked out of our sails! The Vicky placed third in Street Rod at Masscar! That ruined our perfect losing streak.

Today? I bring the car out from time to time and people like it. How attitudes have changed!

Edited by Tom Geiger
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