Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits. Tim Boyd

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      CHAPTER

      3

       LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR MUSCLE CARS

      The Pre–Supercar Era

      Put yourself in the place of a new car buyer during 1949 to 1963; that is to say, before the introduction of supercars, as they are known today.

      If you were looking for a new car that prioritized rapid acceleration and a higher top speed than most cars of the era, what would you have purchased? Oh yeah, let’s add a few more qualifiers. You needed space for a family or friends, so that ruled out a sports car. Whether your wallet allowed it or not, the idea of driving a big, heavy, chrome-festooned luxury barge was also out of the question. Moreover, you wanted a car that was eye-catching, while still in good taste. If that car had a successful competition record in sanctioned automotive racing, it was also a big plus. What, then?

      Most automotive historians consider the 1949 Oldsmobile 88 to be the first car that meets the broad definition of a muscle car as I’ve adopted it for this book. The power of the new Rocket V-8, developed for the larger 98-series Olds, delivered a very powerful performance envelope when placed in the lighter GM A-Body normally used in the lower 76-series Oldsmobile. The result was called the Oldsmobile 88, and it quickly developed a reputation as a hot car. This was followed by the 1951–1954 Hudson Hornet with its Twin-H-Power High-Compression 6, fast cars on the street and winners at the racetrack. Then came the legendary Chrysler 300, and on a more accessible level, the 1955 Chevy with its small-block 265 Power Pack V-8.

      As the 1950s progressed, Chevys with a fuel-injected V-8, 1957 Fords with a factory-supercharged V-8, and even a 1958 Mercury with a 400-hp rating were tops for any factory-assembled car that year. Desoto, Dodge, and Plymouth followed the Chrysler 300 recipe to varying degrees on a more affordable scale with the Adventurer, D500, and Fury/Sport Fury, respectively. Some would claim that the 1957 Rambler Rebel also fit in this category.

      Things quieted down with the recession of 1958 and the holdover impact in 1959, plus the return of fuel economy and practicality as prime buyer motivations, combined with the excitement surrounding the introduction of domestically produced compacts from the big three. But with the new decade, Chrysler was back in the muscle market with its ram induction V-8s: 1961 brought out the 409 Chevy, 1962 the 406 FE Ford and the hot (if questionably styled) Chrysler B-Bodies with its Max V-8s, and so on. The trend only gained further steam in 1963 and 1964.

      So, which of these cars actually found themselves the subject of a 1/24th-1/25th–scale model car kit? Evenly as recent as 10 to 15 years ago, the answer would have been very different. But today, thanks in no small measure to both a longtime model kit industry stalwart (Revell) and a totally new entry in the hobby kit marketplace (Moebius), the answer is that nearly all of the cars listed above have at one point or another seen a popular scale model car kit.

       This collage just hints at the wide range of scale replicas of influential post–World War II performance-themed cars that helped set the stage for the muscle car era that began in earnest with the 1964 model year.

       Oldsmobile 88

      Starting with the 1949–1950 Oldsmobile 88, there were at least two, and perhaps three, attempts to bring a model of this car to market before the final product appeared in 2013. In the mid-1960s, Revell had started development of a 1949–1950 Olds kit, but then heard that Monogram had a kit of the exact same car underway, so Revell killed that project. (Little evidence has subsequently surfaced that Monogram actually had such a kit under development).

      More than three decades later, the AMT-Ertl brand, then under the ownership of Racing Champions (a pre-assembled die-cast replica maker) announced to the hobby trade its plans for 1950 Olds 88 and 1949 Studebaker kits. Later, it was discovered that these were nothing more than trial balloons. With kit topics being dictated by the buyers of the large discount chains and big-box stores back then (instead of the core model car hobbyist), both ideas flopped, and the kits never appeared.

      Meanwhile, throughout the first decade of the 21st century, a 1950 Olds was on Revell’s list of potential kit topics, and it finally made its way to the top in time for a 2013 introduction of a superb 1/25th-scale kit. Revell pulled out all the stops to accurately replicate the intricate body shape of this car, including some very expensive die work to achieve the correct underbody roll of the rear fenders. A second Olds custom kit added typical period upgrades including a J2-style tri-power V-8 with headers and dual exhaust, and modestly lowered front and rear suspension. Revell’s late VP of Engineering, a 57-year employee of the company, owned a 1950 Olds 88 coupe as a young adult. Maybe that is one reason why the kit came out so well.

       It’s taken nearly 50 years, and the possible involvement of up to four different kitmakers (counting Revell СКАЧАТЬ