Show Rod Model Kits. Scotty Gosson

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      Independent resin caster Greg Wann whipped up some Cosma Rays featuring a plethora of individual parts, but those kits are only made sporadically. Priced at $75, builders declare them “Well worth that, and more!” Originally featuring a “beak” nose treatment and frenched antenna, Starbird changed those elements for Cosma Ray’s sophomore season on the circuit. MPC modeled their kit after that second iteration. Box art claims, “This model sports a 427 Chevy engine,” but a Rochester-injected small-block was in the box. (Photo Courtesy Dave’s Show Rod Rally)

      Built for customer Bobby Green-wade, Starbird’s Cosma Ray was a Grand National Sweepstakes winner and was later used in Robert Petersen’s Wonderful World of Wheels TV show. The most prominent features were the double bubble (reminiscent of Silhouette) and peaked nose. Period touches included walnut inserts in the interior and even in the side pipe covers. George Barris shot the apricot pearl and tangerine metalflake. Since Starbird was under contract to Monogram, there’s no mention of him on the box art, or anywhere else in MPC’s kit. It is unknown why Monogram passed on kitting the car.

      With the imminent arrival of a 1968 ’Vette restyle looming, MPC got some extra mileage from their earlier Corvette tooling with Cosma Ray, but curious decisions like opening the rear of the body to expose the interior tub and excluding the signature side exhaust run on the actual car remain unsolved mysteries today.

      A rare view of a rare bird: John Teresi’s completed Cosma Ray, sunning in the back yard. It appears to be scanning the area for lawn sprinklers and other birds. (Photo Courtesy John Teresi)

      Warren Willis caught the Cosma Ray in “action” at the 1966 Oakland Roadster Show (in the Cow Palace), while just a pup himself. (Photo Courtesy OldBlueWebDesigns.com)

Surf Woody

      AMT # 2166-200, 1965, 1/25 scale, Designed by Tom Daniel, Re-issued 1968 (as Surf Rod), 1969 (as Denny McLain’s Horse Hide Hauler), and later in 1969 (as Surf’n Van)

      The beach party on wheels is the star of this AMT 3-in-1 kit, but many extra boxes were sold to fans of the optional Street Rod roadster and Surf Hearse delivery. The swing-axle rear end is a multi-piece assembly and the twin Paxton blowers are nicely detailed as well. Round 2 later re-issued slightly modified versions that included an even teensier scale copy, complete with miniature box. Alas, AMT did not include a scale version of the wildly popular motorized surfboard that accompanied Surf Woody on tour, but did add a coffin-shaped surfboard that matches the car’s scale nicely. (Photo Courtesy Dave’s Show Rod Rally)

      Yet another guest on Robert Petersen’s Wonderful World of Wheels TV program, the Tom Daniel–designed and Dick Dean–built Surf Woody was another Barris Kustoms project, targeting the surf culture’s tentative tiptoe into the mainstream. George Barris was under contract to AMT, which had a deal with Ford, and Surf Woody was created expressly for Ford’s Custom Car Caravan tour. George Toteff had just left AMT for MPC, but reminds us posthumously, “We were car people. We didn’t have marketing executives deciding what we produced. Our engineers and designers got together and pitched ideas to the sales department. That’s how we chose our kits.”

      AMT’s instruction sheet for Surf Woody. Has anyone anywhere ever read this document? (Photo Courtesy Scotty Gosson Collection)

      Surf Woody was re-issued in the 1960s as Surf Rod, then again in 1968 as Denny McLain’s Horse Hide Hauler, and yet again shortly thereafter as Surf’n Van. A New Zealand issue featured a somewhat cobbled amalgam of Horse Hide Hauler and Surf’n Van box art, called Surf-n-Go Wagon, with “AMT Made under license in New Zealand by Tonka Manufacturing Limited” signage on the box side. Howard Cohen’s assembled Surf Woody plays it straight for the camera. (Photo Courtesy Howard Cohen)

      Howard Cohen happened across the real Surf Woody after its retirement, which wasn’t going very well. Shortly after this candid shot, help arrived and a thorough restoration was initiated. Now in recovery, Surf Woody is savoring life, one day at a time. (Photo Courtesy Howard Cohen)

Futurista

      Monogram # PC108-150, 1965, 1/24 scale, Designed by Darryl Starbird, Re-issued 1967

      Starbird strikes again with the aptly named Futurista. Three-wheelers and air-cooled engines never really caught on, but Darryl’s forward vision caught everyone off guard. Built expressly for Monogram, they stepped up with a bonus engine display stand to better study the misunderstood flat-four Volkswagen power plant. Believed to be a shoe-in for Oakland’s 1963 Tournament of Fame award, a scale trophy was included in the first run of the kit, but was quickly pulled when Futurista was upset by Cushenbery’s Silhouette. (Photo Courtesy Dave’s Show Rod Rally)

      Monogram boss Jack Besser commissioned Starbird to design and build a showstopper and the kid from Kansas delivered beyond anyone’s expectation. Futurista was a sensation on the circuit and Besser had yet another hit on his hands. By now (1965), the kit manufacturers were making double the money from models of custom cars than they ever did from the promotional Detroit offerings they started with. Starbird’s previous stylized take on his old Thunderbird (Predicta, in 1964) was his final nod to OEM design paradigms, now parked in the dusty shadow of Futurista. Neither СКАЧАТЬ