Show Rod Model Kits. Scotty Gosson

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Prior to Uncertain-T’s 1966 release as model PC-134, Monogram’s previous celebrity “consultant” had been Darryl Starbird. Steve Scott ushered in a fresh style. In 1967, Monogram switched to a more compact box as kit # 6733. This allowed more kits to be displayed on store shelves. Scott proclaims, “Making the boxes more compact was a shrewd marketing idea.” He shot the box art photos himself and confides, “The little dark spot below the front tire is either an oil spot, a leaf, or a really big snail.” The kits included car show diorama pieces such as a female model and a scale 6-foot trophy. There’s great detail on all parts, but the two-piece body leaves a noticeable separation line just behind the slicks. Because Monogram inexplicably scrapped the kit molds, complete kits currently sell in the $400 to $500 range. (Photo Courtesy Steve Scott)

      Author Note: This one’s personal. After building an addition onto his parents’ small California garage and spending four and a half years building the Uncertain-T in it, Steve Scott drove it to unprecedented success on the show circuit: “The first show was Harry Costa’s 10th Annual San Mateo Car Show in January of 1965. It won Sweepstakes at every show I entered it in.”

      And there were many shows, leading to a dream job as associate editor of Car Craft magazine. Then Steve and the T disappeared. Decades passed while Steve was presumed dead and the car to be lost. While researching Steve for my America’s Wildest Show Rods book, I miraculously found him in Hawaii. The whole Uncertain-T experience had opened Steve’s eyes to media exploitation and soured him to the point of abandoning the automotive world entirely. But Steve is very much alive and itching to get back at the T, which has been safely stored in a friend’s California workshop. To help finance his return to the mainland, Steve hopes to release a “new and improved” Uncertain-T kit (employing more manufacturer-friendly universal components), “Sometime in 2014.”

      Only a few years after Monogram released its Uncertain-T kit, it vanished as suddenly as the car. Steve shares his thoughts on how the deal went down: “I contacted Monogram and Revell while building Uncertain-T, when it was far enough along to show them what it was like unpainted, with no upholstery. They were both very interested. I made a deal with Monogram because they promised that the T would also be produced as a larger-scale kit later, that they would return all my materials, and that I could buy the molds later. I had blueprints made and also sent color photos to use on the boxes.

      “Meanwhile, Detroit was throwing money at hot rodding magazines promoting their muscle cars, and consumers went for it lock, stock, and four-barrel! Model sales for show hot rods plummeted, and the kit was soon discontinued long before it should have been. I received one good royalty check, then royalties quickly plummeted. Monogram never returned my blueprints or photos, and told me that the molds they promised I could buy were ‘destroyed.’ This was around 1972-ish. I think the same thing happened to some of Daniels’ and Roth’s kits, maybe to avoid paying royalties.”

      Chuck Darnell’s Uncertain-T, stuffed with goodies (note kits in the passenger seat) for the promoters who requested its presence at the 2013 Kustom Kemps in Miniature show in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “It was in the final stages of being finished,” Darnell points out, but the TDR Innovations 3-D printed nailhead was in place. (Photo Courtesy Chuck Darnell)

       From Warren Willis’ coverage of the 1966 Oakland Roadster Show. Steve Scott’s homebuilt creation bagged the 6-foot trophy. (Photo Courtesy OldBlueWebDesigns.com)

Orange Hauler

      Monogram # PC131-150, 1966, 1/24 scale, Designed by Darryl Starbird, Reissued 1990 as #2931

      Originally christened Ultra Truck by Starbird, the name mysteriously changed to Orange Hauler upon Monogram’s 1966 kit release. Cast in orange plastic with moderate detail, the Buick engine is infamously vague but is mostly covered by the large custom air cleaner. Like all of Starbird’s 1966 kits, box art (this is the original-issue art) features compelling reactions from stunned bystanders. (Photo Courtesy Dave Shuten)

      Starbird was busy in 1966, but his quality matched his quantity. Commissioned by Monogram as a rolling prototype for the model kit, he started this project with a 1962 Chevy 1-ton cab, a shortened 1955 Chevy passenger car chassis, and a Buick drivetrain. Once scaled by Monogram’s engineers, the company cleaned house by promoting a 1965 give-away contest, won by “some kid from Oklahoma,” according to Monogram’s Roger Harney, adding, “Darryl delivered it in person. It was a big deal.” After that, the whereabouts of Starbird’s full-scale bubbletop truck was a show rod mystery—until Louis Lionetti (of Las Vegas) spoke up in 2007. Thanks to Lionetti’s long-term care, Ultra Truck/Orange Hauler has now been fully restored by Starbird Kustom.

      Orange Hauler proudly stakes a claim as one of the few full-on show rods to be built from wrecking-yard sheet metal, and its fans have been celebrating that grassroots ethos by snapping up each re-issue of the kit. Howard Cohen is the world’s second-biggest Orange Hauler fan, and has even built one for the number-one fan, Darryl Starbird himself. This is the version Howard keeps locked in his house. (Photos Courtesy Howard Cohen)

Deora

      AMT # 2030-200, 1966, 1/25 scale, Designed by Harry Bradley, Re-issued 2013 by MPC/ERTL

      Original releases offered an optional clear bed cover. Then an optional camper version was added in the 1970s and issued as Vantasy by AMT. Many AMT Deora variations have been released over the years, with a variety of names and options: Vantasy marked the end of the clear canopy era, Topless Pickup was a roadster version, Alexander’s Drag Time came with a blown Hemi and instructions to radius the rear wheel wells, and Custom Cabana was a camper special. Before Lindberg released slant-6s in their 1965 Mopar models, Deora and Red Baron were the only kits to offer modified inline 6-cylinder power. (Photo Courtesy Dave’s Show Rod Rally)

      Again, we have a relatively mild custom with factory backing that left a large and lasting impact throughout the entire custom car universe. Predating and influencing Ed Roth’s wild asymmetrical Megacycle trucklet and outlandish trucks to come from Darryl Starbird, Carl Casper, and Chuck Miller, there’s just no denying Larry and Mike Alexander’s clean and thoughtful execution of Bradley’s design. Downscaling the Don Ridler Award winner for kit builders was a natural. AMT promoted a contest to name the truck СКАЧАТЬ