CC In Scale: Checking Out The Back Rows

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– Posted on May 8, 2025

I’m sure we’ve all done it at some time or other: Gone to the back row of the used car lot to see what sorts of oddities need a new home. We may not have any intention of buying, but it can be interesting to see what’s out there.

When I was a boy the laundromat we went to had a used car lot next door. Dad would run the washing through the machine while I explored the cars. And while in sixties Australia it was normal to see old Holdens and BMC cars, British Fords and Simcas and maybe a big Chrysler Royal or American Ford, I remember some real oddities.

A Hillman Californian. Minxes of all sorts were common – but a two-door hardtop Minx? This old? Wow!

A Goggomobil coupe. Didn’t look anything like the sedans I was used to. I told Dad it was my size, but…… nope!

Oh, there were plenty of others, but these ones are stuck in my memory 60 years later –most likely because I‘ve never seen another of either one.

Now, last time Moparlee said he loved looking at the cars in the background of my photos. Just for today, we’ll make that the official theme (And because I need some more building time for 1969). Some of these you’ll have seen before, but most you won’t. The photo Lee referred to was taken on the kitchen table, which is sort of ‘overflow parking’.  So here’s the back three rows of my lot!

Starting off we have that oh-so-stereotypically American vehicle, the pickup truck. Back in the nineties AMT had an annual kit of the F150, which got minor fiddles every year. This ‘95 wound up two-toned copper and brown. It came with all sorts of dress-up options I left off. I’m taking AMT’s word that it’s a ’95; I’m not sure the differences would show up in scale.

I’ve shown this Mercury custom before, but it was parked up the back, so…

I think this painting experiment worked: transparent green over silver. This might be my favourite ’63 Chevy.

I rather like these early Cressida hardtops. Toyota’s green was a bit deeper, but this can needed using. On this car.

Who remembers this old Nissan 200SX? Or Silvia, to give it its Japanese name. Just after I finished fighting with this umpteenth reissue of an old eighties Fujimi kit, Hasegawa came out with a brand new twenty-first-century-standard model. Of course they did. Not for the first time…

A simple, old kit of a simple old truck. Came with all the parts for a hot rod version; being careful I found I could build both.

The Cube is one of my favourite cars. So practical, and this generation is good-looking too – well, I think so, my daughter hates them. Nissan at the peak of their creativity.

Always wanted to do a ’70 Boss 302 with those stripes. Grabber Orange seemed a natural, and really pops in the sunlight.

This is the later NSX with the exposed lights. I wanted to avoid the usual red, or white, or silver. Job done, and how! Maybe the only purple NSX? With my usual colourful interior, and the engine cover left off for more visual interest.

Moebius Models brought out this kit of the ‘bumpside’ F100 back in 2015, then expanded the range to something like 12 different versions – each year of this generation, longbed, shortbed, 2WD, 4WD, tow truck, ramp truck, service bed – and even a Mercury pickup for the Canadians! I’ve also built a shortbed ’69, and might get a tow truck; the rest would be overkill.

What’s behind that Nissan Cube? Have to do a bit of sleuthing here: it’s a 2022 photo – Aha! A 2013 Mustang Boss 302, in a similar colour scheme to the ’70. Though I built these in the same year, they weren’t on the bench at the same time.

Now we have another Invisible Something.  Given the date of the picture, and the other models in it, I reckon this position was most likely occupied by this Nissan Leopard. I’m sure it won’t mind if you call it an Infiniti. Maybe the 19s are a bit of overkill, but they’re attractive, and the stock 14s looked tiny. Besides, I don’t have to ride in it…

Next one along is this early eighties HC31-series Nissan Laurel hardtop. This is the top-line Medalist series with a 2-litre turbo six (still the old L20), on a 105” wheelbase IRS rear-drive chassis. Being the fanciest Laurel, I gave it a two-tone paint job.

And another, bigger Nissan, this Cima is a late-nineties Y33. This one’s on a 111” wheelbase with a choice of V6 or V8. Would have been a natural Down Under but oh no, they insisted our big Nissans had to be front-drivers. Which almost nobody bought. I could count on one hand the number of late Nissan sedans I see regularly in my town..

I do like the ‘61 Chevy Impala – so here’s another one.

Here’s a paint experiment that didn’t work. It’s supposed to be colour-change paint that goes from purple to greenish depending on the viewing angle. It’s got a vinyl roof and been shoved in the back row for a reason.

Mitsubishi Evo X with some aftermarket photo-etched detail pieces. It’s sad how Mitsubishi cars seem to have dwindled away to nothingness.

We saw this Corvette recently when I wrote up my ’67 models.