’52 Hudson.
There have been so many American independents over the years, and a surprising number of their cars appeared in scale. I’ll keep the Brass & Classic Era for another day, as they’re a theme on their own. Hmm – maybe with one exception.
Thomas Flyer.
I’m including this here because it’s something of an outlier. This was the Thomas that won the 1908 New York to Paris race. An unusual choice of subject, it’s an old AMT kit I can only trace back to 1976 (I thought it was older), no doubt chosen because of its place in American history for the Bicentennial year. There are plenty of ‘Brass & Classic Era’ American cars, but few Veterans.
’53 Hudson.
Moving forward to the postwar era, we find the inimitable Stepdown Hudson. Moebius has a range of 1952-4 Hornets in several body styles. I’ve shown some of my Hudsons before; these are modern kits with excellent detail. Naturally, they come with Twin-H-Power.
’53 Hudson.
And here’s a look at that unusual Hudson body-chassis construction, from underneath. Truly a fascinating intermediate step between separate chassis and full unitary – but it can’t have been cheap.
Hudson chassis.
One last look at Hudson before moving on. Nope, there are no Nashes.
’54 Hudson.
The next brand that comes to mind, if you have a mind like mine, is Studebaker. We have an interesting, though patchy, seam to mine here. There is still no bullet-nose, but AMT released a 1953 President Starliner, which has been in and out of the catalog since 1965 (currently in). As usual for those days it has stock, custom or drag versions, and is extremely well-detailed even by modern standards.
’53 Studebaker.
It was one of my first kits. I was in my mid-teens, and Dad had business in the ‘red-light’ district. No, not that sort of business; actual sell-someone-shop fittings type business. Or it might have been refrigeration; he handled both. Meanwhile, I only had eyes for models, and I bought the Stude. On the way home, Dad asked if had I noticed those girls giving me the eye? Girls, nope. But look at this cool Studebaker….
’53 Studebaker.
No Hawks, but moving on to 1962 there’s this Studebaker Lark convertible from JoHan. Long defunct, it’s a kit that dates back to 1962 but was periodically reissued. I got mine in the mid-seventies.
’62 Studebaker Lark.
It’s a small step from there to the Avanti. Both Aurora (long gone) and AMT did well-detailed kits. The AMT one reappears from time to time; this is the rarer Aurora one.
Avanti.
Let’s take another sideways step to AMC. Going back to 1962, I have this Johan kit of a Classic, a simple kit that was last available in the seventies (I think) as a taxi.
’62 Rambler.
Various American kits have been available, primarily as annual kits updated each year and reissued sporadically, but I don’t have any assembled. However, I can find an AMX or three.
’69 AMX.
’73 AMX.
Of course, there’s a Gremlin; I kind of like these. This one’s a 1976.
’76 Gremlin.
And then there are those monuments to AMC’s failure. Here’s a 1976 Matador, relieved of its bumpers and painted a very non-stock dark pink pearl. You wouldn’t think I’d lowered it, must be the wheels…
’76 Matador Coupe.
And naturally, there has to be a Pacer. Make that two. Might find a third – wait, did I hear somebody scream “Enough!”
’78 Pacer.
That’s it for today. We might go and visit Europe next time.
You know the Pacer wagon’s been reissued within the last year or so?
Indeed I do, but if you saw the stack I have to build… Also my ‘build rate’ has slowed significantly over the past year, as it becomes harder.
Cool! I have the blue Lark 🙂
It’s a nice, simple kit. Although Johan was infamous for running their kits in a variety of (sometimes strange) colours, most folk seem to have the Lark in blue.
Wow. Very impressive as always. The scale and quality of your collection is eye-popping, to say the least. As I’ve said before, I really appreciate how you are open to collecting all cars, with no brand biases. Assures fascinating viewing. Colour choices and detailing always so authentic. Thank you for this tour Peter, will inspire me in my artwork today!
Daniel, thank you for your constant encouragement.
It’s only with the advent of the internet that I became aware I was doing anything unusual here. Now that I think about it, most of the guys building car models (and it is mostly a guy thing) seem to be more into hot rods and drag cars. Not to knock that in the least, there are many phenomenally talented builders doing these, but it’s just not my thing. And I have seen other replica-stock car builders whose work makes mine look simple. I’m content to be me.
The colour choices are just instinctive; only rarely do I set out to push the boundaries or shock, but it just seems to happen sometimes. That could make an interesting topic to look at some time. As to all cars and no brand biases, despite growing up around Fords and Morrises I’ve never really had the one-brand almost-religion thing, and had even less of it the older I’ve got. 🙂
I’ve always appreciated your insights and wisdom here Peter. One of my favourite posters. You always keep it real, with a refreshingly honest perspective. Indeed, the Internet does give one perspective on where we stand. You work has a dedicated fan base here, for sure. So thankful, you have shared your treasure trove of talent and creativity with us! Plus, your thoughtful comments are always especially appreciated by many of us. Worth going back to articles from a day ago to look for, as you post later, due to the time difference. Thank you! Great work.
Nice colour combination!
Thanks. I had wondered whether the light green might’ve been a bit too light – but – it works.
On the Gremlin, are those wheels off an MPC Aspen/Roadrunner model?
No, they’re actually what comes in the kit. I built the ’75 annual back in the day, and it had them. They do seem unusually deep for a stck AMC wheel, now that you mention it.
Like them all, but that yellow ’53 model is absolutely stunning!!
Thank you. It’s one of those kits I just keep coming back to. Here’s a green one.
Nice! I remember building the kits for the 53 Starliner and the Avanti. I think I painted my Starliner navy blue, and I definitely remember painting the Avanti with an automotive Dupli-Color intended to be as close as possible to the metallic “Avanti Red” which graced the one owned by my best friend’s father at the time. I recall them both as being very nicely-designed kits.
I have seen the JoHan Lark occasionally, but never bought it. I also never bought/built any of the AMC kits. And I was not aware that someone was issuing kits for the Hudsons. Love them!
Must have been amazing to have your friend’s father’s Avanti for reference! I’ve only ever seen them in magazines.
If I remember right, the Hudson was Moebius’ first foray into cars, back in 2011, according to scalemates.com. Prior to that they were known for sci-fi and space models. There are something like ten variations of the kit, including Marshall Teague’s ’52 and ’53 race cars, and Tim Flock’s ’52. They now have quite the range of postwar American cars and trucks.
I built a lot of 1/25th scale plastic models between about 1962 and 1972. Mostly AMT, with a few Revell, Johan, MPC, Aurora, Lindbergh etc. I don’t recall ever buying or building any Rambler or Studebaker, let alone Hudson. I did try to build a lot of imports – Jaguar, VW, Sunbeam, Cobra (sort of an import) – but otherwise I guess I was a pretty mainstream guy: Ford and GM with a handful of Mopars. My favorite here is the green and yellow Hudson. That two-tone color scheme looks perfect.
At the time you were building, I doubt there would have been much interest in building scale Ramblers or Studebakers, like there wasn’t enough interest in the cars to keep the companies going. They weren’t exciting, and kids buiding models were after excitement. Weren’t all kids really into one of the Big Three in those days? And Hudson was just an old company. Much the same here; at school here you were either a Ford or a Holden guy, with a few Mopar fans.
Thanks for your comment on that Hudson; the colour choice was not an easy one, but I was guided by what I remember seeing on the street back in the day. Although I grew up in the sixties, there was a lot of fifties iron still around.
All this talk and examples of Independents and no examples of straight 8 goodness from Packard?
Never fear, Ole, Packard will appear when I write up the classics.
I remember a 1/25 Studebaker Hawk, mainly from the weird sound you could make by running your finger over its grille! I don’t think it was from a kit, more probably on a metal chassis with friction motor. But it’s been a long time…
I have the AMC Matador built up as a NASCAR stock car; also one unbuilt in a box with a trailer and a Chevy van to haul it.
It’s funny the memories that hang around from our childhood, the sound of fingers on the grille.
I’m pretty sure that Hawk wouldn’t have been a kit; many people wish they’d do one! But an amazing variety of American cars came as friction toys from Hong Kong and Japan back then.
Nice work, and fun that you still have them. I built quite a few Johan kits in my early teens, I liked that they modelled uncommon cars and they went together well.
I did not have good luck with Revell kits, the Testors cement I could buy didn’t melt the plastic so they fell apart after completion.
Thanks. Those Johan kits were fantastic, and for body accuracy they still stack up well today. And they had some offbeat subjects. They were a hard find down here though; I got most of mine by mail order back then. It’s funny how the different companies often seemed to have a distinctly different feel about the plastic. I heard about that problem with the Testors cement; that wasn’t widely available, mostly Humbrol and Britfix back then.
I built all brands back in the day, I did like Johan but if I had to pick a favorite brand I’d go with Monogram. I still have almost every model I ever built, displayed on shelves and glass cabinets on the finished half of our basement. My dear wife ‘allows’ that area for important stuff like my scale cars (lots of diecast, too), pool table, some recliners and bar. Oh and then there’s the bar stuff – neon signs, etc…..
Oh, that’s some good work. You must have very steady hands and a supernatural level of patience. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Gremlin perhaps because I tried building that kit once, with less than stellar results.
Actually Mike, I built a Gremlin back in ’75, then just had to do another once it was reissued about ten years back. Some of my early models were tidy, but not that Gremlin. This was sort of an ‘apology’ for my ’75 effort.
The hands aren’t as steady as they used to be, but for the ‘right’ subject I’ll put in a supreme effort.
I love all of them. You had me at the ’53 Studebaker and the story behind it… and then I got to the AMCs. Really enjoying how you have categorized the models you feature with each post.
I nearly didn’t put that story in, but then I thought it had its place. 🙂 I think Dad thought I should have been noticing that sort of thing by then (14). I was just so focussed/fixated on models that I didn’t notice people. He lived to see me married (not to a girl from around there) and meet his two grandchildren, so it all worked out well. In my own time.
Thanks for your comment on the categorization, Joseph. I find I need to have a coherent theme in my head before I go looking for models, or I just can’t decide what to show. And I figure we all need some variety – sequential posts on Mopar muscle cars would be a bit stale by the fifth or sixth week, much as we all might like seeing them. Sorry, you’re from Flint – I couldn’t do that many Buicks though.
I’ve got a list of potential future themes by my computer, and the next one is with Rich already. Some will be mundane, some a bit unexpected. But suggestions are always welcome.
Love that raspberry Buick!
The Johan brand (no hyphen) was used about 15 years ago to release a monster of a kit of the 59 Rambler wagon. Essentially an unbuilt promo, but loaded with great building options.
Yeah, I didn’t get that one. It seemed rather an unusual choice but I think Okey (the owner then) was constrained by what tooling was left complete and in a usable state.