’65 Pontiac 2+2
After the last time I did a cruise in scale story, I was told that these days cruises and shows are much more open, and that pretty much anything goes that will go – so to speak. With this in mind, here’s our not-Woodward Cruise in scale for 2026, a look at some miniature Detroit muscle and street machines, all in the spirit of Michigan’s Woodward Dream Cruise event.
1965 Riviera custom.
I’m bearing in mind the interests of the CC folk tend less toward the extremes that my personal interests do (sometimes). Everything will be street legal (at a quick glance). We’ll set an age limit of post-’65 cars and other vehicles; otherwise, we’ll get tangled up with cars for another article I’m working on. (Or I’ll get tangled up, anyway.) I’ll try to focus on the less-commonly seen, and not-too-modified (mostly).
Gypsy dune buggy – well, the body is American.
As these cruises and shows tend toward overload, I’ll sneak a few more cars in than I usually do. Less chatter, more cars. And I’ll let you provide your own background soundtrack for the spectacle – no symphonic metal tracks today. It’s not really background listening anyway.
Some TV show car.
Oh – just so you’ll know this really is me posting this, look out for the hidden Skyline!
Not a Skyline. Keep looking…
You’ll notice what might appear to be a lot of customs in today’s assortment. That’s because many of the cars in today’s set originally came with a custom build option, even though customs were falling in popularity in favour of muscle cars. Guess old habits (at the model companies) died hard. Some shapes lend themselves to some careful changes…
’65 Pontiac Grand Prix custom
While others seem less suited. These two particular kits were an oddity at the time (mid-late eighties), a custom-only kit….
’66 Thunderbird custom
…. which in the case of the Thunderbird, I modified to look a bit better.
Another custom Riviera
We’ve seen a custom Riviera before; here’s a different one. Same kit, so many optional custom choices.
’66 Chevelle
If you think this Chevelle looks left over from the ‘street freak’ craze of the seventies, you’re not far wrong. The kit’s about that old. There’s a tube frame front end under the flip-forward front.
’66 Fairlane 427
Sometimes all it takes is a big engine in a not-so-big car. 427 Fairlanes supposedly only came in white for ’66, but you know me. And they didn’t come with billet wheels either.
’66 Galaxie 7 Litre
A big change for what had been a new body in ’65. Couple that with a 427 in the engine room, and paint it a bright colour. It might be stock, but it’s a looker.
66 Mustang, lightly modified
Early Mustangs don’t need much to look cool. Interesting colour, upgraded small block, wheel swap…..
’66 Riviera
The Riviera for ’66 continued the theme of being pretty much a custom car for the road. Just a wheel swap here. Yes, they are what you’re probably thinking.
’67 Impala
Candy red Impala, lowered, with hood scoop, custom wheels, and an injected big block.
‘67 Plymouth GTX
Then there are those cars which look cool without any changes. The factory nailed the specs and the look.
’67 Dodge R/T
But a few light mods don’t go astray. Slightly raked, with slightly large but older-style wheels.
’68 Corvair
How about a Corvair? They might not be as amenable to engine swaps, but they sure look cool. Wheels might be a bit on the large size. This one’s running the four-carb mill, not the Turbo.
’68 Dodge Dart
No such problems with a Dart, they can swallow anything up to and including a Hemi.
’68 Firebird
Some cars look so right, you just wouldn’t want to change a thing.
’68 Road Runner
Perhaps the wheels could be a little larger on this Road Runner, say 15s? Probably on the options list.
’68 Shelby GT500
This Shelby has a wheel swap, but it really wasn’t necessary.
’69 Camaro
Or maybe a twin-four-barrel big block instead? Horsepower without being highly-strung; probably less likely to break down.
’69 Plymouth Cuda
Another case of a pretty car with minimal mods. Side pipes date it a bit.
’69 Firebird convertible
Then again, bright graphics on a pale gold stands out.
’69 GTO
Or maybe just let an unusual colour scheme speak for itself.
’69 Nova
This might have happened if Holden’s graphics guys got their hands on a Nova – ’70 Torana GTR stripes.
’69 Olds 442
Are these wide stripes or narrow hood black-out panels? Does it matter?
’69 Road Runner
A few period changes on this Road Runner – pinstripes, spoiler, black paint-outs.
’69 Shelby GT500
The Shelby Mustangs became more of a factory bodykit a few decades early, rather than the hardcore performance cars they had been. Got enough scoops there? You sure?
’69 Torino GT
Some cars don’t need a lot of scoops or stripes to look fast.
Fireball 500
You never know what will turn up at Woodward, but I don’t think you’ll see this. The Fireball 500 movie car is a massively-customised ’65-66ish Barracuda. I thought the Barris paint scheme sucked, so went my own way.
’68 El Camino
More fun with paint!
’69 Nissan Skyline GTR
Okay, it’s Japanese, but I don’t think anyone will complain today. Seriously: was this the earliest use of black over-fenders?
Plymouth Superbird.
Needs no introduction. Gets none.
Custom Corvette
Can we squeeze in a custom Corvette? If it’s by Tom Daniel I think we might.
’69 Corvair Fitch Sprint
Custom Corvair with a pedigree, the Fitch Sprint.
Bosses always get looks.
Bright colour, big block.
Here’s one not often seen, the 429 Torino Cobra.
Equal time for Oldsmobile, with this luscious 442.
Some dude wants to cruise his Boss Nine. What next?
Comfort Plus.
Now that’s a cruiser!
I think we’ll call it there for today. See you again next week!
Peter: Even though I’m a Mopar fan, once again, your models have sucked me into the whirlpool of memories with the following tasty items, to wit: Torino Cobra, Boss “Stang, Shelby, Nova, Impala, Pontiac 2+2, Superbird & Daytona (of course!) , and that last Pontiac Bonneville convertible, OOOOH Baby!! 🙂
Thanks, Moparman – sounds like I really nailed the spirit of the cruise then!
I’m always a bit surprised by the response to the Bonneville convertible – but then it is a lot of car to paint red, and those sneakily-upsized (about 17”) Rally II wheels on whites give it a real lift.
Nice collection, Peter.
It’s hard to pick a favorite here with so many choices.
The lede photo of the ’65 2+2 Poncho is great.
The ’66 Galaxie 7 Litre is appropriately coloured in Arrest Me Red…
I thought that the ’66 Riv was my favorite of this lot but then scrolled past to the ’67 Impala. That model is perfect… (I also appreciate my generation of Mustang photobombing in that picture ;o)
The color of that ’70 Impala is great.
Ditto for the teal ’69 Goat.
The ‘vette rally wheels on the bright orange Nova… always a great choice for a Chevy.
I’m actually looking at a Grabber Yellow ’70 Boss 302 on the bookshelf in my office… Matchbox sized, whatever that scale is. It came free with something I bought at an Auto Parts store once. I actually prefer the ’69 to the ’70.
But I have to ask: The car you call the Fireball 500 looks more Pontiac GTO to me than Barracuda. Barracuda? I’ll need to research this George Barris Kustom.
Thanks Rick. Rich did allow me twice as many pics as usual for the occasion, so I’m not surprised the choice is hard. I won’t be showing so many again for a long time!
About your photobombing Mustang – somehow they’re the only photos I have of it, in the background. There’s not enough depth of field/resoultion/whatever to crop it out for you (old 2MP digital photo),
I’ll admit the Fireball 500 looks nothing like a Barracuda, but that what several trusted websites say. I didn’t believe the AI either, so I went looking.
These each look like a labor of love. They’re all gorgeous. Tried to pick one fave, but I can’t do it. The ice blue Riv, the lime green Corvair and the 442 (the whitewalls!) are contenders, though. Thanks for sharing, Mr. W!! Great stuff.
Thanks, F-85. Many of today’s cars had that feeling of being a special build when I was doing them – only to get eclipsed by my later work. But some oldies have that indefinable something, like the three you mention.
Thx for the rear qtr shot of yr stellar 442. The masterful finish you laid on (and yr good taste in color) really shine at that angle.
It’s an early seventies Ford Australia colour, Jewel Green. Can’t remember how I got that shine out of it, though!
Hidden Skyline found, can confirm it really was your post Peter 😉 A lot of custom kits were around in the 70s/early 80s when I was a kid, they put me off a little as I preferred model cars to look identical the real thing. Having said that though, in the 90s I built a yellow-orange ’70 Boss Mustang kit (looks like your one) for my Mustang-mad sister, and took great care to carefully blacked out all the chrome trim as I thought it looked naff! Great assortment here as always Peter 🙂
Of course you found the Skyline, Scott; I wonder what would have happened if I’d hidden a Laurel in among them? 🙂 Might try that some time, and make it less obvious!
I also preferred my cars to look like the real thing. There’s a difference between customizing for the sake of being different and customizing with taste and a desire to improve. No, I’m not setting myself up as an authority, far from it – but when you see what some guys do to cars you just have to wonder.
Wonderful collection here from my favorite era of styling — mid-late 60s into 1970, before the brougham look took over.
Love the blues, teals, and greens, as well as red and orange!
My favorites overall are the ’65 Pontiac 2+2, ’66 Riviera, ’67 Impala, ’69 GTO, ’70 Impala, and ’70 Bonneville.
The Skyline and green 442 (a ’70?) are nice as well.
Yep, that 442 is indeed a ’70, 210delray.
There’s something special about this era of styling that speaks to me as well. I think it’s the curves that do it for me. They moved away from the ‘iron all the creases out’ look of the early sixties, but hadn’t gotten around to slathering all that chrome, vinyl and ‘lignum ficticium’ that belonged inside over the outside of a boringly mundane shape – just look at a low-trim-level brougham-era car to see how bland the underlying styling often was.
And, yes, there’s all those colours. 🙂
I really like that cream colored ’65 Riviera. I remember being frustrated by that kit and making a somewhat succesful attempt to build it more stock.
I actually just posted this week my video from this years Cruise.