For know-it-alls of a certain age, EVERY Plymouth Barracuda was a muscle car, EVERY Mustang was a GT or Boss, and, by golly, EVERY Camaro was an SS or Z-28! But for those of us more grounded in reality, that is, ahem, a pipe dream. Nope, rip-rorting muscle variants of the early ponycars were the exception, not the rule. But looking at available scale models and their full-size brethren at shows and cruise nights, you would be hard-pressed to think otherwise. That’s why I like M2 so much: They make models of the commonly-equipped ponycars in addition to the zippy ones.
Take, for instance, this 1969 Barracuda, which, as of this writing, I purchased about two hours ago. Other than the rare “recall” wheels, this Plymouth would have been quite common equipment-wise in 1969. No decals, scoops, spoilers, but with a nice set of whitewalls.
And a Slant Six! Yes, that’s right, someone has modeled a Slant Six in a 1/64-scale Mopar. Isn’t that cool?
While it is a bit raked (maybe it’s a “Day Two” car?) I was still impressed with this model. And for a 1/64-scale car to have both opening doors and hood? Wow!
So I had to take it home with me. M2 also makes a light blue 1968 Firebird with the OHC six! I already have a red one, but might have to force myself to get the blue one–after all, it has a matching blue interior.
The best part: These are available at Menards right now (for the Christmas season, they don’t carry them year-round) so I was able to get this little ‘cuda not only for less than Wally World ($4.99 vs. $5.88), but I also did not get stuck behind some woman with approximately 800 items in her cart while in line. Now that’s a win-win, no matter how you slice it!
Sure that’s a Slant Six? That looks like a valve cover on tne driver’s side of the air cleaner.
Some of the Internet diecast dealers seem to be of the musclecar mentality. They only stock the models of the “top line” cars. Too bad there isn’t a Menard’s near me.
It’s two slant fours with a common crankcase. 🙂
Damn ! Even Slant Six miniatures aren’t safe for SBC swaps !
Nope, it is indeed a Slant Six. It is even mentioned on M2’s Facebook page as “the infamous slant six.”
Ok; a closer look into the engine compartment suggests that it’s a somewhat malformed lump of red plastic with the air cleaner in a position that corresponds to neither a /6 or V8. A slight lack of accuracy, which we will just have to overlook. I’ll accept that it’s supposed to be a slant six.
I think the problem is the engine is not really a cast engine block, but kind of a plastic trim cover. M2 also makes a V8 version, and I think they were limited in the shape of the engine casting for the six. But I still applaud their tooling it. 🙂
It looks like the core mold is a V8 and it’s disguised as a slant 6 by leaving off the driver side valve cover and moving the air cleaner forward.
Bingo!
it’s 1/64 scale. what do you want?
True. I mean, it’s five bucks, not a $120 Franklin Mint.
Im with Poon…It sorta looks like theres a second valve cover on the other side, but it also looks a lot lower. A /6 is a lot more ’empty’ on the left side. Still, that’s a nice piece! I do like the wheels on it…they remind me of Rodlites.
I love the Recall wheels!
Count me in on those. Seems like Ive seen them before, but I don’t think theyre Mopar factory items. They remind me a lot of the salt flat style combined with ansen sprints. Either way…LOVE em, especially with a dark grey background and machined high points
They were factory, but were recalled by Mopar as the lug nuts would loosen. They were made by Kelsey-Hayes for Chrysler and are very valuable today. Pic from the ’69 Barracuda brochure.
Here’s the pic from the M2 FB page.
It does make me wonder why they chose “recall” wheels for this version rather than the full covers that would complete the package.
Maybe its as simple as they already had molds for them.
I love plain jane cars. I’ve never been a fan of flashy cars with lots of bling, or huge engines with monster horsepower.
the 1/64 cars are great these days. the detail level is amazing. they don’t demand either a large investment or a lot of storage space to have a huge collection. I have about 300 in 4 hot wheels storage boxes.
Does anyone make a model of the Barracuda notchback? I’m only asking because it seems that a slant 6 is/was more common in the notch.
We don’t have a Menards here so I’ll have to check Wally-World. BTW, when I lived in Memphis I noticed some very unique scale models at ALDI in their “miscellaneous” section…. like a model of an Audi.A2. We don’t have an ALDI here in Florida, but I try to remember to look for them when I’m in Pa.
Hot Wheels has a Barracuda notchback right now. I just bought a gold one a few weeks ago.
I like how M2 makes trailers. They give out a bonus car. Sometimes two !
Great article ! Sure wish I could find some models of my 63 Fairlane 500 Sport Coupe .
If I’m not mistaken, I think the Ertl American Muscle line may have done a ’64 Fairlane about 10 years ago, and I think they also did a ’63 Galaxie. Split the difference?
At first glance, I thought it was a real car! Nice to see a scale model with a slant six. Even though I usually build model cars in 1-25 th.scale,I do have some die casts and othes in various scales, but this scale seems rather small. I will keep an eye out for it the next time I go to Walley World or Aldi. BTW, I`d like to see some articles about 1-25th scale model cars, especially the ones by AMT or Jo Han.
Those Barracudas were lauded for their looks at the time, but somehow they get overlooked. Maybe they are too pretty and not masculine enough for musclecar guys, then or now.
I give M2 a lot of credit for this. I have their 67 Nova SS that has the 250 I-6 in it. Love the details like jeweled headlights and opening doors, both of which JL never had. It seems M2 does well to make sure less “flashy” options make it to their models also; for instance I have a 70 Chevelle SS by them that has a big bench seat instead of the typical buckets found in models of this caliber.
Heard often: “Every Chevelle is a Muscle car”
Seen posted online: “I saw a Chevelle wagon at car show, must be some sort of custom resto-mod car”
I have some good memories of driving my Dad’s 1960 Dodge Seneca two door stripper coupe with a slant six and three on the tree. It had a radio block off plate- remember those? I currently have a stripper ’70 Mustang coupe with a six I’m trying to finish up. The base model pony cars appealed to a much larger group of buyers who were looking for sporty looking personal transportation. Most people didn’t want or need a gas guzzling big block to drive to work. Hubcaps were a good practical choice. The steel rims were easily accomodated at the corner gas station tire changer and they were fitted with smaller cheaper tires. Let them steal someone else’s expensive mag wheels.
I’ll have to look out for this one. I quite like the M2 products–some of the best 1/64 available right now in my opinion, along with the Auto World products. But the M2 do win by having opening doors *and* hood. I probably have 15 or 20 of them, including a few of the tractor-trailers. Wal-Mart seems to be the only place around here that carries them though, and it’s not even all of them, only certain stores. So I do check on the occasions I find myself there. Not entirely sure if they’re up to the level of detail of the American Muscle 1/64 Ertl put out years ago, but they’re close, and as you’ve mentioned here they put out some “normal” trim cars as well as some rarities. I have an M2 Acadian Canso, which i *never* expected to find in a US Wal-Mart.
As a sidenote, why doesn’t anyone seem to make 1/64 where *all* appropriate items open? M2 does hood and doors. American Muscle did hood and trunk. I can’t think of any 1/64 I’ve ever seen where hood, doors, and trunk/hatch all opened.
Chris, if you have Hobby Lobbys in your area, they carry them too.
m2 also does a 69 camaro with a 250ci inline six