Several times I have begun to write this article and each time it has spiralled out of control. As a result, I figure I have three articles at least in my pending files. Handy thing, that pending file. I’ll revisit them to finish them up, in time.
Why so many false starts? That’s because I have built so many of these things! Like five ’66 Mustang coupes. Might even be more…
Pony cars appealed to me in my younger days (of course), continued their appeal through the seventies (Mustang II aside; I know they have their fans, but I’m not one) and into the early eighties before marriage and raising a young family distracted me. I have been periodically interested in them since then; though maybe good cars, they haven’t captivated me to the same degree:
Except once: the time a ’10-ish Mustang Shelby overtook us on the highway like he was at the drag strip. We had gone round the roundabout outside our town at about 50km/h to get onto the highway and were accelerating up to cruising speed, not quite at 100 when the road went to four lanes, and this loud blur just left us standing – I had never seen anything accelerate that hard. That was stunning. That was memorable. That warranted a model:
But rather than plod exhaustively through a multi-part pony car series interspersed with memories (spoiler alert: it’s coming) I thought that for today I’d just skim the surface with some random pony cars. There are a lot you won’t be seeing today; their time will come. Enough with the words: here come the cars.
’66 Shelby
’66 Mustang coupe
’67 Mustang fastback
’68 Firebird
’69 Cuda
’69 Camaro RS
’69 Mustang Mach 1
1970 Mustang Boss 302
1971 Camaro Z/28
1970 Challenger convertible.
!971 Firebird Trans Am.
1971 Barracuda.
1971 Mustang.
Mustn’t forget AMC: 1973 Javelin AMX.
1977 Mustang II
Ahh, that’s better!
1979 Camaro Z/28
1979 Mustang.
1980 Firebird Trans Am Turbo.
So many pictures!
That might be a good place to stop for now. I think this pretty much sums up the peak ‘classic’ muscle car era. I’ll dive deeper into it some other time. Make that several other times. Along with some later post-malaise pony cars too; they too have their story. Every car has a story at CC.
Very nice, Peter! That ’71 Barracuda looks like a Gran Coupe, one of my favorite ponies.
Thanks Paul. That Barracuda’s one of my infamous ‘mainstreamer’ conversions, based on the Monogram Hemi Cuda kit. I swapped in a smaller engine, and narrower wheels with whitewalls, filled the fender gills, and gave it a more luxurious looking colour palette. I wasn’t consciously aiming to do a Gran Coupe, but if you think it looks like one, I’m good with that.
Excellent as always. And The Stig appears to agree with me. I suppose if you wanted to be ultra-realistic, you could paint mold and water damage on the interiors of the T-top Camaro and Firebird.
Thanks Mike. While I’ve never seen that done, I have no doubt there are modellers out there who have done just that! What some of the military modellers can do in the way of replicating weathering is just jaw-dropping.
Thanks Peter, class as ever. Out of interest do you mask the window surround chrome trim or do you just have super human patience and a very stead hand?
Thanks Ed. There’s a feature coming up about how I build models, but these days the window trim is adhesive-backed foil that I cut into strips and (carefully!) apply. I’d show you the photo I took for the feature, but I seem to have lost it. That happens a lot around here….
In the early days I used to paint it freehand with silver enamel, but the foil gives a more realistic shine. Now I look back and wonder how I could have done that.
Looking forward to it.
Great set, Mr. W. I’m like you; don’t care for Mustang IIs in general, but your Kemp Cobra II is the jazz. Stage a photo of it on asphalt, and it’ll look like it just finished at Le Mans. Gorgeous.
Thanks. I think we’ve pretty much discussed the poor Mustang II to death around here and figured out what’s wrong with the styling and how to fix it. I did start an altered-wheelbase Mustang II in line with folks’ suggestions, but figured it needed more ‘classic’ Mustang design cues, and it spiralled out of control (pic). Might finish it one day.
For the Kemp Cobra II, I could sit it on some 600 wet-and-dry to replicate asphalt. Might be safer than dodging traffic for a photo shoot! There’s an idea…
I’ve built some of the cars you’ve shown.
Only a few of the 200 plus cars I built since age 11 are still with me since we’ve downsized. This was a hobby I really enjoyed into my adult years. I have a few kits in the garage I need to finish. One of my prized possessions is a 1965 Mustang Promo bought when we were poor newlyweds in 1980. It is in amazing condition and cost only $8 from a pawn shop.
I’ve watched some YouTube videos lately on model building and model swap meets in the US. It chokes me to see where prices have gone. This is partly why I’m not buying and building in my latter years. I’m hoping one day one or all of my grandsons will keep what cars I have left and the Gemini capsule I’m currently restoring.
Thanks for posting the pictures Peter and bringing back good memories.
Thanks Garry. Great buy on that Mustang.
Yeah, I’m with you on prices. Everybody seems almost pathologically-desperate to make money these days. But sometimes that can work to your advantage. Just before Covid I sold off a lot of my unbuilt kits, and was amazed at the price I got for them. I’d asked a figure I thought was maybe a bit cheeky, allowing some room for negotiation as I expected, only to have the buyer say ‘That’s fair’ and get out a roll of hundreds. Good if you’re selling, hard if you’re buying.
I have all bar about fifteen-twenty of the models I’ve built. I don’t think my grandson (10) will be into them, but my son understand what I’ve built (he’s a train modeller), and I’ll leave details of potential buyers or folk who can help disperse the collection when needed. God willing, that won’t be for some time yet.
Love the dark blue 2007 or 2008 Shelby photobombing (in the background parked in front of the ’65 Chevelle Wagon) the blue ’71 Trans Am photo.
Great models as usual Peter!
Ha! That’s a total accident, Rick. And wouldn’t you know it I can find photos of four other Mustangs of that generation (gold, yellow, green, even pink), but not that one!
Excellent detailing and color choices, as always. In this batch, I like the 1969-70 Mustang fastbacks the best, as the early notchback coupes never did anything for me, perhaps due to childhood rides in the back seat of a tan base model that didn’t seem all that special. I will always appreciate a 1970s F-body (the best looking generation of Camaros and Firebirds, in my opinion). And I share your fascination and admiration for the 2008-09 Mustang Shelby. I too was passed on the road by a Shelby in that very color and haven’t been able to get the impression of powerful competence and masculine good looks out of my head since.
Thanks William.
I’ve always preferred the fastbacks to the coupes, but for a long time that ’66 coupe was the only early Mustang kit out there. More on that when I do a Mustang story. Just recently AMT has tooled up a fastback body and interior to go with the coupe kits’ chassis and engine, but having built so many of the Monogram 1/24 kits I probably won’t get the AMT 1/25.
Personally I prefer the ’67-8 fastbacks, but I can certainly see the appeal of the ’69-70s. Very much in tune with the muscle car vibe of the era.
I like your take on the 71 Barracuda, after all who needs just another Hemi Cuda’ 🙂 it looks like something Mike Brady would arrive home in on the Brady Bunch.
Love the 68 Firebird with the red lines as well, great work
Jonco, that Hemi Cuda kit practically falls together, but I’m always up for a bit of variety. Sometimes too much variety! At one point I found I’d painted two the same colour (Moulin Rouge of all things!) so I had to difference them somehow.
Monogram had/has quite a wide range of Mopar muscle to borrow bits from, so it’s easy to find an RB or an LA to drop in. And for a wider range of options, there’s always the aftermarket companies or backyard casters/printers.
And that Firebird’s one of my favourites too.
Nice work as always Peter. I particularly like the Barracuda, it’s a perfect Chrysler tan/brown/bronze. I also like the final Trans Am.
Thanks Jeff. For that Barracuda I used a period Aussie Chrysler colour. Sometimes I search online for a ‘typical or ‘different’ colour; other times it just comes to me, like “this one needs to be…”, while other times I scan my paint stock for something suitable. It might take me weeks to pick a colour. In this case it was an “It’s gotta be bronze”. That naturally led me to a gold/brown interior which called out for a beige roof.
That final Trans Am’s an old MPC 1/16 scale kit, that’s how come some of the detail (like the decals) looks so good. Bigger canvas to work with, and all that.
Oh my, that ’68 Firebird is better than the real thing (which is already a very handsome thing) and the underbonnet of the ’71 Barracuda is better yet.
Remarkable stuff, Mr W, Fr Pete, Sir. As it always is, truly.
Thanks Justy. I’ve always liked those Firebirds; they seemed to take an already attractive design (Camaro) and make it even more so, somehow scoring a distinct identity into the bargain. That can’t be easy to do; just looks at the number of times GM couldn’t pull that off over the years that followed. A mate had a Hot Wheels one when I was a kid, something about that design really struck a chord with little me.
The Barracuda? I don’t often show my engine bays, because I mostly prefer to look at the overall shape of a car, but that’s pretty typical. Appropriate (but not perfect) colours, some extra added detailing if something’s obviously missing, and usually a grimy wash (how often do you see a perfectly clean engine?). I did add heater hoses and a power brake booster to this one. One mate always has a go at me for leaving off plug leads – but once you get into wiring, where do you stop? Plug leads, high tension lead, starter motor, then there’s all those other wires going hither and yon – no, that’s not for me. I’ll keep it simple, and suggest detail with paint. 🙂
Peter: Obviously, I’m a Mopar lover, but I like ALL cars (GM, Ford, AMC, etc.); I’m going to have to hold you responsible for causing me to ruin my keyboard by excess drooling over your tasty presentations! LOL!!
Sorry mate, I burst out laughing at that! (Spraying coffee on a keyboard’s not recommended either.)
But I do understand.
I’ve got more of a feel for my audience now that Ilve been writing here for two years, and I’ve worked the Skylines out of my system – that’s not to say they won’t still pop up now and then. Oh we’ll visit Japan and Europe from time to time, and look at some older stuff then CC usually deals with, but there are a lot of fifties through seventies cars I haven’t shown yet. As well as pony cars, there’s plenty of mid-size muscle, there’s the big block Super Stocks, there’s fast compacts, there’s – well, you get the idea.
We’ll get there.
Thanks again Peter. As a fellow glue sniffer I appreciate your articles.
Thanks. Plenty more to come, mate.