’59 Chev.
I thought for today I might look at some cars I remember from my early days. Less talk, more photos.
Now if I was American or Canadian this would be easy. There are plenty of models of Fords and Chevys, the occasional Plymouth, a scattering of Hudsons and Studebakers, throw in a Jeep or two. Done! The hard part would be choosing which ones to show. Postwar Australia was very different.
I won’t rehash what I’ve said before over the years. Suffice it to say that while US cars were well-regarded for toughness, they were too expensive for most folks here to buy and run. Plus, I’ve read there was some economic hiccup in the early fifties, a dollar shortage, or some such. Before the war British cars filled the void, but after the war European makers as well were trying to rebuild, hoping for export sales too, and sending more products down under. GM lobbed a bombshell into this market with the Holden.
So, while one neighbour had one of these…
’51 Chev.
For many, the reality was something smaller. Maybe not as small as this, though I did see a few around;
Renault 4CV.
Others drove this…
A30.
But certainly, none were as spacious as one of these;
’50 Ford.
Occasional prewar cars were still around during my childhood. I passed one of these on the way to school every day, a black sedan;
’37 Chev.
And occasionally I saw a ’39 Plymouth – the closest I have it this ’41;
’41 Plymouth.
The early Fords were either in the hands of the hot-rodders already, or in a junkyard. With two exceptions; an A roadster I saw weekly:
’29A.
I also recall a panel van from the mid-thirties, though I don’t recall if it was sign written;
’37 Van.
Occasionally you would see an old wreck on its last legs. Something in this condition was quite legal in my state;
BF41 Chev 6.
Occasionally you would see someone working on their car parked out in the street. Next step was usually to dump it near the school or by the canal. This gave us some great things to play in on the way home.
Our landlord had the end garage extended to fit his Hudson, a long black sedan;
’53 Hudson.
I remember our landlord’s sons blatting around in open sports cars. One had a Sprite, which made quite an impact on me – a car my size!
AH Sprite.
And at another time, someone came to visit us in an early TR;
TR3.
The commonest large cars I saw were fifties Fords, collectively known as Customlines. Four-door sedans only. The Mainline was ute-only, and we didn’t get the dressed-up Crestlines or Fairlanes;
’53 Ford.
My high-school principal had a ’56 Chevy. Like all of them assembled here in Australia, it was a 210 four-door manual six, but his was a dark red and white;
’56 Chevy.
Our nearest shops were in South St. Kilda, which was a strongly Continental area. Mostly Southern and Eastern Europeans, who, when they made it good, often displayed their wealth in what they drove. In the late fifties, American cars stood out not only for their sheer size but also for the amount of chrome they had, often regarded as being in bad taste – Aussies were a conservative lot. Somebody who might have started out with something like this…
Peugeot 403.
…might upgrade to a locally-assembled Chevrolet, but it would be a Biscayne four-door, and it would still come with the six and manual. That’s the way Holden made them;
’58 Chev.
Or, less commonly, they might spring for an imported Plymouth;
’58 Plymouth.
Next time, join me to look at sixties cars.
’66 Falcon.
Wow, very nice pics!
Thanks! 🙂
First family car I remember was a 1950 NASH AMBASSADOR, followed by a 55 DeSoto. Dad was a long time Inland Steel guy, so there was never a possibility of any vehicle made in the USA. We were fortunate enough to have two cars, family and Dad’s go to work car. Of vehicles shown, the (Suddenly it’s 1960) Plymouth and 58 Chevy are my favorites. Loved massive chrome laden 58 GMS(especially 58 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special).
Did Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial have a presence Down Under?
Very little presence before the war, and even less post-war, Rick. Aussies were more inclined toward the British luxury brands (being part of the Empire; it really mattered back then). Someone who wasn’t quite in the Rolls-Royce bracket could choose an Armstrong-Siddeley, a Humber, a small Daimler, a big-engined Rover, not to mention Jaguar. And others too: Alvis, Bristol…. The wealthy were quite conservative in those days, and the postwar American cars often came across as too flashy – that’s IF (a big if) economic conditions made tham available. There’d be a few dealers who could bring one in to order, but they weren’t a regularly catalogued item.
Pretty neat ! .
Your modeling skills greatly exceed mine, I love the silver detailing so carefully done on the side spears etc. .
It’s interesting that as a middle class American our family usually had two cars, I’m the baby of six and the only car nut and I have typically had more than 4 car plus a gaggle of Motocycles since my late 20’s .
Your collection will never leak oil nor break down etc. .
I also like that you build & paint them to look how they were back in the day ~ most modelers I ever met were always customizing their models .
-Nate
Nate, for the past thirty-odd years I’ve used Bare Metal Foil for the chrome trim – it’s a thin, slightly flexible adhesive foil. Before that it would be a fine brush and Humbrol #11 Silver. The ’37 and ’58 Chevy have painted trim, as does the ’50 Ford and the Peugeot; the others are foiled. BTW, that Peugeot is in 1/43 scale; much smaller than the rest. Painting the window frames on that WAS a challenge!
We always looked to Americans as being such a rich people. Yeah, I know, the Hollywood effect and all that, but that’s how it seemed to us in those days. I knew many families who were buying their first car in the sixties and even seventies. Families with two cars were very uncommon where I grew up; the only one I can recall ran a Holden wagon and a Falcon hardtop – two normal-size cars that would be compacts in the US.
I’m glad you like my building style. I do seem to be something of an outlier in that regard. I’ll write more about this another time.
The funny thing is Mr. Wilding ;
So few Americans have any grasp of how good we have it, truly we’re rich even if not in $ .
I try hard to impart this to our foster boys and others who like to cry “poor me” because teir new Lexus got scratched or dented…..
-Nate
Yeah, Nate, exactly. We learnt enough about other countries in school to appreciate why Australia was called The Lucky Country, and why we had so many European migrants. I don’t think they teach that sort of thing these days. We ‘knew’ America was ‘richer’, but it didn’t bother us. We appreciated that we were so much better off then we used to be.
As always, movies and nowadays social media give rise to unrealistic expectations of life, if you take what is portrayed as normative. Foster boys with a new Lexus – wow! A smaller one than this, I assume.
Beautiful models! Wish I had the ability to build them like this!
Thanks. There’s a lot of practice gone into these. The ’58 Chevy was one of my first efforts in 1/25 scale, but I’d spent six years building smaller models before this. The ’53 Ford and ’59 Chevy were built for a club display about ten years ago. I built the little Austin and Renault last year.
Nice to see what was considered proper in other countries. Thanks for sharing your stories.
Thanks Brian. I think we all have a tendency to think of what we see around us as being normative, and it can be quite the eye-opener to hear how folk live elsewhere. As we grow older and read or travel, we may come to understand the reason behind the differences we see. I’ve found Rich’s stories particularly fascinating, relating to a part of the world I knew nothing about.
Outstanding models! I’d be proud to own any one of them!
Thank you.
I was wondering what to make of Bret Climo’s 1947 Buick convertible in A Place to Call Home…
Holden assembled Buicks up until 1948; after that they were flat-out manufacturing Holdens! But they only made four door sedans in the Special series. That convertible would have been imported to order. There might be one dealer in each capital city who could do that. I have my doubts about the reality of being able to obtain a new droptop Buick in those early postwar years, but I won’t say it was impossible, I don’t know enough.
Congratulations on embarking on these articles! It’s nice to see your models, which are impressively diverse in subject and model manufacturer. I’m a modeler, too, but not nearly as varied in my collection. Being in the U.S., I’ve only ever done Revell, Monogram, AMT, etc., with Tamiya being the only foreign models I’ve dabbled in.
I haven’t been at it as long, with my history starting in the early 80’s when I was in grade school. I’m also not as prolific as you appear to be. There was a time when my skills had developed to a minimally adequate state AND I had time to build when I did a fair number of kits. But since I got married and especially since kids, my table time has been pretty limited. I probably average a kit a year now. Let just say my shelf of unbuilt models is a lot bigger than my built shelf.
I have occasionally included a picture of a model of mine when it’s relevant in comments or my own articles. I’m familiar with the kits of almost all your american models in foreground and background. The only one I don’t recognize is the 66 Falcon. Is that an original 60’s kit or a resin or what?
Thanks, Jon. The Falcon is a 1966 original, bought ten years ago as a bullt-up kit (not cheap!), stripped back and rebuilt. Our last family car was a ’66 Falcon in this colour scheme; if I’d tried converting it to a four door like ours it still wouldn’t be finished!
During my working years and while the children were young, build time was a luxury, but I always had a space set aside somewhere. The kids knew not to touch that little table. Now my son does amazing HO trains, and his children know not to touch grandpa’s models when they visit, though my grandson often wants me to show them to him. Now that I’m retired I’m managing 25-30 kits a year.
As for diverse, well a few months back I built this…..
Loved these! Each time one of your pieces runs, I wonder about the condition of the assembled models that are still in my basement, stored three-to-a-box. The last time I had them out some bits were falling off – from aging glue, I suppose. I am pretty sure that same 51 Chevy fastback is one of mine – only mine was painted dark green.
Heres a ’51 Chevy in green! 🙂
I’m going to do my best to get a piece in every two weeks. My finished builds that aren’t on display are stored like yours, three to a box in old wardrobes in the garage (very few houses have basements here). It’s best to have a piece of paper towel (not tissue) between each one, or you might get tyre marks on the paint (plastic degradation, not wheelspin!) over the years.
Peter, my father had a ’49 Pontiac fastback (sold before I was born) and my grandfather had a Chevy like this until the day he died in 1967, so I want to build one of these Chevy’s for that reason plus I have discovered that back in the day they made a lot of customs out of these. I suppose they were the Honda Civic of their era. BTW I have found that vintage Hot Rod and Rod & Custom magazines are available and a great source of information on how it was done back in the day.
I’ll echo the others — I think these are terrific posts. Beautiful cars, great pics. Nice accompanying narrative, to boot. Lots of fun to be had here. Thanks very much, Mr. W!
Thank you. As for the narrative, I’ve always liked playing with words, and keep my mind sharp by writing. I’ve had work privately published in a few anthologies.
Plenty of fun indeed, and lots more to see.
Peter,
nice work. A lot of those kits can be done several times if you consider building them like they advertised, stock, drag or custom. That’s the beauty of retirement, I actually am building some cars again.
First car I remember was our ’58 Pontiac Chieftain 4 door hardtop. This Bonneville is all that was produced in the very first year of AMT doing one piece bodies. Apparently I drove the Pontiac down a hill in our hayfield, narrowing missing a large rock. I don’t remember, I was only 2 at the time. I always remember pretend driving the thing and I put it in neutral. The car was babysitting me while the rest of them baled hay and my mom was home with a one year old.
That’s a nice car, Dave. Very pretty. Spot-on colors to my eye.
Glad you lived to tell us the back-story.
That Bonneville looks really well-built! I’ve never seen the kit, I’m sure it’s pretty rare and valuable today. Looks like AMT did a good job apart from kind of bug-eyed headlights.
thanks
that is a resin reproduction from eBay seller. Authentic ’58 kits are way out of my price range and seldom seen unbuilt and are rarely seen even built up. Bug eyes are my fault, used “googly eye” toy plastic lenses to cover the chrome plated headlights but I didn’t cut them properly, I will look into that.
The body tooling on the early kits was superior to modern day CAD kits. The downside to the early “screw bottom” kits is that there was no opening hood or engine or much interior detail.
For those lights, two suggestions, Dave.
1 – (Best) White glass stain as used for stained-glass work. Looks very realistic applied over the chrome lights. Hard to come by, expensive, and you’ll have a lot left over (one bottle lasted me 20 years!)
2 – (much cheaper) Get a bottle of Tamiya white acrylic paint, allow the pigment to settle to the bottom, then dip a brush in the upper clear layer with just a tad of the white. Much the same effect. Never tried other brands.
That’s a lovely build, Dave. Beautiful colour choice too.
I’ve found in retirement there is so much more available than there used to be. I have gone back and built a second (or third, or fourth…) of some kits, but I usually tend to make only fairly slight deviations from stock. Just personal taste. Occasionally some online group will have a monthly challenge that may take me out of my comfort zone, but I’ve never been in to drag cars. Drag racing isn’t as big here as it seems to be in the US. But here’s a custom ’64 Mercury.
Forgot pic!
I like it Peter. Lately I’ve been getting into custom cars of the 50s, a little before my time but I appreciate them. I have that ’64 Mercury in my stash of unbuilts too. sometime soon I will tackle the Hudson like you did, a lot of bare metal foil to do!
yes model finishing has come a long ways and so many more things available now, either custom resin molded or 3d printed.
and the color choice on the Bonneville is right out of the sales brochure. Here in the States there is a good source for lacquer paint in 1 oz. jars and they carry quite a few old paint codes.
I didn’t build it myself, but I have a 41 Plymouth very similar to yours I found at an antique store. It’s a little beat up for a die cast car but I like that it looks a little rough.
Hope the pic loads
That looks fine to me Clyde .
In the mid 1970’s the shop next to me’s owner had a blue 1941 Plymouth, I loved it but he was really paranoid after being dissed by all the GM & Ford fanboies .
-Nate
Nice find, Clyde. Good to come across a diecast with the side chrome detailed.
As my story unfolds, you’ll see some diecasts I’ve disasembled and done up. Then there’s resin kits, and 3D printing. The little green Austin above is a 3D printed model. More on those another time.
I am enjoying this series very much. I appreciate the commentary about which cars were seen on the streets of Melbourne in the early 1960s, which adds some perspective to how these vehicles were seen in other parts of the world. I imagine that English Fords and Holdens and a whole slew of British brands were also evident and even predominant back then. Aside from the various continental European marques, such as the Renault 4CV and Peugeot 403 shown above, were model kits available for these cars?
And I’m enjoying responding to your questions. 🙂
I’ve always enjoyed reading CC because for me it highlights the difference between different countries’ automotive cultures. I try to put you where I was and show you things through my eyes. Looks like I’ve succeeded; that’s good.
Back in the sixties the British company Airfix did a range of mostly British cars in 1/32 scale. Notably I remember a Lotus-Cortina Mark 1, a Mini, a Ford Zodiac Mark 3, and an MG1100. After the early seventies Airfix kind of disappeared, so far as new product was concerned. I built most of them, but they’re messy and I don’t have photos. The actual kits were fairly good though, some better than others. The Triumph Herald and Ford Escort Mark 1 have been dusted off and reissued, but for way more then the 66c I paid for the originals! The only Airfix kits in 1/24 scale I know of were the Toyota 2000GT and Aston Martin DB6.
Some Holdens (FX, FJ, FC, EH…) are available in resin, but from what I’ve seen quality and accuracy seem to be a problem with some companies. Yeah, I know these are small aftermarket businesses operating out of someone’s garage. The trick is finding who does a good one. Plus there’s the new HQ kits in plastic from DDA; I don’t have one yet.
I hadn’t really considered the added, significant expense of owning and operating a U.S.-built car on your continent relative to what most people there drove, all of which look like smaller machines. Your attention to detail on these scale models is incredible. The ’59 Chevy was a great lead-in photo.
Yeah, there’s a lot behind that. Economics seems something of a black art to me, but as I understand it you guys pay a lot less tax on gas than most other countries. I have some idea of the reasoning behind that (big country, long distances like us, but with cold winters, and oil-fired furnaces), and that as a result you can afford to run what seem to us to be ‘big’ cars.
Plus there’s what we would see as more tendency to flaunt your wealth. We were more conservative in that regard, not so much nowadays.
I’ve read some excellent books on early postwar Australia. Import taxes were high to encourage local production. The Austin A40 (1200cc) and Standard Vanguard (2.1 litre) were top sellers – until Holden could ramp up supply to meet the demand. By the late fifties Holden had something like 50% of the market – with one model, two passenger and two commercial bodies, all with the same 132 six and three-speed manual, at a very competitive price. No wonder that became the standard Australian car!
Here’s more of that ’59 Chevy – but it was that back view that grabbed my attention as a kid. 🙂 It was a real standout when there was only one in town.
I assume that’s the Monogram/Revell kit. It’s sitting on my shelf waiting patiently to get built someday…
Looks like it builds up nicely. Good modern kit.
Yep, that’s the one. Comes in convertible form too.
Very nice, I especially liked the ’53 Hudson. 🙂 I don’t recall ever seeing a model of one of those. The nice Nova behind your Kustom Kar sure brings back memories: of the 3 full size ones I had.
Is the ’56 Chevy the old Revell kit? Having had one of those kits, and the hoods over the headlights were really off in size and shape. I was sure glad my real ’56 didn’t look like that.
Car modeling $ure is cheaper than dealing with the life size variety what with insurance, gas, plates etc, plus the initial purcha$e price!! BTW, GR8 job on the finned ’59 Impala!! As over wrought as they were, the ’60s made the ’59s look really good. DFO
The Hudson is a Moebius kit, a fairly new brand to the automotive scene, though they’ve been doing other subjects for quite some time. They also do a ’52 convertible, ’54 coupe and sedan, and a variety of racing ’52-3 coupes. Along with a host of other cool stuff.
My photos are kinda notorious among modelling groups for showing other interesting stuff in the background! One photo can lead to another, and another… Here’s a better shot of that Nova. It’s the Revell Yenko ’69, stripeless, and in a fictitious colour scheme. Don’t think Chevy offered metallic orange with a gold interior – maybe they should’ve.
The ’56 is indeed the old Revell kit. Another old build from forty-odd years back, hand-painted with Humbrol enamels and some extra chrome added.
I was going to comment on the background Nova, and lo and behold, it shows up a few posts down! I’m really enjoying this series and learning from the backstories that you provide. I look forward to the sixties…Mopars!!! 🙂
When it gets to sixties Mopars, well…… Plenty coming up!
Pete, I’m so glad you’re doing this series. Wonderful cars and fine text to go with them. A pleasure to see and read.
Thank you Paul. That means a lot.
Nice to see a feature on model cars again. I built well over 200 back in the day and the favorites are still with me. A lot were sold to a collector when my father died and we had to sell my parents house.
I have a few unbuilt kits and a Gemini capsule (Revell 1966) that needs to be restored. I think I will tackle those projects this winter. Way back when model car kits and slot car racing were a big deal for little boys.
Thanks! I’ve never sold any of mine, but sometimes build a kit ‘to order’ for a close friend, like this Toyota Century I did for a friend in New Mexico. He likes big cars, knew I liked Japanese, but left the choice up to me.
That Gemini capsule sounds really something – I vaguely remember the kit. I largely confined my interest to cars – the way it turned out, that’s just as well.
These are great Mr. Wilding! And I was astonished to read in Part 2 that you do a lot of hand painting. That is an amazing skill, something I don’t have. Its all rattle cans or air brush for me.
Looking forward to Part 4.
Thanks! I started off hand-painting, and only started spraying about thirty years ago. Sometimes hand-painting is the only way to get the colour I want just where I want it and nowhere else. 🙂 I find it easier to hand-paint the second colour of a two-tone rather than mask, spray, and then deal with the almost inevitable (for me) overspray. Quality paint, good thinners, artist-quality brushes. And practice.
My son has an airbrush for his scratchbuillt locos and rolling stock, but I’ve never used one.
Great stuff Peter, and I look forward to more! This is a stalled ’66 Malibu. It’s at the stage where it became a chore, so onto the “shelf of doom” until I feel like it.
Some inspiration. 🙂
One that I’ve just finished. Foose Cadillac
Chris, WordPress, the platform CC uses, is awfully intolerant of big pictures. If it doesn’t show it’s not personal, you’ll need to shrink it. I use Irfanview (freeware), and take it down to 1024×768.
Just want to echo the enthusiasm for these posts. Am looking forward to learning more about the different kinds of kits available and what the differences are in terms of assembly and finishing. You haven’t said much about glue, and I know from experience that the right glue can make a big difference in how a model turns out. I’m hoping you will have some insights to share. I am a life long builder of RC models and model rockets, but have built a fair number (by my standards not yours!) of static scale models too, mostly when I was younger. Only once did I try to achieve a standard comparable to yours, a model of a MG TC that I assembled with special care and finished with what I considered at the time obsessive attention to detail; I tried to make every visible detail match the actual car, from the instruments in the dash to under hood bits and engine parts. I was rather proud of the results I achieved but was happy to get back to RC, where most of my time and effort is devoted to functional considerations and a rather crude appearance, possibly including visible damage repair, is part of the aesthetic. Sort of a looks deceptively like junk outside but with jewel like mechanical bits inside kind of thing. Am really enjoying these posts and am a great admirer of your work, thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks! There is a lot I haven’t talked about yet. This will be an ongoing series for quite some time yet. I am mindful that CC is not a model forum. 🙂 There is so much to talk about, so much I can show, but only so much I can fit in one post. And as I’m in Australia, some of what I can buy or use might not be available in other countries. But hey, that’s the Internet!
Different kinds of kits and differences in assembly? You’re not alone in wanting something along those lines. I’ll keep that in mind for later. At the moment I think folk just want to see what I’ve done.
As for glues, big topic. TL/DR: it depends what you’re gluing. I’m not one of those guys who superglues everything. My go-to is Revell Contacta Professional – out of Germany, so might not be available in the US. I use Microscale Micro Krystal Klear (that’s American!) for gluing clear parts. Now and then I might use super glue or epoxy; I usually get Selleys (good local brand) from the hardware store. Yeah, I know the off-brands might work, but I don’t take chances.
Good to hear you gave that TC extra care and attention. Was that the Monogram 1/24 or the Gakken/Entex/Minicraft 1/16? Here’s my Monogram one.
It was too small for 1/16 so it must have been the Monogram kit. Glorious as my memory of it is it wasn’t as nice as yours. Are those the wheels that came with the kit? I don’t remember them being ‘chrome’ except for the knock offs. Mine were painted the same gray colour as the ones I later had on my MGB. It’s possible that they started out the same and I just don’t remember painting over the shiny version. I like what you’ve done with the straps on the boot! I tried to make mine look like leather but yours are distinctively up market. It’s amazing how much they liven up the rather blocky rear of the car.
Those are indeed the kit wheels.According to the Scalemates archive, this was originally a diecast metal bodied kit, later released in plastic. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/monogram-2290-mg-tc–159076
Mine is all-plastic. Photos I’d seen had those rear straps chromed – maybe overrestored? – so I cut some strips of Bare Metal foil to width.
Beautiful models, in particular your ’59 Chevy is stunning. I was never overly talented at model building in my youth, however, recently I have been building some with my son and my skills have improved since childhood. I guess some of the skills learned in restoring and working on old cars translated over to models. We used metal foil for the first time and does that every make a massive difference on the cars. Thanks for sharing your work.
Thanks Vince. I find if I really get enthusiastic about a particular car, it shows in the model. And for some reason I’ve always loved ’59 Chevys.
Damn, that 59` Chevy looks like the real thing! Beautiful builds, it might inspire me to finish the 59`AMT El Camino I started in June.
Phil, that is the greatest compliment you could give me. I always aim to make them look like the real thing, and I’m still picking up tricks to help in achieveing that aim.
You needn’t rush this series, Peter. It’s going to attract a lot of readers each time, as it should, and maybe spacing it out works in favour of that. It is really fascinating stuff for anyone who’s had a life-long interest in cars. Very-slightly sheepishly, I’ll admit to having some good-quality purchased models that I pick up and stare at from time to time. Aesthetic pleasure comes in many guises.
There was still the odd Austin A30 about in my ’70’s Melbourne childhood, and I always thought the ridiculous little peanuts were just comical. “See Australia in your new Austin – if you’re a family of patient midgets”. There could not be a car less suited to conditions here then. They’d have been better off as a hood ornament for one of those 6-cyl batwing Chevs that were also still sometimes to be seen, and, given the shoe-polish drums of the big American, there was doubtless some rear-ender back in the day where they became just that.
Thanks Justy. As it happens, the next two are ready to go.
Totally agree about the A30. It always sounded like first gear maxed out before 10mph. A dearly-loved aunt who looked after my grandparents had one. I never saw all three of them in it, and now I’m at the stage where my hips don’t hop, I wonder how they managed to get in. The plate on the A30 is from her car, done as a favour from a mate.
Blimey teddy, when it’s close-up like this, it’s clear your skills really are something else.
GPT – God Please Think (of her, your aunt), and this is a lovely and careful manifestation of doing just that.
It helps that I’m extremely short-sighted. 🙂 This great for painting detail, not so great whan I drop a part and have to call in Elf-eyes (daughter) to help find it for me.
In case anyone was wondering how big a 1/24 scale Austin A30 is – 14cm.