Collecting Model Cars

Archive for March, 2009

The Pontiac Firebird

We have four generations of the Pontiac Firebird built by the Pontiac division of General Motors between 1967 and 2002. The Firebird was introduced the same year as its cousin, the Chevrolet Camaro. This happened to provide good competition with the release of the 1967 Mercury Cougar, a cousin with another pony car, the Ford Mustang.

The Pontiac Firebirds were, for the most part, powered by various V8 engines of different GM divisions. They were mostly Pontiac-powered until 1977. Pontiac Firebirds were powered with several different engines from most all of the GM division until 1982 when all Pontiac engines were dropped in favor of corporate units.
First Generation Pontiac Firebirds (1967–1969)

In the first generation of the Pontiac Firebirds they had what was referred to “coke bottle” styling. The bumpers were integrated into the design of both front and rear. The “slit” tail lights inspired by the Pontiac GTO all served to make is different than its cousin the Chevrolet Camaro. The Firebirds were produced in a convertible and the hardtop coupe. Pontiac wanted the Firebird to be a two-seat sports car based on their concept car the Banshee. GM shot this idea down not wanting any competition for the Corvette.

With some disappointment at management's decision, Pontiac went about re-making the F-body in their image with both styling and engineering changes.

The Firebirds styling difference from the 1967 to the 1968 model was adding the Federally-mandated side marker lights. The front of the car and the blinkers were made larger and extended to wrap around the front, and on the rear, the Pontiac (V-shaped) Arrowhead logo was added to each side.

Pontiac stopped using wing vent windows and started using single panes on the doors. The 1969 model with a major facelift came with a new front end design made of an Endura bumper housing the headlights and grilles. In the cabin there was a revised instrument panel and steering wheel. The ignition switch was moved from the dashboard to the steering column with the introduction of GM's new locking ignition switch/steering wheel.

To date the Pontiac Firebird power options have been interesting. From the first inline 6 cylinder all the way to the famous 400 CID (6.6 L) V8 the power options provided some rubber burning excitement over the years.

Model manufactures over the years have produced many different Firebirds to add to your collections. Indy pace cars to the famous Smokey and Bandit Firebird Tran-Am will make nice additions to any collection.

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Chevrolet Chevelle

The Chevrolet Chevelle was a mid-sized car from Chevrolet introduced in 1964. Chevelle’s were produced from 1964 to 1977 and was a very successful line for GM.

The Chevelle models ranged from the family cars to the more powerful coupes and convertibles.

Chevrolet plan to compete with the Ford Fairlane line with the Chevelle. The main idea was to bring back the car concept to the popular 55 through 57 model lines.

Chevelle came in a four-door hardtop, called a Sport Sedan and were available from 1966 through 1972.

The two-door station was available in 1964 and 1965 in the 300 series a bottom of the line version.

The station wagons were sold with what was billed as exclusive nameplates: Nomad, Nomad Custom, Greenbrier, Concours, and Concours Estate.

Chevrolet’s entry into the muscle car market began with the Chevelle SS. Beginning in 64 and 65 the Chevelles got a Malibu Badge on the rear quarter panel.

This is the most sought after Badge today on the models and real cars. The famous Z16 option Malibu SS396 of which there were only 201 produced. The Malibu SS badge went away after 65 and some were still sold in Canada.

Beginning in 66 the Chevelle SS396 a very high performance with its own line of high power engines and performance equipment in power ranges from 325 all the way to 375 hp.

These Chevelle’s make a great addition to vintage model car collections because some of them are very rare.

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Cadillac

How the Cadillac came about is an interesting story. Cadillac was born from the remnants of a Henry Ford Company. Cadillac owners will love this, when Henry Ford departed along with key partners and the company was dissolved. The plan was to liquidate the company’s assets; Ford's money men, William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen contacted engineer Henry M. Leland of Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company to appraise the company’s assets and equipment.

What happened was, Leland persuaded them to keep the automobile business using Leland's proven 1-cylinder engine. With Henry Ford's departure a new name was needed, and on August 22, 1902, the company reopened as the Cadillac Automobile Company. Leland & Faulconer Company and the Cadillac Automobile Company merged in 1905.

They named the company after the French explorer Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit in 1701, a 17th century explorer.

The Cadillac brand was known for luxury and the name began being used as a synonym for “High Quality” referring to the (Cadillac of this or that) the first being the Rolex being identified as the “Cadillac of watches”. Cadillac also has the greatest of American slogans. The slogan is very American (Life, Liberty and the Pursuit) which refers to the unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence.

Another great American contribution from the Cadillac was in 1934 they had a big hand in the revolution in assembly line technology. With the introduction of Henry F. Phillips phillips screw and driver. Which he introduced to the market by convincing Cadillac to use on their assembly line would increase their profits. Cadillac being the first to use the new technology was very successful. Then everyone else followed suit in 1940.

The postwar Cadillac’s make the best collectables GMs chief stylist Harley J. Earl designed a lot of the classic features like tailfins wraparound windscreens. A lot was inspired by the P-38 Lightning from Lockeed.

You can still find vintage models of the postwar area Cadillac’s to build and collect.

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Ford Thunderbird

The Ford Thunderbird began in 1955 and has seen around 13 different generations of the design in the last 50 plus years. Ford intended the Thunderbird to be a very personal Luxury car. It was never intended to be the sports car like the Chevrolet Corvette. Over the years the Thunderbird's have been upsized and downsized two seats to 4 seats cars.

Production stopped in 1997 and in 2002 a new 2-seat model was re-launched and brought the Thunderbird back to life.

There are three men that get the credit for the original Thunderbird. And wouldn’t you know it a retired GM executive lured from retirement by Henry Ford II; Lewis Crusoe to work with George Walker a vice-president and chief stylist for Ford and Frank Hershey a Ford designer. Walker and Crusoe met in France in October 1951. Crusoe liked a sports he saw and ask Walker can’t we have something like that? This part of the story is a little unclear but Walker said we are already working on it.

After the meeting Walker called chief stylist Frank Hershey and told him about the conversation. Frank liked the idea and began working on a design right away.

The idea was for a two passenger car in the ball park of 2500 lbs with the up and coming V8 slated for 1954. The car was to have top speed of over 100 mph. They presented a painted clay model to Crusoe in May of 1953 and he approved it in September after doing a little compare with some of the European trends. Henry Ford II approved the final design to compete with the new Corvette.

The name for the new design proved to be a major problem for Ford. The weird stuff they came up with just did not work. Stuff like (Artcturus, Beaver, Coronado, Detroiter, El Tigre and Savile) strange stuff for sure. The brilliant idea of Crusoe was to offer a $250 new suit to the person that could come up with a better name. Alden Giberson submitted Thunderbird on a list that was the final selection. He never claimed his prize but settled for a $95 suit with an extra pair of pants.

Ford has sold 4.2 million Thunderbirds in the last 50 years in about 13 different versions.

Vintage model car collectors will find quite a few of these to add to their car collections. Over the years there were a number of them that were special creations.

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1948 Tucker Sedan

The 1948 Tucker Sedan is very famous more so than you would expect from it’s very short production run. A prototype of the first Tucker was called the “Tin Goose”. From the prototype 58 bodies and frames were constructed and from these 36 Tucker Torpedo sedans were completed before the force closing of the factory.

One other prototype was on the drawing board called the “Vera”, was to be a convertible. The factory was closed before construction ever started. After the factory closed with the parts 14 more sedans were completed bringing the total to 51. There is a plan in the works to complete the convertible by May 2009 that will bring the total Tuckers to 52.

Preston Tucker saw an opportunity to get into the car market after World War II. With the U.S. auctioning off war factories and giving a break to startup companies Tucker jumped at the chance.

Tucker’s idea was to build a new car with safety in mind with innovative features. These features were disk brakes, fuel injection and a rear engine to be an air cooled flat 6. A lot of Tuckers innovations were dropped but left on the drawing board were magnesium wheels, disk brakes and a direct drive torque converter transmission.

Tucker’s innovative engine selection the (9.7 L) flat 6 worked but had valve train problems. Next an aircraft engine by Lycoming was selected but they could not fit it into the rear engine compartment.

Tucker bought four Franklin air cooled flat 6 helicopter engines that did fit perfect in the Tucker Torpedo Sedan. The 335 ci 5.5L engines were converted into water cooled engines and produced 166 hp. They were perfect and very durable. Tucker bought the Franklin Company to own the engines source.

Most all of the original Tuckers Torpedo Sedan's can still be driven today. At auction they command millions from collectors.

For the modeler these vintage car wonders can still be found and make great additions to collections.

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Dodge Super Bee

The Plymouth Road Runner’s first cousin the original Super Bee was based on a two door coupe model. The Dodge Coronet and was produced from 1968 all the way through 1970. The Dodge equivalent to the Plymouth Road Runner, a lower priced muscle car sold for $3,027. Plymouth's Road Runner sold so well Dodge management office decided to create a competitor.

The designers needed an identity for the Dodge version. Dodge lead designer Harvey J Winn came up with the name Super Bee and a logo design for the Dodge "Scat Pack" Bee medallion. The first Super Bee was built on a '68 Coronet convertible. The show car was constructed at Alexander Brothers Custom Shop under Winn's instruction and was introduced at the 1968 Detroit Auto Show.

The Super Bee and the Road Runner were very similar in appearance, the Super Bee was slightly heavier by 65 lbs and ran on a 117 in wheelbase compared to the Road Runner's 116 in wheelbase. And don’t forget the famous bumble bee tail-stripe and used actual diecast chrome plated "Bee" medallions. The 3-dimensional medallions were mounted on the grille and hood area and the trunk lid taillight area of the car for the first 3 years of production.

All the niceties added to the higher purchase cost of the Super Bee compared to its Plymouth cousin and affected its sales numbers over the years. The Super Bee, like nearly all Chrysler muscle cars of that era was available with the Hemi engine, and only 125 were sold. In 1968 the Super Bee model only came as a 2-door coupe and with 2 engine options, the base 335 hp 383 Magnum, and the 426 Hemi 425 hp.

The Super Bee was outfit with a heavy-duty suspension. An option was the Mopar A-833 four-speed manual transmission, plus high-performance tires.

Another great addition to your model car collections the Super Bee some of America’s best muscle car history find vintage model car kits and new to complete your collection. Here is a short list come back often the listing change daily.

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