The Early Years, 1979 - 1983
I can’t begin to explain how influential 1/25-scale plastic model kits have been in my life. Born in 1964, I got my first kit – a bargain bin 1970 Chevy Monte Carlo – in 1974 when I was 10 years old. Though the kit was part of AMT’s simplified Motor City series (no engine), it was a quantum leap ahead of the 1/64-scale Matchbox, Corgi, Tootsie Toy, Hot Wheels and Johnny Lightning die cast metal cars I’d grown up with so far. The larger size of 1/25-scale plastic kits made me see the smaller 1/64 stuff as the toys they were.
The clincher with model kits was that I was in complete control of what the model would look like. After all, unlike little die cast cars which were purchased preassembled, model
kits had to be constructed and could be customized in any one of a zillion ways. The artful and highly imaginative instruction sheets and box art were additional logs on the fire that fired my imagination and hooked me for life.
If you’re a fellow model builder, then you know what I’m talking about. And no doubt, you have your own indelible recollections of your first efforts at building, modifying and customizing the many excellent AMT, MPC, Revell, Monogram, IMC, JoHan, Palmer, Aurora and Lindberg kits over the years. I’ve somehow managed to keep most of my old models and recently dug out the Mopars for presentation here. Some are intact while others are a bit torn up and missing pieces. All are vital steps in my self-education in all things Mopar. In Part One, lets look at the ones I built between 1979 and 1983. It was a period of mental, physical and intellectual growth, so watch as the sophistication and execution of these models improved with each passing year. Next month, we’ll scope out my more recent efforts at replicating the wild world of Mopar muscle cars in 1/25 scale.
1979:
Sox & Martin Belvedere Match Racer
