It's almost bizarre how much an automobile can become so much a part of you and be about who you were. There was a small (maybe 25 cars) vintage car event at Sandy Hook and on my way back from a more northern beach, I stopped in and, "Behold!", there was a '56 Mercury Montclair tudoor hardtop in Carousel Red and White... exactly like my first car. I walked back and forth around it marveling at what a beautiful restorative job was done on it. I told my story to the husband and wife owners, and then asked if I could sit in the driver's seat just for a moment. Well, they acquiesced and... I really can't describe the feeling and sensations I felt. It was more than just being transformed back in time... I was feeling like I did in my late teens. I had to go home and pull out Sun Star's excellent model that also was identical to mine, save for the push button windows I didn't have and a slight color change from Carousel to Persimmon. Internally, the original 312 Y-block V8 had been replaced with the 368 Lincoln that in '56 was available in the Continental Mkll. It still looked the same with that big oil bath air cleaner. Anyway, thanks to Sun Star and that lovely couple that has kept this old car's memories for me.
It's nice when something like this happens Rich. I always let folks sit in my cars for the very reason it meant so much to you. Sometimes the people had the exact car such as you and other times my cars mean something to the folks because of the time period. Thanks for sharing this with us. I too have the Sun Star model in this color and a Conquest model in 1/43 scale also in this color.
Sunstar provided us with such realistic models at their price...!
...yes, but at the time it was thought of as a bit pricey, not expensive, but pricey. "$49-$59 for a Sunstar? What the heck, Autoarts are $79 -$89, and CMCs or Exotos are only about $129.99!"
The Sun Star model looks exactly like mine did on delivery. It was 1963 and I immediately ditched the skirts and full wheel covers replacing them with 'Baby Moons" over the wheels painted black. Later, I nosed the hood and eliminated the scripts.
