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Topic starter
06/10/2022 10:51 am Â
In 1962, I bought the latest "Hot Rod" magazine and on the cover was "TV Tommy" Ivo dressed like an old time carnival barker beside this incredible looking four-engined dragster, the "Showboat". As a dumb 16 year old, who was into hot rods and dragsters because they looked so cool, this, to me, was the epitome of what dragsters could be... you know, bigger is better. That car stayed in my head forever and was right there with the Barris Batmobile for a holy grail of models I had to have. (I still have the magazine!). Revell came out with a 1/25 kit soon after but I didn't have the modeling skills or knowledge to complete it to my liking. I was also fascinated with Tommy Ivo and realized I'd seen him on TV as Eldon in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" series. Later I saw him and one of his wild rides in "Bikini Beach"... the single-engined hemi "Barnstormer". I decided to buy the GMP models directly from TV Tommy and we emailed back and forth for a while. He was in poor health at the time but he seemed to enjoy the banter. With the signed models, he sent me a boatload of ephemera and CDs that chronicled his history up to his induction into the Hot Rod Hall of Fame. If any of you love those vintage front-engined dragsters ,and Tommy Ivo, there's a photo-bio of his machines here: http://www.tommyivo.com/_PagesDragRacing/2-Front%20Engine%20Dragsters.html
Anyway, thanks to GMP, I finally have my own "Showboat" in all the quality and details that I never could have accomplished.
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06/10/2022 11:36 am Â
Rich, a fascinating personal story. I'm glad knowing you were able to actually communicate with Tommy and acquire your models from him directly. How cool is (was) that!
A funny thing, I had a polar opposite reaction when I first saw this model. Growing up much later and not really being a drag race fan I remember dismissing this "4-engine-thing" as scale mockery, something that had to be a joke. I wanted nothing to do with it. I've since learned a great deal and gained a newfound level of respect & reverence for such a well-crafted 1/18 scale piece of drag history. If I had only known...... 😣 😫 😣Â
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Rich Sufficool reacted
Topic starter
06/10/2022 12:10 pm Â
@chris You can look at Ivo's work as not as flamboyant as 'cutting edge' for its time. The technology and tires just weren't there in 1962 for the "Showboat" to be any more than a tire smoking exhibition car during its reign. He sure got notice from the NHRA for his designs, who earlier banned nitromethane and then banned 4 engined cars as Ivo kept pushing the envelope. (That URL I posted encapsulated his ground breaking designs). These are accomplishments I only appreciated many, many years later. Like I said, as a dumb teenager, dragsters like the "Showboat" just seemed cool beyond words.
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06/10/2022 1:00 pm Â
An excellent site Rich. I enjoyed it very much; all those photos are real eye-openers. He led an interesting life to say the least. So much history! Thanks for the link. 😉Â
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Rich Sufficool reacted