Random model pic of the day!

Interesting 🤔 

Time for a little larger 1/18 scale. 

Two words: AWE SOME!    "RoJo"  That's your wife's company, correct?  😏 😏 

ROJO is the first two letters of my wives first and last name. 

Time for some drag racing. 

The dragster is by GMP with an aluminum body and the ramp truck is by ACME themed by me and is a 1 of 1. 

Swamp Rat VIII was the first time Don Garlits ran the 426 hemi engine, he was not getting the performance from the 426 as he was from the old 392 hemi and even though Chrysler wanted him to run the 426 because they had stopped using the 392 Garlits decided to intentionally blow up the 426 and go back to the 392 hemi. He had been using the same tunes for the 426 as he used on the old 392. Garlits bumped the timing up to about 40 degrees BTDC as that would destroy a 392 hemi but the 426 hemi ran like a scalded dog running 7.51 seconds at 214 MPH. Still not convinced he bumped the timing up to 50 degrees BTDC and the engine was cackling like crazy and his crew would not even stand by the engine for fear it was going to blow apart. That run the 426 preformed even better running 7.31 seconds at 219 MPH. That was when Don Garlits found out by accident the 426 hemi like a lot more timing than the old 392 could handle. 

Here is a video of Garlits talking about it: 

That's a neat story, fun to listen to.  Your 1 of 1 "Rampy"  nicely compliments your dragster!

How about a little Heartbeat of America with a Yellow 1966 Nova. 

1967 C30 Ramp Truck by ACME & 1966 Nova by Ertl. Trunk made operational by removing two plastic pins wedged between the hinges that kept the trunk lid from opening. I don't understand why Ertl made the trunk operational only to put two plastic pins wedged in the hinges so it would not open. 

@john3976 Common Ertl theme to maintain price points. Some Ertls had opening trunks (with trunk detail, spare, etc. ) but to reduce costs, others such as yours, omitted trunk detail (to defray the cost of that pro-stock tooling ) and simply added two black pins  to make the trunk inoperable.

1978 Dodge Li'l Red Express Truck, this truck was faster than the performance cars from Ford and General Motors, due to it being a truck it was not required to have all the power robbing emissions equipment on it that was required for cars. This gave Dodge bragging rights. 

Ken Miles three iconic cars he drove in 1966, The white number 98 GT40 MKII won the 1966 24 hours of Daytona with Miles and Lloyd Ruby driving. The Red number 1 GT40 X-1 Roadster won the 1966 12 hours of Sebring with Miles and Lloyd Ruby driving. The Blue number 1 GT40 MKII was credited with second place at the 1966 24 hours of LeMans with Miles and Denny Hulme driving. The LeMans race finish was controversial because Ford wanted the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place Ford GT40 MKII's to all cross the finish line together. At the start of the race Miles Helmet hit the roof of the car as he was getting in bending the slot the door sealed into on the roof, this caused the door to not close resulting in Ken Miles having to pit on the first lap losing a lot of time. The door issues was fixed and Miles drove like a man possessed to catch back up to the leaders.

What is ignored is the number 2 Ford GT40 MKII driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon started the race on Firestone tires because both McLaren and Amon were contracted with Firestone. The problem was the Firestone tires were blistering and would not be reliable to continue using them. After being in the pits for some time it was decided to switch to the Goodyear tires like Miles and Hulme and the other GT40 MKII were running so that put McLaren and Amon behind. 

There are those who say Miles did not follow team orders and that was why he was so far in front of McLaren and Amon but the truth is Miles not only had to catch back up to the leaders from his own door problem from lap one but McLaren and Amon were held up in the pits before it was okayed to switch from the Firestone tires to the Goodyear tires for the rest of the race. McLaren and Amon being behind had nothing to do with Ken Miles and everything to do with them being contracted to run Firestone tires and the length of time it took to finally change over to the Goodyears. 

If not for Ford wanting the three cars to finish together Ken Miles and Denny Hulme would have won the 1966 24 hours of LeMans and that would have made Ken Miles the first and only triple crown winner of the 24 hours of Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring and the 24 hours of LeMans all in the same year. Lloyd Ruby was injured from another racing crash and was the reason why he was not Ken Miles driving partner at LeMans. 

The number 98 white GT40 MKII is by Exoto, the number 1 red GT40 X-1 Roadster is by Exoto and the number 1 blue GT40 MKII is by Shelby Collectibles. 

A little note on the 24 hours of Dayona win for Miles and Ruby, they dominated the 24 hours of Daytona race and did not come back at the end like depicted in the movie Ford vs Ferrari, also in the 12 hours of Sebring race Dan Gurney was in first place when he lost his engine in the last corner of the last lap. Miles passed Gurney who pushed his car to the finish line and was disqualified because that was against the rules. If Gurney would have just stayed parked on the side of the track he would have been credited with second place instead of being disqualified from the race. Miles was surprised that he had won the race and Lloyd Ruby was in the showers cleaning up when he was told they had won and he had to hurry up to get to the podium with Miles. 

Earlier in the Sebring race Gurney and Miles were pushing faster than Shelby wanted and Shelby picked up a hammer and waved it at both Gurney and Miles to get the message to slow down and stop pushing each other. The following lap when Ken Miles went by he gave Shelby the middle finger. Some try to blame Gurney's failed engine on Ken Miles pushing him early in the race but Gurney was known to push his cars and many times they would fail. Both Gurney and Miles were pure racers. It was just bad luck that Gurney's engine failed. 

1967 Pontiac GTO by Ertl. This is an inexpensive diecast but the body lines were well done and the car displays well even as it lacks detail in areas. The tires and rims that came with this diecast did not look good at all so I replaced them with a set of Torq Thrust mags and Mickey Thompson tires. The rims and tires really transformed this diecast. 

Posted by: @john3976

 

The Shelby Collectibles looks right at home next to the MUCH more expensive Exotos.  I know there is a ton of detail missing on the SC, but on the shelf they look great.

Ford GTs

1968 MkI by Solido, 1966 MkII & 1967 MkIV by Shelby Collectibles

Flying Mule driven by Ken Miles, 1965 Shelby G.T. 350 by ACME, this car was dubbed the Flying Mule because it was the first Shelby G.T. 350 they put together to race and in its first race a photo was taken of Ken Miles in the car with all four wheels in the air. Ken Miles won his race that day in the Flying Mule.

This car was 5R002 and made its racing debut on a brisk but sunny Valentine’s Day (February 14, 1965) at Green Valley Raceway near Dallas, Texas, where it made history as America’s first Mustang in space.

The image leapt from the pages of practically every enthusiast magazine in the country and spread through the motoring world like a stampede: a Wimbledon White Ford Mustang fastback, soaring over a rise at full song and clearing terra firma by a foot, a grinning Ken Miles at the reins. Frozen in mid-flight, the first competition GT350 was on its way to sweeping the B Production races that day, proving to one and all the Mustang’s transformation—in the words of Hot Rod magazine—from a “gentle little colt into a roaring, snorting stallion.”

Cool history & a fantastic pic of it flying.  Thanks for posting!

Ertl 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Hemi

Ertl Authentics 1969 Dodge Charger "General Lee"

@john3976 

You bet they did !