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Topic starter
02/04/2026 10:15 am
I always think back fondly about my 1955 Plymouth poster that I bought In Thailand in 1969. It was a 6 cylinder with 3 on the tree. It had gauges in Chinese. For driving in Bangkok traffic you definitely needed the sheet metal they used back then. Traffic patterns and obeyance to traffic lights or police were merely a suggestion... perhaps you might obey a stop light or a cop crossing school children... or not. On a 6 lane road during rush hour, if the southbound lanes were blocked you might decide, en masse, to take over the northbound lanes. I once turned onto that highway only to have 6 lanes of cars coming at me forcing me to use the sidewalk to escape. I had a Datsun Bluebird taxi rear end me at speed and its engine wound up near the driver's seat. I had a small dent when the bumper grazed my quarter panel. I almost cut a Subaru Sambar Ute in half when the drunks inside decided to play 'chicken' with me. Back then, there was a 100% tariff on all cars imported so it was amazing to see the number of cars that here would be crushed still on the road. I always thought Thailand had the most sophisticated "midnight auto supply" in the world. When the age of my Plymouth, along with the tropical conditions, meant that all its parts that were guaranteed to last the lifetime of the car would fail, and somehow, they'd have my car back on the road the same day. I never asked where they got the parts from. LOL Well the car served me well for the 3 years I was there, and when I rotated out, I sold it to a staff sergeant buddy of mine, Within 2 months, I got a letter from him saying the old Plymouth was cut in half by an Isuzu 18 wheeler. (He was fine).
I was forever lookingfor a model that would commemorate my trusty old Plymouth. Perhaps 30 years ago, I found a resin kit by Model Bauhaus that fit the bill. Forgive the 30 year old photos:
02/04/2026 10:28 am
Nice looking model. You don't see many of these cars around today at shows or otherwise; especially the 2dr. post type.
Topic starter
02/04/2026 11:03 am
@carsman1958 It's an early resin kit from them. They might have still been hand pouring the castings ( rather than centrifical) so it definitely needed a lot of prep work at least on the body, but it did come out pretty nice. I was still learned car model techniques back then when I primarily was into military models and dioramas.
02/04/2026 12:55 pm
Nice looking model for sure! Thirty years old or not, the photos are great.
George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota
Geno and John Napoli reacted
02/04/2026 9:15 pm
Oh man Rich, what a great story, AND that looks like a beautiful model worthy of any collection. I love it. And thanks for sharing with us.💯😎
02/04/2026 9:29 pm
Rich great story, you have lived well... I will traveling be through Thailand over Xmas & NY, I will try to remember to take a couple of photo's of what it's like now
03/04/2026 4:20 am
Traffic patterns and obeyance to traffic lights or police were merely a suggestion.
love it! Great model Rich
Topic starter
03/04/2026 10:23 am
@diecast1-24cars I went back 20 years later for Bangkok's Bicentennial with wife #2. I rented a car and took off from the hotel. The traffic scared her so much that she went into 'aircraft crash position' under the dash board the whole time. Even if you are brave, I wouldn't recommend renting a car, Both the printed signs are all in Thai and numerals are not Arabic so unless you know the terrain, you won't know where you are even with a map. Bangkok is easily as large as the 5 boroughs of Manhattan. And, of course, if you're not British or Aussie, you're on the wrong side of the road to boot. I've seen today's Bangkok and much of it is unrecognizable save for the major tourist sites. What was uniquely Thai has given way to more western models, which makes me wish for the old days. I wish I remembered the address of the mechanics I used. They service and house the Royal Automobile collection. As you walk through the bays, you will see Delahayes, Delages,etc. and a fleet of vintage yellow Rolls which is what the royal family uses for religious festivals. I had never seen such a fabulous collection of prewar beauties... ever.
BTW: December is a great time to go. No monsoons and lower temps and humidity. It used to be the greatest month for expatriates and homesick GIs. It was the former king's birthday month and Bangkok used to be lit up like the greatest Christmas display. I don't know anything much about his son, the current king, except that he was a philandering degenerate. Maybe he cleaned up his act. Can't say/
Tony Perrone reacted