Franklin Mint 1959 Corvette “Barn Find” - Ltd Ed 2500 - F679
I recall it starting in the fifties; small ads on the inside of matchbooks - a surplus US Army Jeep for about the price of a bicycle. Some of us car guys reasoned that the vehicle was made up from spare parts and you had to build it, but come on, a REAL military Jeep! Then the endless stories of the Vette for sale for pennies on the dollar because someone died in it and the interior’s “aroma” just won’t fade away. Eventually it all led back to stories of lucky fellows finding great cars stashed or hidden away in barns, garages and out of the way places where they never saw the light of day for untold years and for untold reasons.
This is such a car and such a story; Franklin Mint style. First off, let’s dispel a slight misgiving that arose recently. Photos of the car on TFM website showed what looked like a white car with slight dust on it. This was an obvious pre-production model. The production run makes the car look much more like a dust-covered ‘find’ unearthed after many years of sitting unprotected in a dark, dank barn in Tennessee. (Hey, there’s no license plate; I can imagine it came from a place near me!)
I have to give props to the car guys at TFM for being ever mindful of what we collectors and car addicts like and even envision from time to time and I like the way they consistently offer new and different diecast product. What I like about the rendering is the hole in the rear window of the auxiliary hard top, the spare parts in the trunk and passenger’s seat, and the way FM coated them with dust. In the protection of the trunk, the parts are a little more pristine than in the open-windowed interior. But look closer; there is evidence of subtle rust here and there. Great touch FM!
TFM’s design team also shows they know their stuff about cars and Corvettes. This was a fuel injection car; but as was the case in many of these older fuelie’s, the owner switched out the injection unit for a more reliable quad carburetor. And, furthering the normal scenario, the original fuelie unit is located in the trunk along with the removed front bumper guards and the spinner from the fourth wheel cover. That wheel cover is now on the passenger’s seat. A couple more terrific touches I really appreciate, are the somewhat cleaner areas of the windshield, where the wipers where deployed. Was it to help see while extracting the little diamond-in-the-rough from its previous gravesite? Another is the non-stock use of a mag wheel on the driver’s side front.
The engine is much cleaner than the rest of the car, lending credence to the hood being closed during its long stay in the barn. TFM also provides a nice little diorama-type stand simulating the car’s previous home, a hay bale that shows more car guy evidence – an old valve cover sitting on top, and the canvas up-top suitably dusty and worn, giving you a choice of display options. Yeah, another cool little smile-maker and a must for Corvette collectors everywhere, not just Tennessee – ha!
Franklin Mint 1948 MG TC- Nbr Limited Edition of 1500 E288
Franklin’s original issue, in red, of this little diecast dates way back to November of 1993. It is somewhat surprising, then, to find it so well suited to today’s current detail standards. No, it does not have functioning suspension or some of the features we are getting used to seeing in each new precision release. What is found, however, is a wonderfully simple, yet delightfully diminutive sports car of yesteryear reproduced in scale to true proportion and stance.
Perhaps the unsung factor here is the low production edition of the model. The coveted Pebble Beach version, issued in 1997, in the beloved British Racing Green, had a limited run of 3000 pieces. This wee smidgen of the MG icon brand, is but half that! Will its color help or enhance its desirability? See it in person and you’ll have the answer; it’s gorgeous. In 1948 MG named this shade, “Silver Streak Iridescent”. FM did a great job in rendering the correct scaling-in of the metallic to the bright tonal quality of the paint. Blend in the red interior for terrific contrast along with corresponding red grill inset and red boot and then top it off, literally, with a black convertible top and you have a stand-out little model. FM went the extra mile in adding the black separator lines in the red seat cushions. This was not previously done on the other two iterations.
Nothing further needed to be done to the prior, now discontinued, models; the TC has a beautifully detailed little four-banger, well fitting ‘up top’ and boot and nice little door hinges that hold them in proper alignment and fit. At an excellent issue price of $105, especially considering the limited numbers involved, I wouldn’t wait to get my hands on this piece, and it will make you smile, big time! TP 09/07/2006
@perrone1 Another one I do not have. The only comment I have about this marvelous model is that there never was a C 1 with a white steering wheel.
Absolutely right Bob. The model has a dust-covered red steering wheel. You may not have enlarged the photos. Click on them to make them more viewable. The car REALLY needs a bath!
@perrone1 Have all three of the MGs which I have always loved both as !/1 scale and 1/24 scale. Once again you have me going to the display cases and pulling them out for an inspection. As was your practice, the reviews again pointed out details I had overlooked. These reviews are priceless to we collectors and for you to dig them out and rerun them is a real blessing. Thank you sir.
@perrone1 Have all three of the MGs which I have always loved both as !/1 scale and 1/24 scale. Once again you have me going to the display cases and pulling them out for an inspection. As was your practice, the reviews again pointed out details I had overlooked. These reviews are priceless to we collectors and for you to dig them out and rerun them is a real blessing. Thank you sir.
The Corvette body style has evolved over six generations now. The first set of years, called the first Corvette generation, or simply, C1, consisted of cars from the original manufacture of 1953 through 1955 and stretched out with minor stylistic changes from 1956 through 1962. These were termed, in their entirety, as the solid axle cars. The C2 embodied a style change that a large number of enthusiasts revere as the best years of all. They were called mid-year cars. These were the original Sting Ray models that ran from 1963 through 1967. C3’s were known as the shark years due to their resemblance of the concept car that proceeded it named Mako Shark. These cars were offered from 1968 through 1982. Until recently we lacked good examples of the early year Coke® bottle-shaped Vettes with highly arched fenders and their sharply sculpted long flowing looks.
Danbury has been giving us the most accurate and correctly opted cars possible and this is yet one more wonderful example of that. My first new Corvette was very close to this model, a ’72 convertible, and I can relive the detailing very vividly, thanks to DM. Their research is thorough and they build into each model as much accuracy, operational aspect and parts content as is humanly possible; we get more than our money’s worth in my estimation. Current tech lends the internally hinged doors that we like, an opening tonneau deck, simulated ‘down’ top underneath. The visors flip up and the leather seats are genuine. They depict the leather optional units of the 1:1. The audible alarm system was standard this year for the Vette and DM fashioned the correct little chrome key switch on the rear of the car, just above the chrome metal foil “Corvette” lettering and they did so with a separate, counter-sunk piece. Even the ends of the luggage rack, fitted with black tips on the 1:1, have been finished correctly. It would have been much easier, probably cheaper too, to just complete the build with a fast dip in chrome. But we’ve come to expect the best from DM and, once again, they deliver.
Danbury is never boring or predictable in option choices and model outfitting. There were three “Firemist” (High metallic paint content) colors for ’72. Steel Cities Gray, Ontario Orange and this one, War Bonnet Yellow) Here we are given an eclectic blend of options and equipment that made a very desirable Corvette for 1972. The little roadster comes with some nice goodies including an auxiliary hard top, small block 350, optional air conditioning, power steering and brakes, Turbo Hydra-Matic trans, leather interior with custom shoulder belts (they slip through the seats as you fold them forward – thanks, DM) white letter Good-Years® and a dealer-installed luggage rack. DM crafted this golden nugget with operational suspension, that works just like the real car, removable spare from the tire carrier beneath the gas tank, removable top, opening gas filler door, flip-up headlight pods and a telescoping hood prop rod. Under the hood they got it right. The ignition shielding is in place, the wires true to scale. The A/C compressor has the right labeling and so does the rest of the bay including hoses and informational stickers.
The aforementioned interior is genuine leather for the seating surfaces and the belts are fabric. The visors flip up and down and the dash, steering wheel and center console are perfectly fashioned accurately. Lift up the tonneau deck cover and push the seats forward to see the three opening bin lids. The one behind the passenger’s seat opens to the simulated tire jack, scissors usage here, complete with tie-down detail. The center is a storage bin and the compartment behind the driver opens to the car’s battery. The crossed flag emblems and nameplate scripts are done in chrome metal foil and DM took the extra time to get the chrome tips of the rear exhaust right by replicating the exhaust exit where it is supposed to be in the rectangular tip. The antenna is thinly scaled out of metal. The body seems to have been cut with a laser and it takes on the proper appearance of the genuine article in form, fit and stance. The paint’s glossy treatment is astonishing.
This is not only a must have for any Corvette collector; it is a definite must have for any diecast car collector. It is, as DM has announced, the first precision 1:24th diecast of the 1972 Corvette and it is a charming little beauty in every aspect. Issue price is $120. Order #195-127. TP 09/25/2006
*WARNING: Do not read this if you do not care for new Corvette issues…
…for everyone else, get a fresh drool towel!
Danbury Mint 1972 Corvette Coupe – 1531
It is not only a logical choice to paint a 1972 Corvette in Ontario Orange as a follow up to their previously issued ’72 convertible in War Bonnet Yellow, it was quintessential. This is a beautiful shade of burnt orange. For 1971 and 1972, Corvette offered three, “Firemist” paints: Steel Cities Gray Firemist, War Bonnet Yellow Firemist and Ontario Orange Firemist. The latter was the most popular color sold on a Corvette for ’72 with 4891 being cloaked in this, a more reflective and metallic-based paint. Danbury’s convertible was the first 1972 Vette issued in precision diecast, and had the 350 engine plus a fantastic compliment of options. The coupe comes with the LS5 big block 454, saddle leather interior, four-speed transmission and A/C.
DM pulled out all the stops in creating the ‘shark-bodied’ C3 Corvette image. It is faithful to the shape, contour and stance of the 1:1. My first Corvette was a 1972 roadster in this color. I special ordered it late in 1971 and kept it until 1981. This model, to my eye, is flawless in every detail as I fervently recall the actual car. The illusion of reality is intact here with such details as opening storage hatches behind the seats, fabric belts that run through the bucket-tops, extending-prop rod to hold up the hood and scaled features so intricate that they sell the miniaturization in diecast metal. From bottom to top, DM did not miss a thing. The chassis work is spectacular. Up front the suspension works as it should, independently. The entire componentry moves as one on either side.
The springs are real and allow the shocks and A-frame arms to make a full range of motion up and down carrying the wheel. The steering connector pivots on twin points. In back, the suspension functions on working leaf springs with operational shocks and anti-sway bars. The colorization is faultless on the exhaust, engine bottom and chassis. The spare tire carrier opens and the spare is removable. The topside is even more lovely. From the rear we see impeccable taillight detail, chrome-foiled lettering and the correct little chrome button in the middle of the tail. That button was a key lock that activated the standard-for-1972 alarm system. The fuel filler door opens and the roof panels come off. I love how DM does these; they have two small pins to hold them on and in perfect alignment.
The headlight pods can be raised by pushing up on a button hidden within the driver’s side air intake just under the grillwork. The engine bay exhibits some of the very best detailing ever in this scale. Just feast your eyes on the delicately miniaturized wiring, smog hoses, lettered water hoses, metalwork on the master brake cylinder and the photo-etched metal wire looms. The interior’s dash, console and internally hinged door panels all show off their excellence in craftsmanship. Above all on this little marvel is the paint itself. It is simply slick! Flawless application, smooth and rich, it shines like a new penny. Lots of fond memories for me on this issue but a treasure of detail and opulence for any collector, even non-Corvette-a-philes. This is a standard issue. TP 09/20/2007
