thank you for these wonderful additions Tony....you `bout ready for a Nascar style / hotswap on your beleaguered keyboard?
I got the computer tower up on the rack, as we speak, oil change & turbo adjustment. Meanwhile making a lug nut tightening of the modem and filter change on the router.
@perrone1 One I do not have. I only have three 1/12 scale models because of space limitations and two of those are DM. The 1930 Cadillac Roadster and the red 57 Chevy convertible. I like these big models but size does matter to quote one of our members, John Bono
@perrone1 One I do not have. I only have three 1/12 scale models because of space limitations and two of those are DM. The 1930 Cadillac Roadster and the red 57 Chevy convertible. I like these big models but size does matter to quote one of our members, John Bono
They are big Bob! The 30 Caddy was huge. That is the one model, after my review, that I had to return. I did reviews on two other 1/12th DM Corvettes (as this review alluded to.)
@perrone1 I was just admiring this T-Bird yesterday, so cool to see your "Lost Review" of it today. It is everything you tout it to be and more! Again, many THANKS for sharing these reviews. I so miss the "Car List and Reviews" pages that once graced this beloved site we all enjoy so much.
so many of the last posts have been models, including the Thunderbird, that I just had to order from DM after your review Tony. Spoilt all round weren't we? Great models than beautifully pictured and articulated reviews to follow their release. Great days!
so many of the last posts have been models, including the Thunderbird, that I just had to order from DM after your review Tony. Spoilt all round weren't we? Great models than beautifully pictured and articulated reviews to follow their release. Great days!
Thank you Geoff. Yes sir; we WERE spoiled. We had input from all scales but in 1/24th, we had TFM, DM, GMP and WCPD. Wish I could find the myriad of reviews I did on those models as well.
Roger Penske was no stranger to fast cars or Corvettes. Many claim that he came to prominence, even with his past racing successes, at the Bahamas Speed Week in 1964. Racing a Corvette Grand Sport, he won the Nassau Tourist trophy. Then he piloted a Jim Hall-owned Chaparral, relieving Hap Sharp, and won the Nassau Trophy. He beat such notables in that race as A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney and Bruce McLaren! He was the hot commodity. In February of 1966, he took the Corvette coupe, modeled here by Danbury, to the Daytona Continental Endurance race and finished first in the “GT” class. The car was painted red at the time. Prior to the March ’66 running of the 12 Hours of Sebring, Roger’s main sponsor, Sunoco®, (Sun Oil Company®) asked him to paint the car in their corporate colors, blue and yellow. He did and he finished first in the GT class once again. This was one of the very first Corvettes to receive the legendary 427 cubic inch, all aluminum engine, coded L-88. In race prep, it pumped out 540 horsepower.
Just when you think that detail can’t reach beyond the pinnacle of today’s technology, someone rolls out a taller mountain and Danbury scales to its zenith. With model in hand, it will be hard to know where to start to look. Take a moment and explore every little nook and cranny of the diecast. You will find it exceptionally rewarding. If you can get past the beautifully applied dark blue paint, a foot deep and as smooth as glass, take in the chassis detail, interior nuances and the unbelievable engine bay. Stop for a breath after you investigate each of those areas and check out other subtle regions of the car’s magnificence. Under the car DM worked their usual magic and then some. Don’t expect much ‘give’ in the suspension, race cars have darn little, and so the working suspension was deactivated. You cannot help but notice the bright yellow long-tube headers flowing from the L88 big block. In fact, you will note the build marks on the fiberglass interior tub, passenger’s side, that shows the car to be an L88 Corvette. Also stenciled on the car’s frame, upside down since that is the way the frame was initially built on the assembly line, are serial number, date of build, 12-21-65, and shim marks that relate to the mating of body and chassis. In this case, three of them little fellows were necessary. From the back, braided fuel lines, with anodized fittings, are seen snaking their way from fuel cell and fuel pump forward. They are also used for oil cooling, up front. There’s a starter cable and anti-sway bar seen up front but for the main course you’ll need to turn the car right-side up and look at the engine bay. Before you do, now is that good time to take a breath and study the wheels and what is on them and behind them. The faint gold line tells you that this is racing rubber. The wheels are fabricated with yellow centers, chrome lug nuts, aluminum rims and there are even tiny air valves fashioned on them. Behind the wheels are large racing rotors that turn within the disk calipers. And don’t miss the fender wheel extensions, front and rear. You may find yourself spending some time looking around in the interior too. Full roll cage, racing buckets with safety harnesses and great detail on all gauges. Ok, ready? Let’s look at the hood before looking underneath.
This is one of DM’s crowning achievements to date. The hood pins are real. They have tiny holes that hood pins pass through to hold the hood in place. They are on small chain tethers anchored to the base of the windshield frame. Both the windshield frame and the rear window frame are complete with safety fasteners by the way. Undoing the hood pins is easy, putting them back; not so much. A steady hand and/or soft-nosed tweezers are a good idea here. All right, enough stalling, we’re going in. Once opened, you will discover that the rear entry hood air scope is functional. This was part of the cold air induction system that Penske used on the car. The hood mated to the soft air cleaner gasket surrounding it sealing off engine heat. This may very well be the best detailed engine you have ever seen in 1:24th scale. Rubber fan belts and plug wires and even braided fuel lines and metal throttle linkage with genuine return springs are just part of the story. The news here is almost too tiny to see. No, it’s not the metal wire brake lines, not the battery cabling, not even the miniscule writing on the radiator hose. You were close if you said generator wiring. No, it is the infinitesimal safety wires on the bolts for the valve covers, cylinder heads and gear box. I cannot imagine attaching these in the assembly process, they are so small.
The overall attention to historic detail is awesome. The emblems and badges are incredible. The rear deck showcases a chrome-foiled metal, “Corvette Sting Ray” emblem and over the side air slits are photo-etched, “427 Turbo Jet” badges with crossed flags in red, black and white. Plexiglas headlight covers and fog lights are fabricated persuasively and all tampos are done to perfection. The fuel filler operates by moving the safety lever aside and flipping open the cap.
This replica gives all new meaning to scaling new heights but if anyone can climb that mountain look for DM to do it. I rate this model as a 9.85 on the Thrillometer.
Danbury Mint 1956 Packard Caribbean Convertible Ltd Ed DM1587
And then, there were two. It has taken some time but the Danbury boys finally added the convertible version of the 1956 Caribbean to the line up. Precision diecast-wise, this is it for the fifty-six model year. TFM’s Caribbeans (3) are 1955 models. Danbury issued their first Caribbean, a hard top, to screams of joy back in 2007. Speculation was that the drop top would follow shortly. Well, I can tell you, the wait was well worth it.
All of the hard top’s detail finery is found in the convertible and then some. The massive list of functions and features on the former model is represented here but with the addition of an ‘up top’ and boot. Included are opening fuel filler door, extending twin antenna, removable spare, reversible seat cushions, folding front seatbacks and operational sunvisors. The internally sprung door hinges are in place as is the scissors spring hood hinges. The suspension works faultlessly and the engine detail is as abundant as ever. And just wait until you set your eyes on the inside of the ‘up top’; it has incredible detailing and almost overshadows the exquisite detailing of the outer fabric-covered top replete with chrome binder strip and chrome rivets. The fit of both boot and top are exact.
The gold metal foiled scripts are perfectly presented and appear to me to be sealed in place. The undercarriage is immaculately recreated, as if by scaled authentic Packard schematics. And I promise you, the devil is in the details here – metal brake lines and a magnificent miniature spring assembly, fuel lines and terrific steering mechanism with dampener shock. Oh, and since my sample is #666/5000 those devilish details were most certain to surface.
This was a large car for the era and DM got the shape, stance and color combo right. The paint is superb and all body panels line up flawlessly. While the top looks fantastic in place I think I’ll opt to display this piece next to the hard top version with its boot on. It affords a beautiful view of the interior details. If anyone could nail the ’56 Caribbean so well you just knew if would be the DM boys; yes, WELL worth the wait. TP 06/24/2009
Danbury Mint 1956 Packard Caribbean Convertible Ltd Ed DM1587
And then, there were two. It has taken some time but the Danbury boys finally added the convertible version of the 1956 Caribbean to the line up. Precision diecast-wise, this is it for the fifty-six model year. TFM’s Caribbeans (3) are 1955 models. Danbury issued their first Caribbean, a hard top, to screams of joy back in 2007. Speculation was that the drop top would follow shortly. Well, I can tell you, the wait was well worth it.
All of the hard top’s detail finery is found in the convertible and then some. The massive list of functions and features on the former model is represented here but with the addition of an ‘up top’ and boot. Included are opening fuel filler door, extending twin antenna, removable spare, reversible seat cushions, folding front seatbacks and operational sunvisors. The internally sprung door hinges are in place as is the scissors spring hood hinges. The suspension works faultlessly and the engine detail is as abundant as ever. And just wait until you set your eyes on the inside of the ‘up top’; it has incredible detailing and almost overshadows the exquisite detailing of the outer fabric-covered top replete with chrome binder strip and chrome rivets. The fit of both boot and top are exact.
The gold metal foiled scripts are perfectly presented and appear to me to be sealed in place. The undercarriage is immaculately recreated, as if by scaled authentic Packard schematics. And I promise you, the devil is in the details here – metal brake lines and a magnificent miniature spring assembly, fuel lines and terrific steering mechanism with dampener shock. Oh, and since my sample is #666/5000 those devilish details were most certain to surface.
This was a large car for the era and DM got the shape, stance and color combo right. The paint is superb and all body panels line up flawlessly. While the top looks fantastic in place I think I’ll opt to display this piece next to the hard top version with its boot on. It affords a beautiful view of the interior details. If anyone could nail the ’56 Caribbean so well you just knew if would be the DM boys; yes, WELL worth the wait. TP 06/24/2009
This has always been one of my favorites. I thought DM did their Packard's better than FM did, as the latter seemed to be "bigger" than 1:24 scale. The only thing on the DM's I personally am not a fan of is the "reversible seats". Having extra parts to cars is not my cup of tea. But aside from that, this Packard is drop-dead gorgeous.
This has always been one of my favorites. I thought DM did their Packard's better than FM did, as the latter seemed to be "bigger" than 1:24 scale. The only thing on the DM's I personally am not a fan of is the "reversible seats". Having extra parts to cars is not my cup of tea. But aside from that, this Packard is drop-dead gorgeous.
Yes, positioning the seats can be a pain. Once in place, they stay pretty well though.
@perrone1 Tony after that extensive description of the Penske car, catch your breath and an adult refresher. Again I find myself looking over the model through your eyes and I need a rest.
