Super Chargers

I try to be a sensible chap when it comes to collecting (well, don't we all?) and if I find one decent model of a car I like, in a nice colour, that will normally do me. But of course there are occasional exceptions. Although the 1968-69 Dodge Charger may not be in my top three or four all-time favourites, it is still a handsome beast whose styling has stood the test of time. And I seem to have picked up more models of it than a man really needs.

The only model I had for a long time was made by Matchbox in their King Size range. It scales out at around 1:48 and is less than totally accurate, especially around the front pillars, but it's all there was, and at least it had working steering (well, kind of).

Then Matchbox Dinky did one. Much better, crisp, with good underbody detail as well.

And then, walking through Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas on a family holiday in the States, I found a Budweiser version in a toyshop. I was getting a bit tired of fake Roman statues by that point, so it really brightened my day.

A few years later Minichamps came out with a white Charger, done to their usual high standard. I got that as well.

So I really didn't need a Franklin Mint version, but I got one anyway. It is kind of soft focus and the roof looks a little low, but never mind. It has opening features and a nicely modelled engine.

A photo posted by Harvey G. a few weeks ago set me off hunting for the "Bengal" version by Greenlight. At a distance it doesn't look too different from the red Matchbox model, but the colour combo really pops.

Still apparently not satisfied, I've just acquired the "Bullitt" version, also by Greenlight. Taken on it's own, it looks pretty sharp and classy, but could almost be called drab in this company, and I could have lived without it. But I've got it, so I have to live with it.

For 1970 the Charger got a ring bumper at the front.

Maybe not to everyone's taste, but I quite like the bold effect. There is a very classy model of it in dark blue by Premium X that attracts me

but unfortunately it seems to be totally unavailable, except in a garish lime green, so I'm spared. Which doesn't mean I've given up, of course.

For '71 Dodge restyled the Charger, apparently according to the good old Detroit philosophy that if you really feel the need to change a class act, at least make sure you make it worse. Ixo modelled the result for the current De Agostini American Cars series

but I have definitely managed to say "no" to that one. Such self-denial really makes me feel quite proud.

(Thinks . . . Hmm . . . Did Neo ever do one of these? Can I have missed it? I'd better just have a look . . .)