Lowering the CFCC '59 Pontiac

I recently received my “new improved” version of the 1:43 CFCC ’59 Pontiac hardtop in a nice metallic blue. Yes, a definite improvement and much less toy-like. However, as others have noted, the car is still perched too high on its wheels. Some enterprising souls have already successfully lowered it, but if the ride height annoys you and you are wondering whether it is something you could tackle, here are one or two suggestions.

Step 1. When you take the base off you’ll see that the tops of the tyres are already hard up against the underside of the inner arches, so the only remedy is to saw or slice off the tops of the wheel arches to allow the wheels to sit higher.

Step 2. The wheels are a very tight press-fit on the axle ends and levering them off takes quite a bit of persuasion (using thin screwdriver blades or a couple of fine-point pliers).

Step 3. With the axles removed, score a mark about 1.5 mm above the top of each axle hole then use either a small drill bit or a needle file to enlarge the hole into a slot extending up to the mark. These images show the result. (Note - in the right-hand image the base is sitting on a support so the axle is sitting in its original low position, with the new slot above it.)

To avoid the hassle of getting the wheels off the axles it might be possible to use a small drill bit to open up a slot above the axle.

HOWEVER . . . Removing the rear axle may be necessary anyway because when I put the whole thing together again I found the rear tyres were fouling the bodywork so they couldn’t rise to their new position. I’m not sure if I just couldn’t press the detached wheel back on to the axle firmly enough, or whether the axle was simply a bit too long in the first place. (OK, so it’s a Wide-Track Pontiac but GFCC may have overdone it a little.) I took a pliers and snipped a couple of millimetres off one end of the axle. The front end was OK because the edges of the wheel arches are higher so there is enough clearance.

The difference in stance is noticeable.

Here is the GFCC alongside the Neo version. The ride height is now about the same on both.

Apart from that, the GFCC pretty well holds its own against the Neo. At first you could almost suspect GFCC used the Neo body, they are remarkably similar in lots of ways but with a closer look you can see little differences in the size and proportions of various small details. The Neo wins out in terms of badging and detailing (things like the front quarter lights being properly framed) but if you just want a nice '59 Pontiac on a shelf there isn’t a great deal to choose between them - apart from price and availability.