Sunday, August 7, 2022

1957 Ford Courier Sedan Delivery Johnny Lightning 1:24












Ford Courier is a model nameplate used by Ford since the early 1950s. First used in North America for a sedan delivery, the Courier nameplate has seen use worldwide for multiple types of vehicles. The Courier nameplate was also used by Ford for a series of compact pickup trucks (produced by Mazda) and would also see use by Ford of Europe denoting a Fiesta-based panel van. Ford Brazil used the nameplate for a Fiesta-based coupe utility pickup marketed across Latin America.

During the 2000s, the Courier pickup truck was replaced by the Ranger nameplate (which replaced the Courier in North America for 1983); the Courier panel van was replaced by the Ford Transit Connect in 2002. For 2014, the stand-alone Courier name was withdrawn, but returned as the Transit Courier, the smallest vehicle of the Ford Transit van series.

From 1952 to 1960, Ford applied the Courier nameplate to its sedan delivery bodystyle. Intended as a commercial vehicle (serving as the forerunner of the modern-day cargo van); Ford also offered a similar configuration derived from the F-Series pickup truck named the panel delivery.

Sharing its body with two-door Ford station wagons, the Courier was designed with a large storage area behind the front seats, replacing the rear seating area and rear side windows (replaced by painted steel panels).

Marketed exclusively as a two-door vehicle, the Courier was initially designed with a side-hinged rear cargo access door (unique to the model line). For 1957 and 1958, the Courier adopted the two-piece "clamshell" design shared by the two-door Ford Parklane and Ford Del Rio station wagons, sharing their body design (without rear side glass).

For 1959, to lower production costs of the model line, the Courier took on the body of the two-door Ford Ranch Wagon in its entirety, distinguished only by its rear cargo area.

After the 1960 model year, Ford retired both the Courier sedan delivery and the F-Series panel delivery, replacing both model lines with the Ford Econoline cargo van for 1961; the two-door sedan delivery bodystyle was moved to the compact Ford Falcon model range and offered through 1964.

Thursday, July 28, 2022

1966 Chevrolet Impala SS 396 Welly 1:24












The Chevrolet Impala (/ɪmˈpælə, -ˈpɑːlə/) is a full-size car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 until 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better selling American-made automobiles in the United States.

For its debut in 1958, the Impala was distinguished from other models by its symmetrical triple taillights. The Chevrolet Caprice was introduced as a top-line Impala Sport Sedan for model year 1965, later becoming a separate series positioned above the Impala in 1966, which, in turn, remained above the Chevrolet Bel Air and the Chevrolet Biscayne. The Impala continued as Chevrolet's most popular full-size model through the mid-1980s. Between 1994 and 1996, the Impala was revised as a 5.7-liter V8–powered version of the Chevrolet Caprice Classic sedan.

In 2000, the Impala was re-introduced again as a mainstream front-wheel drive car. As of February 2014, the 2014 Impala ranked No. 1 among Affordable Large Cars in U.S. News & World Report's rankings. When the tenth generation of the Impala was introduced for the 2014 model year, the ninth generation was rebadged as the Impala Limited and sold only to fleet customers through 2016. During that time both versions were sold in the United States and Canada. The tenth-generation Impala was also sold in the Middle East, and South Korea.

Thursday, July 21, 2022

1965 Shelby AC Cobra 427 Racing Revell 1:24












Like many British manufacturers, AC Cars had been using the Bristol straight-6 engine in its small-volume production, including its AC Ace two-seater roadster. This had a hand-built body with a steel tube frame, and aluminium body panels that were made using English wheeling machines. The engine was a pre-World War II design by BMW which by the 1960s was considered dated. In 1961 Bristol decided to cease production of its engine.

In September 1961, American retired race car driver and automotive designer Carroll Shelby wrote to AC asking if they would build him a car modified to accept a V8 engine. Bristol engines for the AC Ace two-seater sports car had recently been discontinued so AC agreed, provided a suitable engine could be found. Shelby went to Chevrolet to see if they would provide him with engines, but not wanting to add competition to the Corvette they said no. However, Ford wanted a car that could compete with the Corvette and they happened to have a brand new engine which could be used in this endeavor: the Windsor 3.6-litre (221 cu in) engine – a new lightweight, thin-wall cast small-block V8. Ford provided Shelby with two engines.

Thursday, July 14, 2022

1974 AMC Gremlin X 1:24 Motormax Fresh Cherries













From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The AMC Gremlin (also American Motors Gremlin) is a subcompact automobile introduced in 1970, manufactured and marketed in a single, two-door body style (1970–1978) by American Motors Corporation (AMC), as well as in Mexico (1974–1978) by AMC's Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos (VAM) subsidiary.

Using a shortened Hornet platform and bodywork with a pronounced kammback tail, the Gremlin was classified as an economy car and competed with the Chevrolet Vega and Ford Pinto, as well as imported cars including the Volkswagen Beetle and Toyota Corolla. The small domestic automaker marketed the Gremlin as "the first American-built import."

The Gremlin reached a total production of 671,475 over a single generation—and was superseded by a restyled and revised variant, the AMC Spirit.
1974:
The Arab Oil Embargo of October 1973 came just as the 1974 model year began. AMC improved the Gremlin's back seat. A deeper front fascia made the car appear longer. A larger front bumper was mounted on self-restoring telescoping gas and oil cylinders. Unlike most other designs, the Gremlin did not use a filler panel between the bumper and body. A stronger rear bumper was set lower—front and rear passenger car bumpers were now required by NHTSA to have uniform heights, take angle impacts, and sustain 5-mile-per-hour (8 km/h) impacts with no damage. The rear fascia was modified slightly to blend with the design changes. The Gremlin X stripe pattern was given a "hockey stick" look for 1974: the stripes followed the window line as it tapered aft, and swept up now to include four diagonal lines on the wide C-pillar. A new typeface for nameplates was used by AMC for 1974, including on the Gremlin. With the car's 1974 model year extended into November to delay the need to install catalytic converters required by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2004 regulations starting with 1975 models, AMC sold 171,128 1974 Gremlins, an increase of nearly 40% over 1973 and 130% over 1971.

Thursday, July 7, 2022

1970 Dodge Charger R/T Hot Wheels 1:64









From Wikipedia:
The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge.

The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car had a remarkable resemblance to the 1966 production version.

There have been several different production variants of Chargers, built on three different platforms and sizes. In the United States, the Charger nameplate has been used on subcompact hatchbacks, full-size sedans, muscle cars, and personal luxury coupes. The current version is a four-door sedan.