The Replacements – Episode V

In my quest to perfect my T-jet fleet, I had scheduled a very few cars for replacement for various reasons, but none of them were the reason that this one happened: a mistake.

Yep, another one, only this one was just dumb. I pulled the “Buy It Now” trigger on a green Johnny Lightning Cobra with the intention of adding it to The Road Crew. Had I taken the trouble to look at either of the other 2 JL Cobras I already have in my numbered racing fleet and put one of them on the HO Highway, I would have known that this was not a good idea, but, nope, that didn’t occur to me. Hey, it was cheap, and the green one is both good looking and one of the harder ones to find, so, in a way, no harm/no foul. The moment I received it, I knew it wasn’t going to work; the Cobra is entirely too big in comparison to the cars in The Road Crew. And, of course it is! That’s why it looks so good in the 1:64 racing fleet!

OK, so now what do I do? What I did with the yellow Charger and the green Torino: make it an “Extra”, right? Well, maybe…but then I got another idea.

See, my first JL Cobra is pearlescent white with blue racing stripes. While I like pearl white, and I think Cobras look great in the classic American racing color scheme, somehow the pearl white has never seemed right to me on a 60’s racing car. So, looking at this cool green one alongside the white one, I decided it was time for a “repaint.”

A few decals and a chassis swap later, “Ace” had a new color scheme: same motor, same wheels and tires, same racing number; owner/driver Kevin “Hybrid” Hughes changed his suit, going from a red shirt to a gray jacket with a red cap for the colder weather of the fall racing season which is just gearing up, as the “Secret Oktober” tournaments at Drag City are coming up in only a few days!

So the white car goes into the “overstock” bin, but its worth noting that not only is it still a very cool car in nearly perfect condition, but it also got mounted on an awesome chassis, the one vacated by the bright blue ’69 Camaro RS when it migrated to The Road Crew, so there’s plenty of life in it yet! Maybe it goes up for sale, or maybe it waits in the wings for a chance to strike!