Well we made it through the deep freeZe! Last weekend saw some of the coldest temperatures I’ve ever experienced (although we did have several days last winter that were even colder), and I understand that I wasn’t alone; seems most of the country was frozen in place over the last several days; my thermometers bottomed out on Sunday night @ -12F! So, since I was quite literally trapped at home and didn’t leave the house for 4 days, I had plenty of time to spend at my workbench, so I went scrounging around in my parts bins for something to tinker with, including another dive into “the Body Box,” the repository of various bodies I have not used for various reasons.
In addition to building two new cars for The Super Stock Fleet which I profiled a couple of days ago, I also came up with a couple of new members for The Road Crew, and in addition to that I also got one delivered in the mail right before the temperatures plummeted that I opened during the freeze and which certainly deserves to be shown off here, even if it is in “barn find” condition!
’63 Buick Riviera in rare GRAY
I got it! This is my last ’63 Riviera, one of the two very rare colors and likely the last one I will buy, since the slate blue one is simply too expensive for me to justify adding to my collection. This should be a great triumph and definitely represents the rarest T-Jet I’ve ever acquired, but before we get too excited, I should note that it is in rough condition; the front screw post was a mess that had to be ground down and replaced, some previous owner inexplicably surgically removed the “B” pillars marking the triangles of the vent windows on both sides, and the body is faded and discolored unevenly, as if it were exposed to sunlight when it had decals or labels on it that have since been removed. And even with all that, it still cost me 3 figures!
I have to confess I’m a little disappointed with this one; it isn’t as if I feel I got ripped off-I knew what I was getting-but it is a little beneath my standards, which is saying something since, not being a “serious collector,” my standards are very low. It did come on a good running early “X-mas tree” closed rivet chassis which is period correct, and with a good amount of cleaning and polishing I’ve gotten it to look as good as its going too. I’m calling this one a “filler” until I can find a better one, but of course the one good thing about it being this rough is that I can run it around my track without guilt!
’63 Galaxie ‘vert in GREEN
About a year ago or so I bought a pair of Dash Motorsports’ excellent reproductions of the ‘63 Ford Galaxie convertible; one was a color I can only described as “butterscotch”, while the other was this green one. I put the tan one on a chassis straighaway, added a reproduction driver (since, oddly, the Dash repros did not come with drivers like the Aurora originals did) and that one’s been running around the HO Highway since, but this green one was somehow forgotten. It was still wrapped in an opaque white protective shipping paper and stuffed into the body box so I didn’t even know what it was until I opened it out of curiosity. Imagine the delight! I got to working on it right away, adding the last of the repro drivers I bought so long ago, and mounted it on a rebuilt closed-rivet chassis I had only just finished getting running, complete with a brand new set of wheels and tires.
Although the original Aurora version was made in green, it was a shade quite different from this one, which is a bright, almost mint green. Finished with a body-colored tonneau and black seats with tan carpeting, it is absolutely beautiful, and course its in mint condition, since it was never used. Well, it’s being used now! I may have a few shelf queens, but like I always say, I like to drive my cars!
’65 Mustang fastback in BLACK with gold stripes
And lastly we have yet another example of the “unwanted Mustang,” a body I once said I would never own and which I now have SIX of! This one is a Model Motoring reproduction from the late 1990’s, and Like the previously profiled tan one (the only one of the 6 that is an Aurora original), I bought it for the chassis it was on (more specifically, I bought it for the wheels and tires that were on the chassis it was on!) and then tossed the body in the box figuring I might or might not do something with it later. This explains why I wound up with so many copies of this car I used to say I didn’t even like! Well, I got bored during the deep freeze and decided to mount it on a decent running open-rivet chassis I had sitting around. It came with some wear marks on it, but even though it’s a repro and thus not rare or valuable, it does seem to be one of the harder versions to find and is definitely one of more desirable, so it makes a nice addition to the fleet along with all the others. Its not as fast as the rest of the fastbacks, but I’m sure I can do a little “tuning” on the chassis and fix that!
So there’s what I did while all the doors were frozen shut! Hopefully you had some fun of your own, dear readers, so feel free to comment and tell me about your own winter projects!
The Rivera is in good hands now. I like the real cars, these definitely show their history as well. Even with it’s scars she is still a fine addition. It’s so cool to rediscover these things in your archives! You are seeing the potential in these pieces and I think that’s awesome!