History is made - Three of the top four winners of the Dodge/Car Model Magazine/MPC Funny Car Contest Exhibited Together for the First Time Ever

[tim boyd]

Thanks to Ranchero Steve, who took these photos, here are the three of the four top winning entries in what was probably the premier model car contest in the country during much of the year of 1968.

Since this was a mail-in photo contest, this photo from 2015 GSL reflects the first time ever - some 47 years later - that the overall winner, the second place nationwide, and the fourth place nationwide winners have been exhibited together. This exhibition was part of the 2015 GSL International Scale Vehicle Championship and Convention.

Here's an excerpt from the explanation on the display table:

DODGE/MPC/CAR MODEL MAGAZINE 1968 Dodge Coronet Funny Car Contest

The 1st, 2nd, and 4th place overall winners (chosen from over 1,600 entries in the most important national model car contest of the year 1968) are displayed here together, for the first time ever:

1st Nationwide – Jim Keeler, Age 27, Logan, Utah - “Dodge Fever”

2nd Nationwide – Thomas Harrison, Age 25, Sunnyvale, CA - “Dodge Performance”

4th Nationwide – Tim Boyd, Age 14, Ann Arbor, MI - “Dominator”

The Dodge/MPC/Car Model Magazine contest was announced on the cover of the January, 1968 issue of Car Model Magazine, and further detailed in a two-page spread inside. 

• Contestants were to build their entry from MPC’s new 1968 Dodge Coronet kit, but parts from other kits were allowed. 
• When completed, two black and white photos and a 500 word description were to be mailed to the Car Model magazine editorial offices in North Arlington, NJ. 
• Entries were to be completed and postmarked no later than May 1st, 1968. 
• The overall winner was to receive an all-expenses paid trip to Detroit, Michigan, to visit the “Dodge Engineering Laboratories” and the MPC factory. He was also to receive every new MPC kit for the next three years. 
• The top 25 winners were announced in the September, 1968 issue of Car Model, followed by an 11-page spread with full details on each car in the October, 1968 issue (see excerpts from this issue of Car Model posted elsewhere in this display).

Details on the three winners shown here –

• Jim Keeler’s 1st Place “Dodge Fever” was an incredibly inventive design combined with unprecedented levels of detailing and accuracy. It remains an icon of model car building achievement nearly 50 years later. This is the original car built by Jim, and restored by Tom Dillion and Mark Gustavson.Jim Keeler’s 1^st Place “Dodge Fever” was an incredibly inventive design combined with unprecedented levels of detailing and accuracy.  It remains an icon of model car building achievement nearly 50 years later.  This is the original car built by Jim, and restored by Tom Dillion  and Mark Gustavson.  It is shown here on loan from its permanent exhibition International Model Car Builder’s Museum.  

• Tom Harrison’s 2nd Place “Dodge Performance” featured dual 426 Hemi engines concealed beneath an extended-front body, yielding an entry that represented a logical extension of then-current funny car design. It is presented here in original, unrestored form, on loan from its permanent exhibition at the International Model Car Builder’s Museum. (Seen here next to Jim's Dodge Fever car):

• Tim Boyd’s 4th Place “Dominator” was actually his second design, revamped to a radical rear-engine format after the original approach was deemed too conservative to win a contest. Just after completion, it was heavily damaged by heat from a photo studio lighting setup, but later rebuilt for a six-month exposition at the local Dodge Dealer’s showroom. At the suggestion of Steve Perry, it is shown here as originally disassembled in 1970 for a future restoration. Reassembly is planned in time for the 2017 GSL International Scale Vehicle Championship and Convention, just prior to the 50th anniversary of the original Dodge/MPC/Car Model Funny Car Contest in 2018.

Thanks for looking...and thanks again to Ranchero Steve for the pictures, and to Mark Gustavson and the GSL Board of Directors/Contest team for another terrific model car event that is truly a credit to our hobby. If you'd like to see more of Steve's photos of this from Mark Gustavson's 2015 GSL album, click here: http://public.fotki.com/Mark-Gustavson/gsl-xxv-1/car-model-dodge-con/     Cheers...TIM

 

 

Edited July 22, 2015 by tim boyd

[XJ6]

Very very interesting Thanks for sharing some wonderful News and History of the past ?

XJ6 ?

 

[wayne swayze]

It's always a pleasure to have a look back at the history of our beloved hobby. Thanks for sharing!

[1972coronet]

Thanks for this excellent topic , Tim !

I remember the Scale Auto Enthusiast issue from c.1987 which exhibited the original build of Keeler's Dodge Fever , and its stablemate Super Bee-based build (it was red ; I can't recall its nomenclature) . The article focused on a twin tribute build , IIRC (though my memory's getting hazy) .

I didn't realise that you were a part of this contest , too ! And 4th Place isn't bad at all !

The question is begged : what became of the 3rd Place contestant ?

[tim boyd]

John....thanks for the comments.  

The Scale Auto feature was on the Dodge Fever II....which was Jim Keeler's mutli-issue build of a second Dodge Fever, a near clone of the first one other than the use of a '69 Charger body as the basis.  It was covered over multiple issues of Car Model Magazine during 1969 IIRC.  That car is also part of the International Model Car Builder's Museum's collection....completed with the one (photo) side lettered and the other side sans lettering.  

The third place winner was a very young (Age 12) builder by the name of David Guenther, of Davenport, Iowa.  Unlike the others shown here, his car was more kit based, with a windshield/cowl moved rearward atop a much-shortened roof, to make room for the drag engine in the MPC tube frame chassis.  I don't believe I've ever seen his name as an adult buidler, but it would be very cool if he is indeed still building.  

Cheers...TIM 

 

Edited July 20, 2015 by tim boyd

[1972coronet]

That's right : Dodge Fever II !

It's been absolutely decades since I've seen that issue (had the SAE issue when it was new  ; a 20 year anniversary or some-thing of the infamous MPC / Chrysler / et al. contest . I do remember that Keeler , to paraphrase the article , "Visited a dental supplies store to get the [plaster ?] to fill-in the hollowed-out engine , and add a crank and rods ..."  , and that the car Keeler started with was a 'Freudian Slip' in that he misread the rules , and instead started building from either a '68 Super Bee or a '69 Super Bee ( both ostensibly MPC annual kits ) , and had to start over on the project ( !! ) .

Thanks for the memories , Tim ! Although I was born in 1970 ( I Feel Alright ) , I have a life-long love affair with the era which preceded my current existence

[RancheroSteve]

Thanks for the photo credit, Tim - I'm happy to provide. Great write-up on the display and contest!

Sorry I missed meeting you there - it would have been good to get a picture of you and Keeler in front of the display.

[TooOld]

Wow , that's really cool to see the original models together again !  I remember the contest well and drooled over all of the winning models .  I don't think I've seen the original Dodge Fever since then !

Thanks Tim for the trip down memory lane .

[AC Norton]

...........anything that exemplifies the heritage and rich history of this hobby, is something to be enjoyed and coveted by all....good for you, Tim. that special time in our lives when car models were new and exciting to so many of us by merely seeing contest  events in the magazines, I think gave so many of us the drive and constant persistence to model on, and love every minute of it.  thanks for sharing this, you are an asset and great friend to all of us that love model cars, old and newer alike. best regards,,,,,,,,the ace.......

[Bob Ellis]

I bought a 1968 MPC Coronet HT for that contest. My attempt sucked and I threw it in the trash. I wish I had kept it. Maybe I could have fixed it.

[Harry P.]

I remember seeing Jim Keeler's Dodge Fevers in the magazine as a little kid. I was very impressed! Still am... 

[Danno]

Me, too.  He's always been an icon of the hobby!

I was blown away several years ago when my good friend (the late) Andy Kallen introduced me to Jim.  The three of us chatted for a few hours.  What a fascinating guy with what would pass for an encyclopedic photographic memory!  

I was even more surprised a couple of times over the years since when Jim has recognized me and chatted up like we were long, lost friends!  Never misses a beat.

What a guy.

[tim boyd]

...........anything that exemplifies the heritage and rich history of this hobby, is something to be enjoyed and coveted by all.... that special time in our lives when car models were new and exciting to so many of us by merely seeing contest  events in the magazines, I think gave so many of us the drive and constant persistence to model on, and love every minute of it.  

 

AC....you've really captured, I think, much of the magic of our hobby in your quotes I recopied above.  It sure summarizes what became a lifetime source of creativity, enjoyment, and pride for me personally.  

Best Regards...TIM 

 

************************************

 

Sadly, based on the feedback that they receive, apparently much of the model car media have concluded that model builders have little to no interest in the history of our hobby.  I'd like to think that they are wrong, but sometimes I think it's just wishful thinking on my part.    

Still, I find this to be counter intuitive, as the 1/1 scale car magazines have found that reader interest in the history of the car hobby is ranking off the charts and has made for some highly successful publications (e..g., Hot Rod DeLuxe, Rodder's Journal, et al).  To the extent that the model car hobby largely follows 1/1 scale car hobby trends, it would seem to me that interest in the history of the model car hobby (specifically, the model builders and the cars they built) would be tremendously popular with hobby magazine readers.   

So thanks to all who have posted in this thread (and a similar one on one of the other model car related message boards), you all prove that apparent lack of interest in this topic might just be wrong after all.  

Cheers.  TIM 

 

PS - If you'd like to see model car history related topics in print in your favorite magazine or magazines, it might not hurt to drop the respective Editor(s) of the publications you read a note to that effect.  

 

*************************************

I remember seeing Jim Keeler's Dodge Fevers in the magazine as a little kid. I was very impressed! Still am... 

Harry....well said, and like you and many others, I share your reaction.  Jim's Dodge Fever 1 and 2, and the articles on them, fundamentally set a new level of achievement in the model car hobby, as well as model car magazine coverage of the hobby.  

For me personally, those articles (along with Jim's "unraveling the Snake Pit" series) in Car Model Magazine were big source of education, inspiration and ideas for my next several models that ended up winning several "Best Detail" awards in the 1970 MPC Customizing Contest series...  TIM 

 

Edited July 23, 2015 by tim boyd

[AC Norton]

....well, Tim, car models are a part of guys like all of us .....and I think so many of us have realized thru the years, that the love and enjoyment they brought us as kids is really no different than it is now in our pension years. I admit to being a bit in and out of actively building or collecting at times, as other interests have prevailed for periods,,,but car modeling always stays with me and I am sure glad it does. my most treasured memories in many ways relate to our hobby....my 3 best friends, all men that have passed away....were avid model car people, and I am proud to say that 2 of those friendships began all to do with models. at the NNL in Toledo 1985 the theme was the super sixties,,,and I won with 4 entries in 63, 64, 67, and 69. my best friend Ron Dube that attended all the shows and events with me thru the 80s and 90s  was even more excited and proud that I had won and done so well at that event than I even probably was. memories such as this never leave a person, and I think of times such as these often, and with feelings  very emotional for me personally. my precious wife Susan also passed away exactly 10 years ago today, and the many car models that I built while dating and thru married life are uncountable,,,always with her love and support thru the years. so, is our hobby an important one....well, to the masses no,,,,,,,to folks like us and those who love and support us, I like to think so......best,...the ace..... 

Edited July 23, 2015 by AC Norton
error

[FordRodnKustom]

I found this neatly folded in a box of vintage parts I picked up a while back. I wonder if our young engineer was designing his entry for this contest?

[tim boyd]

Ron....that is beyond cool!  What a discovery!!   Not only that, it is very similar to the final execution of the second place finisher pictured above (the blue car) in the first post. .  

You may want to take a high-res photo of that, or even possibly donate it if it doesn't have much value to you, and send it to Mark Gustavson at the International Model Car Museum.  He is tentatively planning to do a mini-book for all 2017 GSL participants on the Dodge/Car Model/MPC Funny Car Contest. 

Thanks for posting!   TIM

 

[Nomo]

52 years later, I'm interested in building the Jim Keeler's “Dodge Fever”. As far as I know Car Model magazine published, from April 1969 thru October 1969, a series of articles of how to build it. Does anybody knows if there's a way to find copies of those articles?

[LDO]

I can’t believe I didn’t see this thread the first time around. I would also like to know if I can buy the articles or magazines. 

I think articles about the history of our hobby would be great. 

[GMP440]

Would love to do one of these.  A number of years ago someone did a resin body of the Dodge Fever.  Anyone know the company that did it?  Wish Round 2 could do a re-release of the MPC 68 Coronet R/T.  This would be a good project.

[alan barton]

Even here in Australia, I was influenced by the Car Model Funny car contest.  I immediately started building a 69 Coronet funnycar which lowers the definition of "crude" to subterranean. I've still got a block somewhere that I tried to drill full of holes and fit the 49 mercury pistons to.   But boy, was I impressed by those models.  I got to meet Jim at his home in 1992 and he told me some amazing stories, and then got to meet Tim in 1996 after corresponding with him on and off since 1981. Only in recent years did I realise that I had been reading about Tim's funnycar back in high school!  And as Tim said much earlier in this thread, the history of model cars is every bit as interesting as the history of their full sized counterparts.  One of the great things about this forum is that from time to time we get to take these trips down a styrene memory lane.

Cheers

Alan

[TooOld]

On 7/6/2020 at 11:03 PM, Nomo said:

52 years later, I'm interested in building the Jim Keeler's “Dodge Fever”. As far as I know Car Model magazine published, from April 1969 thru October 1969, a series of articles of how to build it. Does anybody knows if there's a way to find copies of those articles?

 

On 7/7/2020 at 2:17 AM, LDO said:

I can’t believe I didn’t see this thread the first time around. I would also like to know if I can buy the articles or magazines. 

I think articles about the history of our hobby would be great. 

Hey guys , here are links to the "Car Model Dodge Contest" and to the "Dodge Fever II" build articles . 

https://public.fotki.com/TooOld/models/misc-/magazine-articles/car-model-dodge-contest/

https://public.fotki.com/TooOld/models/misc-/magazine-articles/dodge-fever-ii-wip-/

[GMP440]

4 hours ago, TooOld said:

 

Hey guys , here are links to the "Car Model Dodge Contest" and to the "Dodge Fever II" build articles . 

https://public.fotki.com/TooOld/models/misc-/magazine-articles/car-model-dodge-contest/

https://public.fotki.com/TooOld/models/misc-/magazine-articles/dodge-fever-ii-wip-/

    Thank you for posting this.  Would love to do a Dodge Fever build.  Only thing we need now are the 1968 Coronet kits to do the project.  

[tim boyd]

And for those who might have missed it, here's the link to all the details of my complete reconstruction in 2019 of the 4th place nationwide 1968 MPC/Car Model/Dodge Funny Car Contest winner, conducted just about 50 years to the day from when the original was essentially destroyed during a photography session for the contest.....TIM  

https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyd-on-line-mo/tim-boyds-car-model/

And here are a couple of pictures from that album....

January 30, 2019:  

April 25, 2019:

Very glad to know you guys are still interested in this type of stuff....TIM 

 

[TooOld]

18 hours ago, tim boyd said:

And for those who might have missed it, here's the link to all the details of my complete reconstruction in 2019 of the 4th place nationwide 1968 MPC/Car Model/Dodge Funny Car Contest winner, conducted just about 50 years to the day from when the original was essentially destroyed during a photography session for the contest.....TIM  

https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyd-on-line-mo/tim-boyds-car-model/

Very glad to know you guys are still interested in this type of stuff....TIM 

 

Excellent write up on your restoration , thanks for posting the link !