Two blasts from the past....phantom car-pickups....

[tim boyd]

The 1969 Charger pickup was built during late 1969 and early 1970 when I was in 10th grade, as part of a three-car set (pickup, trailer, and funny car) that was eventually finished in the spring of 1972 and went on to win Best of Show at the 1972 Washington DC MPC Customizing Contest.  It was inspired by a rumor in one of the car mags (probably Motor Trend) that Dodge was working on an El-Camino type pickup.  (Although over the last five decades we've seen extensive historical photography of Chrysler Design Studio concepts and design workouts, no such image(s) of a car-pickup have ever appeared, to the best of my knowledge.)   The model included a highly detailed (for the time) 426 Hemi built to replicaate the factory stock engine, even including secondary electrical harness wiring in the engine compartment.  During the build, the interior was updated with 1970 Charger R/T seats and steering wheel from the 1970 MPC annual kit.   Paint was Testors Gloss Orange with Pactra Clearcoat, wheels were American 200-S five-spokes from the MPC 1970 Challenger annual kit. . 

The 1970 Coronet Super Bee pickup was started in the early 1990's, and later finished sometime in the 2000's.  Again, the engine was fully detailed, and the paint was 1970 Mopar "Go-Mango".  The build process for this one  was submitted to Model Cars magazine as a two-parter around 2005 or so, but somewhere between the US postal service and the Editor's desk, the article was lost (as an aside,  having written and published over 500 lifetime articles, this is the only one that ever got lost!)  I pieced together a new article and sent it to Harry P.; he formatted it and it appeared as a two-parter in MCM around 2013 or so.  Many more pictures of it there.

Finally, here's a picture of the Coronet pickup along with a kitbashed gas turbine powered drag boat, circa early 1970's, as constructed in recent years as part of my 1/25th scale drag racing and ski boat model collection.  Thanks for looking!  TIM

  

 

 

 

 

[cobraman]

Those are way cool ! 

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi Sir!

Nice combo, very convincing. They look like those "spy shots" that some undercover photo journalists hiding in the bushes would sell to Car & Driver to fuel rumours. 

Bravo! 

On a different note, my copy of your new book has been mailed by the publisher last week. I'm tracking it with the USPS ap. Can't wait...

CT

[Deuces ll]

Very nice!!!.... ??

[Slotto]

Wow, never thought they would look good but you have proved me wrong! Bravo

[Geno]

Those are off the chart cool. Beautifully done Tim.

[Earl Marischal]

They both look like missed opportunities by the actual vehicle manufacturer.

steve

[ChrisR]

Cool!!

[espo]

I remember seeing articles featuring the Super Bee/truck and really liked it then and now. Never recall seeing the Charger before but I like it also. The proportions of the bed and body as well as the roof design make it look like something they may have done. 

[spencer1984]

Awesome work, both look great!

[Bucky]

Real beauties! I've been planning to do a MOPAR version of the Ranchero style vehicle, and I may borrow a couple ideas from these two!

[gseeds]

Just awesome Tim ! Especially dig the clear hood and it’s treatment! Out standing!!! 

[Koellefornia Kid]

Very convincing! Dodge should have built something like that!

[slusher]

Awesome builds!!

[doorsovdoon]

What could have been! They look amazing. I especially like the Coronet Super Bee, love the front grill treatment on those.