Round 2/MPC Arnie Beswick "Boss Bird"?!

[MitchP]

Just finished reading an excellent article on the racing career of Arnie "the Farmer" Beswick and he hinted a re-reissue of the Boss Bird 1972 match racing Firebird funny car. It was apparently released sometime in the past in 1/25 and Round 2 has talk of retooling it. Beautiful from original pics, blue frame and gold twin retro fuel tanks up front

Arnie used to run a blown Ram Air V in it but switched to a 426 Hemi so I hope the kit would be based on that. I'd also like to see his latest pro mod Tameless Tiger '63 Tempest release by Round 2. If you can get ahold of the Spring 2014 issue of Elapsed Times Retro Drag Racing magazine, you'll find the scoop along with a great photo shoot of Cruz Pedregon's CA Charger retro f/c. If you like JJ fire burnouts and nostalgia, this is for you!

[Mike Chernecki]

I have that kit, it came pre-painted in pearl white. Appears to be a stock bodied Firebird on a funny car chassis.

[MitchP]

Mike:

Do you remember when it was released or when you bought it? If it follows the actual car, it must have been a nice kit.

[Mark]

Beswick was probably referring to a reissue of the 1/18 scale diecast version, not the kit. Most of MPC's funny car kits (including the Firebird) used bodies that were shared with the promotional models and annual kits. In most cases, the bodies were updated year by year for use in the annual kits, which took the funny cars and Pro Stockers out of the picture in terms of reissue possibilities. MPC updated their Firebird body through '81.

The Boss Bird was based on the '72 kit. It has a stock body with the flat (no scoops) hood molded in; MPC never offered a kit with that hood as a separate piece. The chassis was shared with a number of other kits, and the engine is a Ford Boss 429 with different heads and valve covers to make it resemble a Pontiac. The body was pre-painted in pearl white, but the Trans-Am spoiler pieces were molded in black. The other pre-painted funny car kits had similar brainstorms; for example, the Dunn & Reath Barracuda had a nice metallic red paint job, but the rear pan wasn't painted. I've got a Malco Scrambler Vega with a nice paint job and unpainted spoilers.

[MitchP]

Thanks for the info Mark. The interview though, quotes Arnie as say specifically it was a 1/25 scale. I know at over 70 years old Arnie wasn't probably wasn't completely up on all of the marketing promos as he was always an underdog, especially since Pontiac never provided the backing that Chevy did.

[jjsipes]

There's one on the bay as a partial build-up. Looks like typical MPC funny car builds that sit to high.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOSS-BIRD-ARNIE-THE-FARMER-BESWICKS-F-C-NICELY-BUILT-NICELY-PAINTED-/360967110585?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item540b50ffb9

[gtx6970]

I think it's cool if they are considering a re-release. I would buy one if just for the cool factor

But IMO, I think a much better looking ,,aka,,, more accurate build can be done with a resin ( or modified plastic ) body and a polar lights chassis .

[Mark]

There's one on the bay as a partial build-up. Looks like typical MPC funny car builds that sit to high.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOSS-BIRD-ARNIE-THE-FARMER-BESWICKS-F-C-NICELY-BUILT-NICELY-PAINTED-/360967110585?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item540b50ffb9

Correction...just pulled my builtup out of the box...the cylinder heads and spoiler parts on it are painted black, molded in white. Based on the Scrambler Vega that I have now, and the Dunn & Reath 'Cuda that I had some years back, I'd still bet that the spoilers and side spats in the kit as-issued weren't painted to match the body. The rear pan on my Firebird is definitely not painted.

The chassis is a one-piece "1970" Logghe Stamping unit (side rails and interior floor "tin" molded as one piece). Other kits that used that same chassis were the Mercury Cyclones, '71 Blue Max Mustang (the first MPC version, the one with the stock body), the '73 "Warlord" Camaro (but not the '71 "USA-1"), and the "Jolly Roger" Maverick. The later kits had a different oil pan to replace the front-sump Ford unit, to try and make the engine look different.

[russosborne]

If anyone is interested a group of people have put together a new Boss Bird funny car in the last 2 years. They had a bit of a set back last year when it caught fire and burned the body down, but they are still going strong last I heard. Not sure about the status of the Boss Bird at this moment. Last I heard the guys responsible had it back together and were back on the track testing. Nitro car, I saw it at Norwalk a couple of years ago.

I was seriously into Pontiacs then, having a 70 Lemans project car, but that got sold for nothing when we moved to Phoenix this spring.

Russ

[Art Anderson]

Arnie's probably pretty well acquainted still with Tom Lowe, owner of Round2, which would go back 10-15 years when Lowe owned Playing Mantis, who produced the Johnny Lightning line of 1/64 scale diecast cars. There was a miniature of Beswick's -62-'63 Tempest AWB funny car in the JL line. Beswick would stop in at Playing Mantis on occasion--met him there once when he stopped by on his way home, with a load of Hoosier racing tires in his pickup (Hoosier Tire is only a few miles south of Mishawaka/South Bend, where Playing Mantis was located.

Art