Back in 1960, I remember a guy named Mickey Thompson setting the land speed record of 406.6 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats. He did this feat with one of the most original cars ever seen. This was the Challenger 1. It was powered by four supercharged Pontiac engines, each powering a separate wheel. I remember at the time hoping that someone would make a model kit of this car. Well, Revell did back in 1962. They produced the kit from 1962 until 1966. I was busy with getting on with my life at that time, so I forgot about Challenger 1. Last year at the IPMS Nationals in Orlando, I saw that Revell was going to re-issue the kit. I couldn’t wait for it to come out and when it came up for grabs by the Reviewers corps, I jumped at the chance to build it.

So what would be cooler than having your car talk to you, be bulletproof, and able to drive itself? Well, if you were Michael Knight, not much…and while he drove several different versions of KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand), the original from the first season of the show was always my favorite.

I don’t build many car models, but when I do, they usually were involved in some movie or TV show. So when KITT came up for review, my hand also came up. I am not sure if this is a re-release by Aoshima of a previous kit as I remember KITT kits from years ago, but if it is a re-release, it is a good one.

The kit includes 95 plastic parts in black, tan, chrome, aluminum, clear, clear red, clear orange, and tinted black colors. There are also 4 rubber tires, 4 polyethylene caps for the wheels, and the scanning unit with 4 screws to mount it.

History

The RG-31 is a 4x4 mine-protected, all-terrain armored personnel carrier(APC) first manufactured in South Africa. It is able to withstand mine blasts and small arms fire due to the V-shaped, all-steel welded armor monologue hull and high suspension. As a multi-purpose vehicle, the RG-31 assumes a wide range of roles, such as APC, ambulance, and surveillance vehicle, but is mostly used during peacekeeping missions for its non-aggressive appearance. The RG-31 has served in Iraq & Afghanistan.

Kit

Inside the box, there are 5 tan plastic sprues, 1 clear sprue, 1 black rubber sprue, 5 black hard rubber tires, a PE fret, a decal sheet, and a 24-page instruction booklet. Also included in the kit box is a bonus "Check Point" set. The set consist of four figures and barricades (both water & concrete). I did not build this set for this review, but after looking it over, I think this set would build into a very nice diorama featuring the RG-31.