Moebius has followed up on their previous release of the 1965 Plymouth Satellite earlier this year with the Belvedere I, the economy priced B- Body. Referred to as a B-Pillar (“post”) vs. the B-Pillarless Satellite (“hardtop”), the low end Belvedere I was the basis of many a drag race car in the 1960’s, either in the super stock or altered wheel base classes. The kit is not a factory stock car as purchased off the dealer lot, nor the extremely rare A-990 super stock cars. As Moebius Kit Designer / Project Manager Dave Metzner said, the kit is meant “to represent the kind of Belvedere Sedan you'd see at a cruise night these days”. (For those awaiting a super stock drag car, stay tuned for the next version with a Hemi 426 engine.) This kit includes a very nice replica of the dual carb cross ram 426 Max Wedge engine or you can build the engine as a 426 cubic inch Commando V8.

Hurst Performance started working with Oldsmobile in the late sixties and by the time the ‘80’s rolled around they had perfected not only the hi performance “Lightening” shifter but the awesome looking black over silver appearance package featured on the ’83 Hurst Olds.

I believe in the past few years Revell has offered a few of these pre-finished model kits in order to stir the modeling beginner’s pot. First they did this with the NASCAR Snap kits and most recently with offers like the 2017 Chevrolet Corvette. Confronted with no serious painting task to do and well pre-finished body, these kits should stroke the modeling urge of just about any entry level modeler.

This 2013 Dodge Challenger in Foose motif should be a popular subject among muscle car fans sporting Foose custom wheels, Foose custom graphics and sharp two-tone Sublime Green and Gloss Black paint job.

Parts Count (45 total parts):

I first made this model shortly after the 1989 release of the new Batman movie, having been fascinated by the transfiguration of this iconic machine from the old 1964 Adam West series, even going so far as to mail order the optional “cocoon” shroud for it. As the movies have proceeded, I’ve liked the Batmobiles featured less and less, as they have evolved from a snazzy convertible into heavily armed paramilitary vehicles much the way Batman himself has evolved from the noble “caped crusader” into a sociopathic vigilante. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I rather liked the idea of a crime fighter exclusively using his fists to deal with villains.

In any case, I never had a opportunity to model the re-release of this interesting machine after the second movie, where AMT added an exposable turbine engine and retractable computer controls. This latest incarnation not only features these lovely bits but also a card stock “background” display. What fun!

The Moebius website sums up this vehicle by noting,

The Special was a fastback version of the 1954 Hudson Hornet favored by stock class drag racers in the 1960's. Complete with the high performance 308 Hudson engine, this kit replicates this unusual car in 1/25 scale.

In its purely stock form this car was still a hallmark of speed and handling. By ’55 the innovation of Hudson would begin to yield to the corporate manufacturers sporting V-8 engines, but in 1954 the “Hornet” was still the one to beat!