The hot rod pickup that never was (but probably should be)
Hot rods make occasional appearances in the world of diecast, such as the Highway 61 Origins of Speed series from a few years ago and GMP’s excellent Deuces, but it seems the large majority of diecast collectors like to see factory-built vehicles. For the guys who create diecast cars, then, most of their work consists of thoroughly documenting existing cars with photographs and measurements, then replicating them in a certain scale – very little creativity involved.
Rick Hanmore of Danbury Mint, however, has a background in scratchbuilding models, and his creativity just couldn’t be contained by the standard diecast procedure. He needed an outlet, so in his off-hours at home, he built a slammed little ‘35 Ford pickup with all sorts of “backinthe’50s” hot rod detailing. It turned out so nice, he was able to convince his colleagues at Danbury Mint to go ahead and offer it among their line of 1/24th-scale hot rods and racing vehicles.
The chopped top, the rubbed flat red paint, the pinstriping, the built flathead, even the Mexican blanket interior all add to the hot rod vibe, while the detailing is excellent – you can read the “EVANS” cast into the finned heads, the Ford transverse leaf suspension is well represented, and Danbury Mint even replicated the grain on the underside of the planks of wood in the bed. There’s even a tiny SCTA sticker in the windshield. Some aspects, like the stacked exhaust pipes, are a matter of taste, and we weren’t able to keep the hubcaps or the supplied Moon discs on the wheels for very long (may we suggest tiny magnets?), but those are minor annoyances for such a cool little model.
Because it’s a hot rod pickup, it doesn’t fit in with the diecast review columns in our print magazines, but that just means you lucky blog readers get an early glance at it. The Ace Hot Rods ‘35 Ford pickup is currently for sale at danburymint.com for $129. See more pictures of it after the jump.
By the way, 1000 Internet points to whoever first replicates this truck in 1:1 scale.