Fast Fri.., er, Monday: 1969 Camaro Pace Car

I was out and about Friday and unable to get a post in on Fast Friday. Which is really a shame, as Friday marked the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet, a true American icon if ever there was one!

So in recognition of this achievement, I present my model of the 1969 Camaro Indy 500 pace car. At least one of the surveys I've seen in recent weeks asking people to select their all-time favorite Chevy had the '69 Camaro ranked No. 1, and the pace car being noted specifically as one of the best looking cars of all time. I hope you think so, too, and I hope you think my model does this remarkable car justice.

Notes: Built from the old MPC kit, the one that also included the Corvette and Trans Am. It's not the best kit in the world, but it built up OK. I used flock for the carpets, added seat belts, and used decals I bought from a supplier on ebay. They are really excellent decals, though I had to buy two sets because I screwed up the first one - no fault of the decals. I forget his name, if anyone wants it I can look it up.

Glue Bomb Restoration

I vividly remember my mom buying this model of the 1979 Indy Mustang pace car for me when I was probably 10 years old from the local grocery store. Remember when even small grocery stores had a small toy section, and even small toy sections had model kits? Anyway, I put it together with my amazing 10 year old skills (lots of glue, brush on paint out of the Testors square bottles) and played with it. Yes, played with it. Rolled it around the kitchen floor, somehow worked it into the Star Wars universe. You get the idea.

Anyway, after it's toy service, it sat for years in a box. Shocking, really, that it never got tossed. At one point I think I thought someday I'll restore it, but never really got to it. Until about a year ago.

As you can see in the before and after shots, it was quite a transformation. Amazingly, most of the parts were still either on the car or had migrated to my spare parts box. I had to do some scratch work on the headlights, and a fellow modeler on a model car forum came to my rescue with a set of mirrors from his parts box. (Don't you love the modelling community?)

Some automotive pewter paint seemed to match, add in some Fred Cady decals, and voila. The glass is still in kinda rough shape, but it'll have to do. The only other thing I might still do is get some seat pattern decals that pop up on ebay from time to time.