hi all - as i am looking forward to the pioneer chargers ... here is another article

this one on the rare, endangered and nearly extinct 'bengal charger'
to further whet your interest for the pioneer version ...









very good show Pioneer!!

cheers, Ron

admittedly i don't know much about the Valiant Chargers from 'down under'
but came across
this article tonight -

i remember reading this at work and being a huge mopar fan, thinking ... hmmm
that's no dodge charger as i know it, but i like its mopar style and attitude all the same!

my boss at the time was from Australia and said he had one as a teen which he loved - and drove very hard





nice images of a neat mopar - and clearly it can melt rubber like its northern brethern!
cheers, Ron

Excited about the news of Pioneer's first offerings from the movie Bullitt
(as i've mentioned elsewhere in my blog the '68 Charger holds a special spot)
here is a scan of an article on the famous car chase...

from Car Life August 1969 - enjoy













way to go Pioneer ... bring on the Chargers!

regards, Ron

Firstly - please forgive me as this post's pics may be found a bit repetittive - as i use this blog as a sort of scrap book (which is easier for me to go to and enjoy my slot cars than pulling them out of all their boxes in storage...) i often find i can't choose which images to include and which to not - i like looking at these cars from all angles - and i hope you do too! if not - bear with me

Once i had discovered the Eldon Dodge Charger, and 1/32 slots in general (over a decade ago) i began learning more about the variety of models available / produced over the years.

It was love at first sight when i stumbled across the wonderful IMC stockers for the first time - and to this day i still feel their versions of the Charger 500 and Torino Cobra had some of the most exciting box art ever.


box fronts


box rears


box sides


box ends

As chance would have it i purchased my first IMC 500 locally about 9 years ago - an aquaintance had one sitting on a back shelf of his hobby store, the box art caught my attention during a visit, and when i learnt it was 1/32 it was a done deal!

That one was in light blue but had the two thin window straps at rear neatly trimmed out...then i came across a 'translucent white' version...and an uncut light blue one...then a nice bright green one...will it ever stop??



Does anyone know what other colors IMC did these in - i know of yellow and seem to recall possibly a red version - maybe dark blue as well? I would gladly trade my extra light blue for a color i don't yet have - let me know if you are interested.


(here they are chasing the Torino Cobra! Note how they left the hood scoop on for the competition version of the Torino?? must have been same guy who left the '68 side marker lights on the '69 version of the Charger 500! ooops!)



a team victory lap perhaps...


and one more just to bore you to tears...


time to get some decals on - sponsors must be getting restless!

enjoy - Ron

grrrrr...



(here is the car that started it all - my foray into muscle cars and 1/32 slots...)



As i have mentioned previously - i believe the first 1/32 slot car i purchased was an Eldon '68 Charger - i had been looking for something similar to the '68 Charger R/T my brother had just purchased (down in Salt Lake City Utah - that was a wild ride in late December from Manitoba...to leave a cheque in good faith for the gent to trailer the fully restored beauty up in the spring...hmmm - young and stupid sure was fun when all worked out OK ) as i gift for him to set up on his TV or in his office.

At the time the die-cast craze hadn't quite happened and there really weren't many options - the Aurora HO t-jet (not a correct '68 or '69), a hot wheels version, a larger matchbox toy ... or the Eldon slot car. Low and behold when it arrived it re-awoke such fond memories of my first slot cars and time spent with dad and brother that i couldn't give it up - and began buying more!!!

Here are some pics of my brother's '68 (we were both partial to this year's version with unsplit grille, hide-away lamps, double rear stripe, round tail lights and round side marker lights - the '69 although favored by most didn't seem quite as menacing - the '70 was closer with its large full chrome loop bumber - but the '68 won out as the first of the new body style, and in our opinion the best!)


(this car was a beautiful original light yellow - wonderfully set off by the black roof and bumble bee stripes at rear end)








(although not the Hemi version, with the next most potent engine of the year - the 440 - this car was a rocket - Once only did i pass six cars on a highway straight like they were standing still - the Charger floated dangerously over the road as it wound past 110 - 120 - 130 ... again young and stupid sure was fun...)

- but back to slot cars ! - here is a shot of the original Eldon (in white - well kind of - the plastic has discolored with age - but other than that the car is in fantastic shape - not sure if i should keep as is, paint white, or more likely detail as a clone of my brother's car) and a few other project chargers (a '69 IMC Charger 500 and the Monogram '69 Charger to be slot-converted some day). To round out the second body style years, i have also shown my very cute '70 Charger from Lindbergh Mini Lindy Series - not sure of anyone else who did the '70 version - save the larger kits such as MPC, AMT etc.).



- and on the topic of the IMC charger...(i will have a seperate posting specifically on those ) here is an article showing the car as they modelled it - notice in the large color photo - this is a '68 Charger with modifications - the protype Charger 500 for upcoming model year - the factory re-did the rear window deck to a more aerodynamic fast back type, changed the front grille and hastily had mods done to the front window pillars (you can see the side marker lights are round - per the '68 charger). The following pics in the article show a proper '69 Charger...IMC must have based their work so early on that they were using the prototype mule as their reference.

...from an issue of High Performance Cars - 1969











...and for interest sake a few photos from covers of Stock Car Racing in '68 and '69 showing Chargers in action on the high banks...


(this interior meant business - round gauges - soo nice)


(Allison's color scheme is still one of my favs)

- next up - a bit on my IMC Chargers

thanks for reading - Ron