Stock# 18535
Collector# 661
CB's Die Cast Review: June 5, 1998
1998 First Editions #17
`70 Roadrunner
The overall proportions on this car are excellent, and the wheels are only
slightly oversize for the scale. The wheels are small/medium five spokes,
and I don't think there is a better choice for this car. The stance is
PERFECT, and doesn't suffer from that "bigfoot" look that we saw on the
last JL muscle cars. You hold this one up close to your eye and gaze along
the body line from the rear to the front, and then you really appreciate the
excellent proportions of this model. Tail and grille details are excellent
too. All we need here is a bit of flat black. The orange enamel paint seems
close to the prototype colour and looks great on this car.
The chassis follows the Daytona / `Cuda / Impala / GTO setup, with reasonably
good detail in a chrome plated plastic molding. Imagine the weight of this
thing if the base was plated metal ... ->sigh<-. Interestingly,
on close inspection it can be seen that the front wheel wells were
re-tooled at some point, to bring the wheels out from under the fenders.
It looks like the original idea was to have them closer in, as on the
Daytona and Barracuda, but somehow this got changed, probably
in the prototype phase. The giveaway is that those half round disks on the
base are still inset as on the original mold.
Now, just close your eyes, and listen ... to the rumble of that 426 ...
and Bruce Springsteen, blasting out the open windows: "beyond the
palace / hemi-powered drones / scream down the boulevard ..."
Thank you Mattel.
I found one of
these babies last weekend at the Wal-Mart Superstore on Mesa Street in
El Paso, on my way to the airport from Las Cruces. I had a bit of
extra time so I popped off the Interstate and cruised the pegs, and
there she was. This is one of the castings that I have been especially
anxious to see, along with the `63 T-Bird, the `32 Ford and the Tail
Dragger, to name a few. Let me start by saying that this casting has
exceeded my expectations. The `70 Roadrunner is one sweet effort from Mattel.
When I was a (younger) kid collecting HW, I had a close buddy named Jim
who was also into HW as well as 1/24 scale plastic model kits. He was
also into MoPars, and he had the GTX and the Roadrunner kits. One thing
that struck me about these cars was the delicately shaped rear window.
If you've never had a close look at the rear window on the `68-`70 B-bodies,
you really should make a note to do so the next time you get a chance.
Much later on, I bought my first car after I discovered it rotting in my
parent's barn. A friend of theirs had put his 1970 Dodge Coronet 500 there
in storage, and it was for sale, for $100. Needless to say it was a wreck,
but it had that beautifully curved rear window. The rear visibility out that
window was incredible. They must have been a pain to make though, because
they were not flat but bent into a shallow double-S curve.
Well, so much for reminiscing, the point is that Mattel has done a good job
of capturing this feature in the casting, although the glass itself appears
to be flat. This time around, they made the frames on the vent windows part
of the glass, which works much better than the cast frame as used on the `96 FE
Daytona. The interior is well detailed in black plastic, and seems to
follow the level of excellence seen in this year's `63 T-Bird, with
excellent side panel detail and front floor mats too.
Of course this bird comes with the de rigueur 426 HEMI engine, and the hood
tampo announces this. The overall tampo is simple and very prototypical,
basically a black stripe and the engine name plus the hold down wires on
the front of the hood, and does not detract from the car in one bit. The
cast hood details include the pop-up scoop that was the latest innovation
from Chrysler on these cars.
All in all a winner; I gotta give it a 9 out of 10 (plastic base), this one
is going to be one of my favourites.
