More Mustang Memorabilia

I have been known to collect many things Mustang related, but I try to keep the collection to the tasteful items. I draw the line at such things like Mustang trainers, soft cushions, bedding sets, teddy bears, aftershave, Zippo lighters etc. as they are all just seem to be cashing in on the Mustang name. I like to collect things that are an of historical importance from the first generation of Mustangs, 1964 – 1966. Some of those items have been historical documents for the 1964 World Trade Fair Mustang launch, Newsweek, Time and Life, along with various other popular car magazines that covered the Mustang launch, test drives or articles at the time. I also managed to grab some items like original sales brochures, promotional literature and such like, which ended up in my collection. As many of the items I have are paper they tend not to stand the test of time unless looked after. Most magazines like Newsweek were just thrown away, making survivors of the time in good condition had to find. I collect these sort of items for their importance and not the monitory resale value trying to make a quick buck. I don’t keep them for a while and then sell the items on as an investment. I won’t part with anything I have, or sell it on for a profit. I have been given many rare items over the years which started my collection off – a special thanks to Gary W. who is also a big collector. It was Gary that started me on this slippery slope of emptying my wallet on a regular occasion.

I have added just added a couple of more items to my collection, which I have been looking at for a while now and wanted good condition ones. There isn’t much known about these items in descriptive detail so I wanted to put that right. I have spent a fair bit of time researching and also created a page dedicated to them here which I hope to add to as time goes along.

As I will add more posts to this website, then this article will be gradually pushed down the order. So having a permalink in the menu will help keep the information to hand and hopefully help out others.

So, what am I talking about? The answer is; ‘dealership model’ cars.

These models are something that were official promotional items made for Ford for their various in production and future production line cars as they changed the real car designs. These models therefore served an important purpose. I suspect many of these models were thrown away after a couple of years or given to children as toys to take part in some fantasy destruction derby with other toys, many of which ended up in the great (plastic) scrap yard in the sky.

The background to these models is that various forms of these promotional models started to appear at motoring dealership around the 1950s from various suppliers. These ‘dealership’ models as they became to be known are certainly not to be confused with the component model kits which were built and stuck together, like Airfix, Tamiya or Revell. These dealership models were prefabricated and distributed to the motor company dealerships. They were to promote and give a three dimensional representation of the new models that were being introduced by the various manufacturers. This gave the potential customer a much better experience of what they are going to buy, rather than just flicking through a printed catalogue. With these dealership models you got to appreciate the dimensions of the car from any angle.

I will try to sum up the information that is out there from the likes of Wikipedia and other collectable model based sites, concentrating on the dealership cars side of the AMT business.

What we do know is that these quite fragile models are highly collectable as memorabilia especially for important cars from the manufacturers, not just Ford. As for the numbers actually produced I haven’t been able to quantify, but they limited in number and not a mass produced item. The actual numbers produced will obviously vary from various motor manufacturers, and the number of dealers actually selling the cars of course. These models were not for commercial retail, they were just a promotional item that was going to binned when that model is no longer produced. Many of these model cars that appear for sale now days are pretty battered. However over time they have become recognised to be for what they are now, collectable items from a bygone era.

The costs for these models production has been reported at the time as anything between $50,000 ($650,000 in todays money), to $250,000 ($3,000,000 in todays money). Either way that is not an insignificant amount of money for a launch of a car with no idea of how it will actually sell, thus recoup some of the promotional money back at the time. A big advantage that Ford had was on 17th April 1964 at the New York World’s Trade Fair, the Mustang was launched to the public to critical acclaim. This was backed up by selling over 680,000 Mustangs in the first year, which is still a record. With that type of response Ford felt the investment would be worthwhile as they couldn’t make the cars quick enough for the public to buy them, with some dealers having lengthy waiting lists. Having an accurate model of the car that could be seen by the customer was a huge bonus at the time.

The History of AMT

In 1948 a company called ‘AMT’ was started up by West Gallogly Sr. in Troy, Michigan USA. ‘Aluminium Model Toys’ was created as a secondary business by Mr. Gallogly. Other manufacturers were already creating dealer models which were mostly zinc based. Gallogly also wanted to make the models out of aluminium, hence the name ‘Aluminium Model Toys’ was given to the company. However, very shortly after the name was chosen, the use of plastics materials rocketed around the world and the name Aluminium Model Toys deemed to be confusing for their plastic models, thus the name was rebranded to a shortened version of the name, ‘AMT’. In 1978 AMT was bought out by Lesney better know for ‘Matchbox Toys’. In 1983 Lesney relocated to Baltimore and sold the AMT company to ERTL, which was then to be known as AMT-ERTL. Later in 2007 the AMT name was no more and the company name was now just ERTL.

In 1958 AMT were producing ‘3 in 1’ kits which allowed three different version of model which could be made; ‘Stock’, ‘Custom’ or ‘Racing’ with numbered decals.

In 1962 AMT were also involved with ‘Slot Car’ industry which started in 1912 which is still hugely popular today. They manufactured various sizes of car such as 1:24, 1:25 and 1:32. The 1:32 scale was adopted as the standard by Scalextric for fun racing at home or the more serious competitive racing scene.

In the mid 60’s Mr. Gallogly went on to use his good connections with the Ford Motor Company to manufacture some highly detailed promotional models for them. What was said, who agreed it and what the actual deals that were struck at the time during those meetings is unclear. But, it must have been pretty good for the Ford Motor Company executives agreeing to the Dealership Promotional Models.

It was recognised during that golden era for the motor manufacturing industry, it was deemed the norm for a new model to be produced every year or two years max. To make people aware of the new vehicle designs which were in coming and in production, these promotional models were distributed to the dealers, often well before the actual cars arrived for demonstration cars or actual stock of cars for sale.

Sadly towards the late 1960’s and certainly before 1970s the dealer models were not a thing anymore and all but faded out from being produced and no longer sat proudly on a salesman’s desk.

The Mustang Models

Focusing on the first generation 1965 models as those are the ones I have. These models are extremely well detailed, and they were supposed to have been made with the colours that the manufacturers were painting their cars at the time. The colours I have appear to be ‘Rangoon Red’ and ‘Wimbledon White’.

Dimensions

The models are manufactured to the scale of 1:25, that converts to a measurement on model of 1cm will convert to 25cm on the real thing.

Photographing the dimensions against a tape measure is a little distorted perspective by the camera, so I have taken a few variations. But, the stated measurements are correct with the photo taken directly above the line of sight to the tape measure.

The length of the models are 183mm long or 7.20 inches or 7 3/16″

The Width of the models are 70mm or 2.75 inches or 2 3/4″

The Height of the models are 50mm or 1.96 inches or 1 31/32″

The whole model weighs in at just 105grams or 3.7oz

Construction

The construction is very fragile and light weight brittle plastic which is easily marked or dented especially on the leading edge of the hood which narrows to almost nothing.

The single piece floor pan forms details of the underside of the car, suspension, engine, gearbox, all the jig points, grommets, bolts, fuel tank, brake lines for the emergency brake cable, and a single exhaust system which comes from a V8 (I will elaborate on this below under The Details heading), as there are two exhaust manifold pipes, going to a single pipe, and on to a single muffler box. There are four screws in total two at each end that hold the model together. The exhaust tip is missing on the right side (passenger) as the one of the screw points cuts it off.

The other side (inside) of the floor pan forms the seats, dash area and centre console (which would have been an optional extra at the time).

The steering wheel and column looks to be a separate moulding attached to the dash. The interior detailing shows the heater controls, radio, lateral dash instruments, glove box, steering horn and even the markings for the automatic gearbox box selector, but there is no T Handle for the shifter or indicator stalk. Both of which I suspect would have been so delicate they would have broken being removed from the moulds or from just being handled. Looking in the footwell there is a third pedal for the clutch, this would be a contradiction for the automatic gearbox markings. The door cards look to be the ‘Pony’ interior or deluxe option, but there is no running horse embossed on the back of the seats, which are part of the ‘Pony’ interior package. The front seats are the bucket style and not the rarer bench seat option (around 2.5% of total Mustangs made) which was available at the time.

The four wheels are attached to a bar rested in locators on the floor pan mould (unseen) and spin freely. The wheels are shown with the hub caps and white wall tyres which also show some details as radial grooved. The hub caps will cover the wheels bolts, which would have been four lugs for the inline six cylinder or five lugs for the v8s.

The ‘glass’ or windscreen is a single moulded part which covers the front screen, the two small door quarter lights and the rear screen. It’s not uncommon to see one or both of the door quarter lights broken as they are quite fragile. The clear plastic is susceptible to easy scratches and marking. If you look on the inside (below) where the headliner would have been, you can see where the clear plastic has been attached to the top part of the model. You can’t quite see it on the picture, but the centre of the ‘glass’ is missing, obviously to save some costs on the clear plastic used.

The Details

The chromed parts of the models such as the bumpers, bumper overriders (front and rear), headlights, rear light bezels and grill are high quality with a good reflection, not just cheaper silver paint. These look to be separate components attached after the assembled model. On my models the red car has a little wear and tear on the hood leading edge. I suspect that picking them up and putting them back on the salesman’s desk a few times would contribute to that, or being raced around the furniture at home.

Starting at the front there are the headlights and the cross bar coral grill, the grill itself shows a honeycombed effect. The Coral and Pony logo are crisp mouldings. The licence plate just shows the Mustang brand. The hood leading edge shows the ‘F O R D’ lettering but not in chrome.

The side of the car shows the Mustang ‘Tribar’ emblems and ‘Mustang’ font wording behind the front wheels near the bottom. On the actual cars there is an engine option emblem that sits above the front bumper and below the waist line of the car, a few inches back from the headlight. These models don’t have those emblems, even though the underside of the model shows a v8 engine in place. The options would show, 289 (v8 option), 200 sprint (inline 6 cylinder) or HiPo for the GT model etc. Not having individual models made just for a i6 or v8 and more generic would keep the costs down for the models.

The rear quarter panel ornaments are shown as well as the side rocker cover strips, added as an optional extra at the time. The back of the car shows the rear light bezels with red plastic for the lenses. There are also back up lamps which were also an optional extra. The bumper has the overriders shown, but on my red model they are broken off, a common casualty on these models. This is the only part of the red model that has something broken or missing. The rear licence plate shows the Mustang branding.

The top down view of the models shows the cowl grill and the wipers. There are no door rear view mirrors on these models, as they were an optional extra at the time fitted by the dealers.

Other Dealer Models

Other colours were made such as Tropical Turquoise (top), Vintage Burgundy Red (middle), and American Blue (bottom). There may have been other colours, but as yet I haven’t seen them, which doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

There were some Fastback models made a little later on in the ’65, other colours are unknown.

The holy grail for many collectors would be the boxes that these models came in, they weren’t any special to look at. I haven’t seen any boxed versions up for sale yet, but I did find this image of one. With the box the models are worth a little more, but as with all things collectable, condition is everything.

Some Later Year Models

1966

There was the trim changes notably to the front grill with the Coral bars removed, the grill now having brushed leading edge horizontal lines. The rear quarter panel ornaments updated to the three pronged style. This model looks to have been in Calypso Coral colour.

1967 – 1968

There was a major body redesign, with the models being Fastback, and not the Coupe style. The minor difference between the ’67 and ’68 were the side markers, which were not shown on these models.

(This image I found of a ’67 shows a broken front bumper.)

1969

This model is showing the performance end of the range. These models didn’t show any emblems on the front fenders that would have been there.

There was another face lift for the 1970 models. But, as I mentioned earlier, by then these plastic dealership models were no longer being made.

On Display

I purchased a display case (more details on that on the main page), for the models to be stored safely and away from dust.

I’m not sure I have covered everything or missed some important facts out. So if you have any additional information or maybe correct me, then please drop me an email, or add a comment and let me know. I will then update with additional information.

I’m always on the look out for any similar memorabilia with a certain online auction site being my main source. If you have anything interesting you may wish to pass on, then please also let me know and I will obviously pay for it along shipping costs.

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A Big Milestone….

Eight and a half years ago, way back on October 28th 2012 I wrote my first post on my little ol’ blog. I had nothing planned other than to share with a few friends what I was getting up to and how I was getting along with my Mustang restoration. Ultimately I could look back in a few years time and take a trip down memory lane with the photos I had taken a certain points of the restoration.

Delivery of my project car 17th September 2011, before it went to Mustang Maniac where I had professional help & guidance on my restoration over the years. Those guys have become some of my best mates of mine as a result.

When I attend car shows or via my blog and emails etc. I often get asked how I clean and detail my cars;

Some of the Car Shows and photo opportunities;

I get asked how I fitted things, how I upgraded this or that, I even get asked for advice on their own restoration projects.

That got me to thinking about adding extra sections like the tools (a selection of them here), that I used on project and since use, considering that I’m just a weekend warrior with a spanner.

Products that I used to keep our daily cars clean and the Mustang fully detailed.

My merchandise I bought over the years or have been given since I started my journey with the Mustang.

I even get requests to review items, all of which I buy if I think I could use them myself. As a result of all these things, my blog has evolved into an entity of it’s own.

Fast forward a number of years to 2021 where I my little ol’ blog has reached a massive milestone. This is not intended as some bragging rights by the way, but more like myself being proud of the result. Somebody within the USA this morning 15^th May 2021 made my day:

My blog has just passed 1,000,000 hits!

I am absolutely amazed to think this could ever happen, I remember getting excited about getting ten hits in one day!

I value every single one of you that has followed me or just pops in for a quick read, like or even the odd comment. I would like to say a massive “Thank You” from the very bottom of my heart.

I don’t actually get anything from my blog/website on WordPress, other than some add money that goes straight to the hosting and my domain fees. It’s sort of self sufficient in a way. If anything I’m out of pocket, but reading the comments and seeing the views more than make up for it. Hopefully I can help somebody, somewhere with something.

My first follower was Debbie Nuessle (click here for her latest venture), from across the pond. We both started blogs within a few days of each other, both revolving around our love of American Muscle cars, especially Ford Mustangs of course. We keep in touch outside of the Blog circle and have become good friends.

I have a number of followers who ‘like’ the posts I put up after even after all these years, thank you all, it means a lot to me. I have such a range of followers; a very talented and well-known Soprano opera singer; Charlotte Hoather (click here for her blog), mechanics, engineers, oil rig mover, artists, photographers, builders, wildlife photographers, fellow classic car owners, writers, product manufacturers, shops, brands, a few younger bloggers, students, world travellers, petrol heads, gear heads, car clubs, writers, novelists, journalists, teachers, photojournalists, professional bloggers, social influencers, religious followers, the list just goes on. (There is even ‘ahem’ some adult orientated content following me!) The full list makes for some amazing reading.

Just in case anybody is interested in some of the more selective stats;

I have a total of 2,700 followers, of which 871 are on WordPress, 2,300 on social media, just over 2000 on Facebook, which is not my favourite of all the platforms I must admit.

I have been visited by 199 countries and the top ten countries in order are; USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, China, France, Netherlands, Finland and New Zealand.

There are stunning islands that have visited me, Mauritius, Seychelles & Maldives. Some of those Islands are so small they wouldn’t be able to fit a Mustang on them! My bucket list is to spend a few days on these islands to chill and take in some sun.

The more obscure countries with a single visit are: Burkina Faso, Falkland Islands, Kosovo, Tonga, Northern Mariana Islands.

To date I have posted 340 blogs including this one over the eight and half years I have been posting on this blog.

These figures are quite low compared to some of you mega stars out, there with you super popular blogs I know that. But for me, like I said earlier, I’m honestly humbled and grateful to every single one of you who wants to look at a blog all about one man and his Mustang!

A huge “Thank You” to you all.

Here’s to the next one million!

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Making Things

Today is my car’s birthday. This day fifty four years ago on the 11^th July 1966 my car rolled off the Ford production line at Dearborn, Michigan. USA.

1966. A Mustang hardtop coupe comes down the final assembly line at DAP.

Speaking of things being built, I was bought a model kit a while ago which was the LEGO GT500 kit, which I reviewed here. I thoroughly enjoyed it of course and wasted a good few hours making it. For my birthday (which was a good few months ago), I was bought another kit from my wife. I think it was to keep me quiet to be honest. This time it was a Technical kit which can cost between £75 and £150 depending on where you buy it. This kit is not an official LEGO kit but is pretty much identical to the real thing. I have done a full review of this kit here.

The kit is based on the official Hoonigan v2 made by LEGO with 3168 pieces. Model kits of this type differ in the fact it doesn’t rely on bricks, it relies on pegs and holes to fit together.

There is an option to be powered by motors and remote control which are purchased separately. An option I didn’t want to go for.

In the box was fourteen bags of parts, none of which were numbered like the Lego kits. There were bigger bags, the wheels, sheet of stickers, and then there were smaller bags of the pegs or fixings of different sizes and colours.

The instructions are not brilliant due to the fact that the print colours did vary a bit and the difference between the light grey and brown was difficult to spot on some pages.

There is a distinct pattern for the build as its cleverly build in a modular style. The smaller build part instructions are clear enough with arrows of what goes where. With the modular parts being added to the bigger build, it can be difficult to see where some bits are fitted together on the complex diagrams.

The model starts from the inside out, you build the differentials and gearing for the rear of the car. The diff then gets added to a bit of chassis which is ready for the next bit and so on.

As you build a part you can check the movement and operation. Little cogs marry up and are held by splines in part holes to allow it to move.

The rear suspension was fun and the way the whole section moves is very clever indeed. What starts out quite flimsy then with more parts it’s bolstered up and quite solid.

With the tunnel section completed in the middle the floor pans are added and all of a sudden the scale of the model becomes clear.

The build of the engine block has working pistons for you to see running off their own cam shaft.

The front suspension is complex and perhaps the hardest part of the model for me. Lining up the mini half shafts and gearing was a bit fiddly with my big hands. The curved sections are a long flexible spline that has tubes slid over it and the ends plugged into a termination point. Things like the headlights look great but can be easily dislodged, a little more on that later.

The fenders are built up to complete the look with the hood. The hood has a large cut out in the centre and does the frame of the hood a little fragile. Silver parts are added to the engine for the turbos and exhaust pipes.

The bag of silver parts some of which were obvious for the engine parts, the rest were for the seats sides and head rest. The steering wheel inside the car could in theory move the wheels, but it’s not strong enough for that and jumped a tooth or two on the cog, I had to jump it back again to centre the steering back up. But if you move the steering rack the steering inside the car will move fine.

The seats fit well into the car, but you have to be careful of the dash area not to dislodge the delicate steering joints.

The rear quarters are added and the wheel arches. Again these are twin flexible splines where the tiles are slid over and have to be even spaced out to look right. The fitting is plugged into termination pieces at each end and has to bend like a rainbow shape to fit. Give them a knock and they will come off which is very annoying.

Behind the seats is reinforced with more building. There is a silver part of the interior roll cage behind the drivers seat that attaches one end and just left to flap about inside.

This aggravated me and with some bits that were obviously going to be left over I made a little mod and attached it to a spare hole and attached it properly. Seen below with the left hand elbow joint. Also adding a little more stability.

The doors were straight forward enough, with a complex hinge mechanism which allows the door to open wide. The attachment to the rest of the car was more awkward as the one of the rubber bands that holds the doors shut pinged out of place which resulted in a deconstruction to refit the bands. Terrible idea I think as the band will perish and break leaving the doors to flap around at a later date.

The back of the car’s light panel gets built with lots of red and black thin bricks to make the tail lights. The result is a very effective and convincing light panel. Although no lights work on this car at all.

The trunk opens and closes with a hinge idea the same as the front hood.

The roof using the last of the long flexible splines threads the roof panels for the A pillars.

The front wheel arches are based on the same principle as the rears were and fitted into place, again not to a very secure fitting. But it does give a nice gentle curve with flat bricks.

The wheels were required to be fitted about two thirds of the way into the build. I kept knocking them off while turning the model over and around to work on different sections. So I fitted them as the last things on the car.

Once the model is built it does look really good and a pretty good representation of Ken Block’s Hoonigan v2.

Grievances I found with the model:

Wheel Hubs: A critical part of the ‘movable’ model. The wheel hubs; they are terrible. The wheels are held firmly in place to the hubs (brake discs) by three pegs. When you try to push the wheels into place the suspension moves and the tiny part of the UJ (universal Joint) that also has two little pins to turn the wheels from the gears pops out and there is no drive. If you are to power this model I promise you that the drive hubs will break loose on the front due to single point of fitting a UJ. This has to be the case as the wheels turn for the steering, rotate for the movement (using the two pins to stop it spinning within the hub), and to move up and down for the suspension. A three-way movement ball that is only a couple of millimetres wide at its widest part. I had to deconstruct the front end (twice until I learned my lesson), and some of the steering section to refit the part back onto the spline. The problem is that the spline is not long enough and allows a backward movement from the hub which should never happen. You could get round the spline movement by a blob of superglue to the UJ fitting end onto the spline.

Motorised Option: During the build for the suspension and the steering the motors instructions are an option. This will require a few tweaks to the construction. The motors will drive the rear wills via a diff and the front wheels via the second diff. The problem is that that the splines and cogs are a bit to delicate for my liking.

There is a super clever option to allow the car to ‘drift’ under it’s own power by a configuration of the diff. I have no idea how fast these motors are supposed to go. But guessing there is a drift option it should have a fair amount of speed to move the model.

Decals: These are cheap and obviously don’t say the correct branding due to the copy right. It’s very clever how the use of fonts and slight rearranging of characters can lead you to misread it as you know what it should say. The decals are not the water based style which leaves very little visible evidence of the background or clear parts. These stickers are self adhesive and clearly show on the black bricks of the model. The air bubbles are a nightmare and ruin the smooth outline. The decals are not cut correctly for some parts that go over some raised surfaces, such as the ford logo on the front, a sharp scalpel to cat the deal to allow it to lay flatter makes a big difference. An option is to even leave the stickers off the car. It will still look great.

These cheap decals seriously lets the model down for me unfortunately.

Tyres & Rims: The just slip over the rims and can be moved on the rims once fitted. I suspect that a bit of serious drifting will dislodge the tyres on the rims. This can be cured of course by a few well placed blobs of super glue to hold the tyres to the rims. But if you scrub the rather thin tyres out it will become a nightmare to replace them. The rims themselves don’t actually look like the real car! Something to do with copyright maybe I don’t know. But it’s a bit of big ‘error’.

Doors: The hinges are helped to stay shut via twisted elastic bands. Give it time like I mentioned above the bands will perish and the doors won’t stay shut if under it’s own power. They will probably fly open and shut depending on where it goes I guess.

Build Quality: Some of the parts will be knocked of and dislodged fairly easily, such as the headlights, front air splitter, the turbo parts of the engine and wheel arches in particular. Nothing which a bit of superglue wouldn’t sort out.

There are two options for the model and the static option looks great in a cabinet for display. The model is large and heavy. Trying to push the vehicle along will hear all sorts of teeth jumping and the engine pistons (which you can’t see anyway with the hood down) in particular getting stuck.

If you are going to motorise this then you need to beef it up with some superglue! The wheel hubs will dislocate from the centre of the wheels, this can be easily done by just pushing the car along, or trying to turn the wheels on steering lock.

The underside of the car has cut outs for the cogs, this allows for dirt and debris to contaminate the meshing of the cogs and will cause problems.

As the sales blurb says itself; “It is not really a toy, but rather a model for the showcase”.

The majority of the car is a real fun build and took me many hours to complete. There were no parts missing and all the parts fitted together correctly. The kit is indeed a challenge to build and I liked that. It sounds like a I had a downer on the model, but I actually don’t. If the model is left alone it will look great.

Now I have completed this model I need to look for the next one, quite where I’m going to put them is a challenge as well. The model is a lot of money and I hope it gives a rough idea of what it’s like as a model and to build it before maybe buying it.

Keep safe and take care.

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Lockdown

So here I am under government instructions to stay at home to stem the spread of the Covid19, as is the rest of the country. Some are taking this enforced lockdown more seriously than others I might add. All the car shows I had lined up to go to and have been looking forward to have been cancelled, I can accept that if it’s short term, as long as I can at least get a few in before the end of the year. But what can you do in the mean time? To while away the time I have just finished my mini project which I was going to make last when I have a little time over the weekends. Now I have more time than I actually planned for. So not only have I completed my project, I have written about it too. You will be pleased to know that it’s Mustang related of course, but in the form of Lego. So if you were wondering is it worth it and what’s involved let me explain;

The Sales Pitch from : Lego

Discover the magic of an iconic 1960s American muscle car with the LEGO® Creator Ford Mustang, featuring dark-blue bodywork with white racing stripes, bonnet scoop, printed mustang grille badge, GT emblems and 5-spoke rims with road-gripping tires. Developed with input from Ford, this authentic replica comes with optional add-ons for customization, including a selection of license plates, supercharger, rear ducktail spoiler, beefy exhaust pipes, front chin spoiler and a nitrous oxide tank. You can even adjust the lift of the rear axle for an extra-mean look! Remove the roof panel or open the doors and you have access to the detailed interior with handsome seats, radio, working steering and a mid-console gearshift. Store items in the trunk or lift the hood to reveal a detailed big block 390 V8 engine with battery, hoses and air filter detailing. This advanced building set has been designed to provide a challenging and rewarding building experience full of nostalgia and makes a great centerpiece for the home or office.

– Authentic replica of a 1960s Ford Mustang featuring dark-blue bodywork with white racing stripes, air scoop, 5-spoke rims with road-gripping tires, and a selection customization add-ons.

– Open the doors or remove the roof panel to access the detailed interior with handsome seats, radio, mid-console gearshift and working steering.

– Open the trunk to store items and lift the hood to reveal a detailed Ford Mustang V8 engine with battery, hoses and air filter.

– Includes a printed mustang grille badge and 2 GT emblems.

– Customize the Ford Mustang with the included supercharger, rear ducktail spoiler, beefy exhaust pipes, front chin spoiler and a nitrous oxide tank.

– Choose from a selection of license plates.

– Lift the hood to check out the realistic engine detailing.

– Adjust the lift of the rear axle for a real mean look!

– New-for-March-2019 special elements include 5-spoke rims, 2×8 brick with bow, 1×3 mustang logo tile, 2×4 bow with ‘GT’ Emblem.

Measures over 3” (10cm) high, 13” (34cm) long and 5” (14cm) wide.

Source: https://www.lego.com/en-gb/product/ford-mustang-10265

What You Get:

You get a big box and a lot of smaller plastic bags inside, an instruction manual and a sticker sheet.

What’s In The Box?

You get eleven plastic bags of parts although they are labelled as one to six with all but bag five having a smaller bag with the same number. A total of 1471 parts for you to try and sort out.

TIP:

Don’t open all the bags at once, only open what you need!

Instructions:

The instruction book starts with a brief background to Ford and the Mustang with time lines. A nice little addition it must be said.

The start of the instructions tells you which packets to use for which section build.

The instructions are all diagram based with the parts you need counted out and shown to you before assembly. Where the similar looking parts and colours are used the instructions has a 1:1 check to make sure you get the correct part. Some of the differences are very subtle.

Building the Model

This is the first time I have touched Lego in about forty five years or so. Oh how it’s moved on. The tolerances are still perfect, things fit together and don’t fall apart. A huge leap forward to building cars and houses when I first played with it and stood on the bricks!

The hours just rush by when building this. I challenge anybody to spend only what they think is an hour doing a build without anything to tell you the time. When you think it’s been an hour it’s a lot more than that. I found it addictive to do a page, then think ‘I will quickly do that bit as well’, it draws you in.

You start at the back of the car building the suspension, lots of little cogs seem to be placed for no apparent reason, then a few pages later it suddenly comes together. The sense of achievement is well thought out and makes you want to come back for more.

I found it easier to get all the parts I would be using for that little build located into an area to save looking for the parts as I went along, which I found could delay my build of that little section. Find it, collate it, then build it and repeat. No matter how you do it, the whole process is enjoyable. It actually started to upset my OCD in the end and I had to line the bits up I was about to use and separate into little bub piles of parts.

Next you move to the middle of the car for the transmission tunnel, adding the gear shift, radio and dials to the bricks. Parts seem to be built modular style then applied to the overall model itself.

Steering and engine next, considering the level of detail in this model I found my first grump. The engine only has four spark plug leads. They could of made it eight and just gave it that little bit extra detail.

Nice detail touches on the engine due to the name and the oil cap etc.

Building the body work is interesting how it comes together.

The door hinges caught me out as I had a little bit round the wrong way. The supplied brick separating tool is great and saves digging your fingernails between the bricks.

The design of the model has taken a lot into account for the assembly. They get you to place some round white bricks under the front corners of the car. When you press the bricks onto the model, these corner blocks means that it doesn’t flex or come apart when you add the little sub sections of build. When the car is finished the round white bricks are then removed, fitted together to make the NOS bottle for the trunk, providing you want that of course. How cool is that to reuse bricks in order to make your build journey enjoyable?

Just like restoring a real car, seeing the seats go in and the rear ‘glass’ starts to show the model is nearing completion. The hood offers the option for the stock scoop look or the opening for the super charger. It doesn’t matter if you change your mind later, it only takes around five seconds to swap it over.

The roof is designed to be a single section so it’s easy to remove and see the detail inside the model.

The other options for the model are the side pipes, front spoiler, rear spoiler and NOS bottle.

The completed model looks just as mean as the real thing.

I mentioned earlier about the two engine options; the standard or the hot rod version. The super charger will poke out the opening in the hood, or use the stock pan and the scoop. I built both just because I could and can swap them as I want.

The Super charger option works well and looks in proportion to the rest of the car.

The underside of the model shows the level of detail you can’t see, it also allows access to the thumb adjustable wheel to raise up the back of the car’s stance.

The completed model looks quality and withstands being handled without falling apart.

There is a third party option to add LED lights to the model. It does involve some disassembly, but the instructions and video show you how to do that and only take fifteen minutes or so to upgrade. If you want your car to be on show with the lights then it could be worth fitting that kit at the same time to save a bit of hassle later.

Results:

An amazing model and sits nicely with my other model. I need to get a little case for this one as well I think

It was a joy to make, and is a pleasure to look at. The parts are real top quality as you expect from genuine Lego kits, everything just works together. I had no missing parts and everything was there.

Rating: 9 out 10

An excellent model as I said, but there was just the number of spark plug wires that let the detail aspect down a bit as a model for me.

The instructions are very good indeed and well paced, the printing was fine and clear. The colour definition between the lighter coloured parts could be confusing and I would liked to have seen a bit more colour definition. Those are the only two reasons I marked it down.

Ease of use – 8 out 10

Finish – 10 out 10

Conclusion:

A lot of money for a Lego kit, but I was impressed. On the other hand you do get a lot of good quality model for that money. The price may put this kit out of reach for many to buy and build. As with all things Lego the price seems to stay put and not vary much.

The age range to start this is suggested at 16+ which I personally think is a little harsh, perhaps a petrol headed 14 year old into cars would like it, 15 years old on should be fine. Sometimes the small fingers do help, rather than my big hands getting in the way. This build will keep you quiet for a good few hours either as a young adult or a middle aged man like me.

The instructions take you on a journey that you’re not aware of, and completing each little bit leads gives you a sense of achievement enough to make you want to complete the next section. The Lego look with the little bumps and strange lines works well on the model and certainly doesn’t detract from the over all look. You can see it’s Lego and will appreciate that somebody has gone to good lengths to complete it and enjoyed it at the same time.

When it was finished I was a bit gutted that I didn’t have any more to build to be honest.

Would I recommend it? Yes. But, it’s expensive.

So there you have it, a good many hours spent working on a Mustang, all be it a much smaller, modular version of the real thing. I will be writing some more car detailing reviews soon, so keep an eye out for those. If I can’t drive my my car at least I can still clean it, even though it’s already clean. It also keeps me out of the way being indoors with the wife. The more I get under her feet the more she will find me “jobs” to do. She is trying to teach me to cook as well, me and kitchens don’t go well it has to be said. Yet when I try and get her to clean, polish, wax and detail her own car, the same levels of (non) enthusiasm I showed to cooking is reciprocated and more.

I do know that my time is already being allocated to redecorating the house, even though it did some of it just over a year ago. I have spotted the delivery of a few large tins of paint. So I need to keep busy, keep scarce in order to put off the the job that I seriously detest – decorating.

I think I need to get another model though to keep me quiet in these unprecedented times of forced isolation. Or I may end up cleaning walls and applying paint rather than applying extra layers of top quality wax to my pride and joy. Who am trying to kid? It’s not if if decorate, it’s a case of when!

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More Memorabilia

During the last car show of the season a couple of weeks ago I decided that I should spend my ‘pocket money’ on a couple of goodies to prop up my fledgling memorabilia collection. Each show I allocate myself a certain amount of money to take with me for things like memorabilia and car cleaning products etc. If I don’t limit myself I would just spend it on loads of stuff that I really didn’t want in the first place, or on dubiously prepared junk food. I have my credit cards with me just in case I need something worthwhile of course, but cash is king at these shows and you can do a bit of bartering for the best prices.

So my first purchase was the sales brochure for all the ’66 Fords’. I have attached a link to the full brochure here, or can be found under the Articles Menu/Press & Promotional Items on the header. This is an original brochure in fantastic condition with no creases. The staples have gone a little rusty, but what do you expect for fifty-two years old?

The pages are vibrant and full of the classic sales talk of the time like, ‘Stereo sonic Tape System’ and ‘Automatic Speed Control’. This is just little selection of a couple of pages from the brochure to give you a flavour of stepping back in time.

My next item was this great little ‘Ford ’66’ lapel pin. It looks old and feels old, but I’m not sure it’s vintage though. I got myself a nice little deal though as I am now starting to see the same guys selling the memorabilia a bit more often now.

At another show I purchased some Ford tie/hat pins that started my collection of which was these three. I mounted them into a little piece of cardboard to stop the pins getting damaged and keep them together for now, until I find a better storage solution that is.

I have tried to research these lapel/hat pins without much luck so far, so if anybody can point me in the direction of some information or history about them I would be very grateful.

When I was very young I remembered some adverts by Esso. Those ads featured a nameless Tiger, with the slogan that started in 1959; ‘Put a tiger in your tank’.

The various ads run for many years up until the oil crisis in the ’70s where Esso also changed its global name to ‘Exxon Mobil’. There was a set of six tie pins issued and this is the full set.

That ‘Tiger’ campaign remains close to my heart as my dear ol’ Grandfather always used to take me on his rounds then to the Esso station and fill up his lorry on the way home. Some of my earliest memories when I wasn’t even in double figures of age. He would often come out with something cool with the tiger on it, and some tokens to save up for a toy, key-ring or poster of some sort. I just loved this poster at the time.

A little bit of trivia for you;

Exxon Mobil contributes $1 million a year to support the Save the Tiger Fund, which helps conserve Asia’s remaining wild tigers.

My memorabilia is around Mustangs and ’60s Fords for obvious reasons. But, I find myself being drawn back to the things I once had as a kid! There is no logic to my collection strategy, even that is the wrong choice of word I feel. Who knows what I might buy from eBay next!

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Paper Trail & Magazines

As the end of the car show season starts to creep in upon us here in the UK I am slowly turning my attention to all things Mustang in the mean time to give me my daily dose of Mustang I need, just until the car shows start again. The model car I have was posted a few weeks ago and the story behind that, but how about articles. The paper magazines that people had way back then and just threw away as they weren’t going to be worth anything, right? Well not quite.

To set the scene; in 1964 the Ford Mustang sports car, is officially unveiled by Henry Ford II at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York, on April 17, 1964. On the same day, the new car also debuted in Ford showrooms across America and almost 22,000 Mustangs were ordered by customers. Ford sold more than 400,000 Mustangs within its first year of production, far exceeding sales expectations.

1) To celebrate such a huge launch at the time three of the biggest magazines at the time all held articles on the Mustang. The Mustang was first automobile to have an editorial feature in all three big USA publication’s April 1964 editions – Time, Life and Newsweek…

2) This was significant as Time and a Life tended to only focus on ‘life changing’ and ‘significant events’. Newsweek was more like a newspaper and was full of current issues and views.

3) The only copies left from those April 1964 issues are because people subscribed to the magazines and we tend to keep old mags!

4) As that generation reached an age when they either downsized or left estates to be cleared, the magazines show up from time to time as part of house clearances.

5) The magazines (Time/Life) tended to get kept and those that survived are in pretty good condition – often still in the original addressed envelope and some even unread.

6) The rarest is the Newsweek copy as it tended to get thrown after reading.

7) Individually, the Life magazine can be bought for a reasonable amount while the Time edition has become extremely rare as the popularity of the iconic first Mustang has grown – particularly after it celebrated its 50th birthday. The Newsweek edition has always been rare and therefore expensive when those copies are found and offered for sale.

8) Together in one collection, the three copies are hard to come by and, if you could find a collector willing to sell all three as a group, the cost would be very significant – well into 4 ($) figures.

9) Rarity can be evidenced by looking for the big three magazines other editions before or after these Mustang editions on a well-known auction site, they are easy enough to find and go for very cheap prices considering their age. The Mustang editions on the other hand are not that easy to find nor are they cheap.

The magazine covers are very well-known especially the Time magazine and Newsweek editions, all these pictures are from my own collection.

These imagines are not for distribution or copying, no copyright infringement is intended. Where applicable the copyright remains with the owner of the works. I am using the images for fair use to show the editorial coverage of Ford’s historical Mustang launch from the World Trade Fair 1964. Under fair use I believe it’s in the interest of the new generations of Mustang owners and automotive historians to see where it all began. Without tracking down these rare, out of print and now expensive magazines, nobody would be able to appreciate the excitement the Mustang launch caused at the time, in my opinion that would be such a shame to loose such great editorial works. These images are to allow you to read the articles whilst considering their historical importance to the automotive world.

What is less known is what those articles actually said. I have taken a few pics of the Mustang articles, and a small sample of the adverts from each of the magazines of that long bygone era.

Time Magazine – April 17th 1964

The article:

Advertisements from Time Magazine;

The magazine still has the subscription card in place.

Life Magazine – April 17th 1964

The article:

Advertisements from Life Magazine;

Newsweek – April 20th 1964

The article:

Advertisements from Newsweek;

Pocket Guides

Something else just as rare as those editions but much less known which I didn’t know existed is the following pocket guides.

‘Visitor’s Guide to New York City & Long island’.

This little a5 pocket guide is full of vouchers and all sorts of tips for the City, subway map, travel information, services, entertainment and surrounding area.

I just love this little booklet as it’s a snapshot in time of New York in 1964.

The last booklet may have come with Newsweek I believe, other than that I have no idea of its origin;

‘What to wear at the fair and what to do when you get there’.

Another little pocket-sized booklet of only sixteen pages and another insight to the fashion of New York in 1964.

All these magazines and guides are just incredible, it amazes me that the paper has stood up to the ravages of time as these editions were disposable and not intended to be kept.

I hope this enables fellow enthusiasts to be able to read the magazine’s articles in full on the Mustang launch and to see just what all the fuss was about way back in 1964.

You see today’s magazines are also on-line and the world can see them pretty much anytime they want to, so those corresponding magazines are no so unique, apart from owning the physical copy of the paper article what ever it may be. Old comics are collectable because of the paper and limited runs, the paper was the only media type at the time to view them, at that time print was king. So some of the early magazines which were intended to be thrown away are collectable for the same reason. Tickets to events at the time or leaflets were not intended to be kept, and after a few years nobody had them. Move on fifty years, the paper or magazines has been used to start fires or wrapping up delicate items when moving home, so the existing copies become even more scarce. Old news papers are exactly the same idea, worth nothing on the day, try and get a back copy for somebody’s eighteenth birthday and you will have to dig deep to get it, if you can even get it. Off course not all magazines are collectable, which is a bit of a contradiction of what I was just saying I know. But the subject matter will be a key factor for such items will determine their collectability. Articles, adverts, cigarette cards, stamps, postcards etc. for such big names like, Marilyn Monroe, JFK, Elvis, Henry Ford, Frank Sinatra, Babe Ruth, Abe Lincoln, George Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King, James Dean, Howard Hughes, Al Capone, Walt Disney, The Beatles, Winston Churchill etc. will command high prices because of who they were. It’s rare that a car can have such an impact on this type of collectable market, yet early Mustang adverts, literature, photo’s and so on can demand some good money. At the end of the day most memorabilia is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it.

Now I have posted this article maybe I have just made people aware of the values for some of the these items and hang onto them, thus making it difficult for collectors like me trying to get a copy of it and if I do find a copy of the cost has just gone up knowing that I want it. I suspect not, as I just one man and his Mustang who likes to collect Mustang things.

So, have I just shot myself in the foot as we tend to say? 🙁

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Boys & Their Toys

I have started to venture into the very dangerous and addictive world of Ford Mustang Memorabilia. I ~~waste~~ research many hours on eBay looking for things to add to my collection. I am given things by Adam at Mustang Maniac and also a very good friend of mine Gary W. It’s his fault that I am now spending money to get these little golden nuggets of historic items where I can, instead of buying paint to decorate the house like I promised the wife I would over a year ago. I fact the wife has banned me from going there because I come home with all these ideas of what I can add to my ‘Man-Cave’ sanctuary or ‘garage’, or as my wife tends to call it ‘Garbage’, (a play on garage or trash), due to old collectible oil cans in there, old Mustang parts, memorabilia, books, signs, flags etc.

At the beginning of the year I was a lucky man to be given a AMF Wen-Mac 1966 Ford Mustang GT Dealer promo 1/12th scale model. There is very little information out there on these models such as how many were made, how many each dealer got etc etc. All I know is that I now have one.

The only information I could find by good ol’ Google is pretty common and a little insider knowledge from Gary who gave me my ‘toy’ as it was to be marketed back then, I of course prefer the term ‘model’.

At he launch of the new Mustang in 64, Ford Marketing decided on three promotional products to support the launch:
One: was a pretty familiar ‘dealer promo model’ much as other makers had done since the late 50s. Based on 1/25 scale, AMT produced nicely detailed models of both the coupe and fastback for dealers to put on sales men’s desks and to give to certain customers.

AMT went on to produce construction kits. Nowadays, dealer promo models in complete condition can fetch over $100 – even in worn condition.
Two: was a child’s pedal car – also made by AMF which sold very well. Original unrestored pedal cars can now fetch over $2000.

Three: was a larger scale model produced by the popular model maker Wen-Mac and featured either a ‘battery electric’ or ‘gas powered (glow plug petrol)’ 1/12 scale model of the 66 Mustang coupe – available in one single colour of red. Featuring in many Mustang media ads, it was a nicely detailed model that a child could use on the lounge carpet with fixable steering and with working headlights. There was a conversion kit for $2.50 to run from ‘electric’ battery power to ‘gas’ for racing buffs that included a tiny gasoline engine and slicks. A pic of a complete model from the net as it would have been then.

A remote-control throttle could also be added. It was $10 extra for all of this in 1966. The model was on sale for $6 at the time or $4.95 during the Christmas season.

In 1967 Wen-Mac also introduced this ’67 fastback model – in light blue.

Both of the models are now very collectable with hard to find complete models in good condition and boxes fetching $150-$200.

My car is in great condition so I can’t complain what so ever. I may look out for a motor one day if I ever see one for sale or take it from a damaged donor model as it were.

The model had a little electric motor (unfortunately mine is missing) that allowed the car to run forwards or backwards. The steering could be set to left or right.

The front and rear headlights were also working when the car ran. Many of the cars have the model engine missing and or the motor for that provides drive to the wheels, sometimes it’s the hood missing too.

If anybody can give any additional information I would appreciate it and will update this page with it.

Of course, if you have any early Mustang memorabilia you want to ‘donate’ to a good home and increase a fledgling collection, – contact me and we can sort something out. 😉