We've talked in the past about the Bonneville Go Kart that AMT produced years back, and I knew of various parts pack motorcycles that were available, but this one was a new one on me.
Here's the scene, as far as I can find out about it right now. Late sixties, and a young kid nicknamed 'Twig' is newly crowned World Champion Soapbox Derby racer. And in the sixties, Soapbox Derbys were taken pretty seriously - serious enough for Chevrolet to sponsor Twig's little downhill racer, and also to send him on a tour away from his hometown of Muncie, Indiana, on promotional duties. Pretty wild huh?
Now that would be a cool story in itself, but to have AMT pick up on it and issue a kit of his Derby Racer (paired up with an Elky - that box'd be pretty empty otherwise I'd guess), with replica decals AND his face on the front...now THAT is my kinda story.
In a time when we see Boyd's name on kits, movie branding on kits and replicas of only the best known competition cars, this just blows me away. Imagine how Twig felt back then, seeing his name and face on the box, for similarly aged kids all over the country to buy and construct...hero status for sure.
Even cooler, 40 years on, Branch Lew is just about to be reunited with the memory of a lifetime. Read about it here.
Meanwhile, I'm off to hunt one of these down. Last one I found sold for $200, and as I don't want the Camino that's gonna make for an expensive Derby car, but thats the price I gotta pay for falling for all this cool old stuff...
JB
Here's the scene, as far as I can find out about it right now. Late sixties, and a young kid nicknamed 'Twig' is newly crowned World Champion Soapbox Derby racer. And in the sixties, Soapbox Derbys were taken pretty seriously - serious enough for Chevrolet to sponsor Twig's little downhill racer, and also to send him on a tour away from his hometown of Muncie, Indiana, on promotional duties. Pretty wild huh?
Now that would be a cool story in itself, but to have AMT pick up on it and issue a kit of his Derby Racer (paired up with an Elky - that box'd be pretty empty otherwise I'd guess), with replica decals AND his face on the front...now THAT is my kinda story.
In a time when we see Boyd's name on kits, movie branding on kits and replicas of only the best known competition cars, this just blows me away. Imagine how Twig felt back then, seeing his name and face on the box, for similarly aged kids all over the country to buy and construct...hero status for sure.
Even cooler, 40 years on, Branch Lew is just about to be reunited with the memory of a lifetime. Read about it here.
Meanwhile, I'm off to hunt one of these down. Last one I found sold for $200, and as I don't want the Camino that's gonna make for an expensive Derby car, but thats the price I gotta pay for falling for all this cool old stuff...
JB
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