Small Cars: 7/05

1952 Muntz Road Jet
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Feature Article from Hemmings Classic Car

July, 2005 - Jim Donnelly

1952 Muntz Road Jet
1/43rd scale
Brooklin Models, distributed by Brasilia Press
574-262-8799 (fax)
$95.00 (average)

If there's a hall of fame somewhere for crazed, screaming electronic pitchmen, Earl "Madman" Muntz surely belongs in it, along with "Crazy Eddie" Antar and Philadelphia's immortal Benny Krass. His maximum-decibel commercials had already turned him into a used-car legend, and then got him into the toddling TV business when Muntz decided to start building cars. Britain-based Brooklin has introduced a high-end white-metal replica of Muntz's ill-starred performance roadster, of which fewer than 400 were ever built.

Brooklin's replica, with our sample finished in burgundy, accurately captures the lines and dimensions of the Frank Kurtis-designed Road Jet. The wide whitewalls and gold wheel covers are appropriate, we believe, because with Muntz calling the shots, the cars were marketed based on panache as much as performance. The windshield and vent-window framing are largely in scale, the door handles and dash-mounted mirrors are separately applied pieces, and so are the thin chrome side spears that run between the wheel openings. There's little to fault: The Muntz script on the hood is painted over, the interior is rather simplified, and the California license plate should be black with yellow characters, not plain white.

Brasilia Press of Elkhart, Indiana, distributes Brooklin and other premium white-metal models. Send them a fax with your hometown and they'll reply with your nearest dealer.

1957 Rambler Rebel
Brooklin Models, distributed by Brasilia Press
574-262-8799 (fax)

We normally don't feature two models from the same distributor in this monthly review, much less the same manufacturer, but this time, we couldn't resist. At long last, somebody has produced a high-quality model of a significant, but sadly ignored, American car. A lot of people, and not just AMC fans, are satisfied that the 1957 Rebel was the first American muscle car, by that term's usual definition: Full-size engine (327-cu.in, 255hp Ambassador V-8) gift-wrapped in a mid-size package.

Brooklin's interpretation of the Rebel is remarkably faithful. It's finished in the factory-correct silver, and its huge side spears are gold inside, a convincing replica of the real car's gold-anodized aluminum trim inserts. The gold-on-silver theme continues with the re-creation of the Rebel's wildly extravagant wheel covers, including the one in the Continental kit. Other immediately recognizable styling cues, including the wraparound rear window and the outsized chrome molding that loops over the window and C-pillars, are both well executed.

As in the case of the Muntz, this is a heavy white-metal model with no operating features and a simplified "chassis." Regardless, this is a wonderfully precise model. We guarantee the Nash crowd will love it.

1/87th scale
Woodland Scenics
P.O. Box 98
Linn Creek, Missouri 65052

Here at Hemmings, we enjoy pushing the envelope every so often, thinking outside the box, and here's an example of that mindset. These are really small cars, dated from the Forties and Fifties, and intended for use as detailed scenery on HO-scale model railroads. But when you look them over, they can stand on their own as entertaining little mini-dioramas, given the fact that nearly all of them come with hand-painted figures. Each one of the AutoScenes tells a story: A tow truck driver helping a stranded motorist, a couple loading their car for vacation, another family dragging their two-wheeled travel trailer behind their station wagon. Others show a rusting restoration candidate and a beater pickup truck; the hand painting gives them a handsome, realistic patina.

We should note that none of these plastic vehicles are identified by make or model. For example, a car that would be instantly recognizable to any member of the Early Ford V-8 Club is described only as an "Early Forties Coupe." The lady's car having its flat tire changed, looking a lot like something from the smallest of the Big Three, becomes simply a "Late Fifties Two-Door Hardtop." The vagueness, as you might guess, is to spare Woodland Scenics from paying royalties to the auto manufacturers, the same reason minor details are changed to make the replicas less than fully exact.

Woodland Scenics produces an extensive line of railroad scenery supplies, including modular landscape units, pre-assembled buildings and mix-your-own materials that simulate asphalt and concrete pavement. The products are available at any hobby shop that caters to rail modelers.


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