Danbury Mint 1:12 1957 Corvette Street Machine- Nbr Ltd Ed of 1000

Corvette, America’s Sports Car. Since 1953 Chevrolet has sold their two-seat sports car made of fiberglass and red-blooded car nuts and geeks alike have longed for it. Is it any different with us diecast collectors? It doesn’t seem to be; offer a scale Corvette in almost any form, fashion or size and we buy it. The Danbury Mint actually came a little late to the party. Franklin Mint had modeled nearly every generation of Corvette made by the time DM started earnestly producing their renditions of the iconic attention grabber. What they did, substantially, was improve upon the breed. They also stepped away from stock factory-only replications and offered flights of fancy in the form of custom and racing Corvette renderings. This is one of those flights. Previously issued DM fifties 1:12th scale Corvettes include the 1957 Onyx Black fuelie roadster and the 1956 Arctic Blue dual quad version.

Danbury’s people deserve exceedingly high marks for originality. Witness: their ’54 Nomad Custom, the ’55 Dry Lakes Racer and the ’65 Canyon Racer. This latter mention and its upcoming brethren, the ’68 Pro Touring, is classic, “thinking out of the box” (whatever that has come to mean). But you catch my drift, no stale or stodgy issues to bore our socks off from the folks in Norwalk. This is a 1957 Corvette the way one might expect it to be built if done without a full body-off restoration. No, instead, let’s do it on a reasonable budget, from, let’s say, more than one parts cars. Ok, we have the bulk of pieces on our C1 1957. Why not assemble some parts from the C4 parts bin and, hey yeah, that recently wrecked C5 owned by Johnny down the street. I know its engine was good before he crunched the plastic tub beyond fixability. And just like that Danbury’s flight of fancy achieves reality.

The big model takes on a ‘Speedster’ look. Why not, we have the 100 point restoration on the big ’56 and ’57 cars; a resto-rod look on this one is beyond cool. The body is lowered. The skin made sleek with the door handles, emblems and antenna removed. Know what? Let’s remove the bumpers too! We’ll fill in the holes and shoot a killer yellow pearl coat of paint on this baby. The windshield has been de-chromed and shortened and the door glass follows suit. But still, DM built in the wind-up feature. Place a fingertip on the crank and have at it. Just for full effect let’s add a couple bullet-like head rests and taper them back to the trunk completing the speedster look. DM reversed the way the trunk lid opens. Under it we see a fuel cell and rear-mounted battery, cables well in place. The high-flow electric fuel pump is plumbed. Under the top panel, behind the seats, you will find the battery compartment. The car takes 3 AAA’s. More on what they operate in a minute.

The model has current-day disk brakes all around with drilled rotors, late C4 chrome wheels and interior parts. DM fancied the center console with opening door. There is a one-handed comb in it. A rubber-booted six-speed shifter that actually works. Note the shift gate pattern on it and you can trace it with a finger on the shift knob. The dash, too, is C4 vintage. So is the steering wheel. Do I have to tell you that the steering works? Didn’t think so. The seats and outside rearview mirrors are C5 flavor. But Danbury added racing belts to the mix. The photo-etched buckles and ends are gorgeous. Ok, here’s how she works: In the center of the console, between the seats, is a round button. Push it down until it holds. This lights up the dash gauges, radio and front and rear lights. Open a door and courtesy lights illuminate the floor. Cool so far? You bet; hang on, there’s more. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes, but while the lights are on pull back on the column-mounted stalk on the left for high beams. Press down and the left turn signals blink. Up for the right side. Press the brake with your fingertip and the brake lights brighten. Don’t you just love technology?

The model comes with a tire tool. It can be used to open the hood or trunk lid. It also unscrews the wheels to afford a grand view of the brakes, rotors and working suspension componentry that we upgraded during build-up. Now check out the C5 LS1 motor. It is plumbed and wired beautifully and has all the realism of the genuine article, right down to the hoses and spring assemblies. Turn the right rear drive wheel and tire and you can see the revolution of the drive train all the way up to the belt pulley on the front of the engine. Note too, before you close the hood, that DM built in a nice working hood hinge and prop rod mechanism. I like the way these boys at Danbury are always thinking of new and different car projects that may spark our imagination. Personally, their flights of fancy fully fuel my interest. I’m willing to bet they do yours as well.

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