| |
Surprisingly, this is the first foray into modeling a 1:24th 1967 Chevy Camaro for either ‘Mint”. Before now, the 1969 Camaro has been the ‘darling’ mint precision pony car diecast. Back to its initially conceived roots, this car was developed by Chevrolet to answer Ford’s gigantic success with their Mustang a couple years prior. The Camaro came pretty well ‘beefy’ even for its debut year. Good looks and power came hand in hand. They sold in pretty fair numbers too. Two packages sold real well; the RS which accounted for 64,842 units built and the SS package with 34,411 sales. The little known Z/28, a base model order code z-28, came with a special 302 cubic inch engine, no air conditioning, no SS package, no auto trans or convertible options but it did come with power front discs and a Muncie 4-speed shifter. No wonder the hush-hush model only accounted for 609 units made. The little small block produced 290 ponies and could gallop the diminutive two-door to 60 from a dead stop in less than 7 seconds with a quarter mile coming in 14.85 seconds at a closing rate of 101 mph. Not bad considering the lack of traction that its skinny tires provided.
Once again DM assembles a perfectly scaled and shaped Chevy muscle car. Like the Yenko, COPO and Pro Street Camaro versions that precede it, this little guy is a feast for your eyes and display cases. The subtle metallic Marina Blue is accented with classic twin broad black stripes lined on either side by black pinstripes. Don’t look for a rear spoiler to spoil the clean look or a gaudy Z/28 emblem bragging to the crew-cut kid in the next lane driving daddy’s car, that all came later. What DM did was faithfully recreate the, “Camaro” and “Chevrolet” scripts and insignias in chrome metal foil in perfect miniature. Even the accurate center cap on the rally wheels proclaims, “Chevrolet Motor Division Disc Brakes”. Oh yeah, and the Chevy bowtie is there too. Redline tires surround them. The trunk is Spartan but totally realistic down to the speckle paint finish, jacking tools and instructional stickers, taillight wiring and scaled trunk hinges. Speaking of hinges, of course DM did the doors right – internal spring goodies snap them closed tightly and correctly gapped. The interior is so real looking it appears that a dash of water and some fertilizer could ‘grow’ it into a 1:1. The chassis is that way too but please resist the temptation, save it for your lawn.
The suspension has the right amount of ‘give’ to it and once more the engine bay holds all the cards for a winning hand of “Texas Hold the Diecast”. In the palm of your hand, open the hood carefully with a small model tool and enjoy the view; it’s aces all the way. The scissors springs have never been better, realism is alive and well in the master cylinder and air filter assemblies. Wiring is accurate and exact, the alternator bracket and brake fluid lines are astonishing in their detail and all cabling and hoses are true to life.
DM has created a grand scale illusion in fine fashion with a missing link to the Camaro legend. I hope they continue to amaze and proliferate. Note: Not a limited edition, this model will be available to all, but first access offered to Preview Society patrons.
(08/09/2006)
|
|
