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In 1973, George Lucas produced a low-budget film tribute to the early Sixties, named American Graffiti. It caught on with the American Public in a big way. The cast featured little-known actors named Harrison Ford, Suzanne Somers, Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Bo Hopkins, Candy Clark and Mackenzie Phillips. For car buffs, however, the real star was the cherry, canary yellow, '32 Ford "Deuce Coupe" hotrod featured in the big race scene against a black '55 Chevy rod. It didn't end well for the Chevy.
FM has recreated that yellow bullet in 1:24 scale - right down to the THX-138 license plate (Lucas' tongue-in-cheek reference to his first film, THX 1138). This model has the features we look for in die cast images these days: working rear suspension, tilt-out windshield, fully dressed engine, a trunk that opens, and hinged (not dogleg) doors. (Some folks have commented that the hinges are too big and I agree that they seem somewhat overlarge. I don't consider this a fatal flaw though.) It's painted in glossy canary yellow, with true-to-scale chromed wheels and headers. There's a black, simulated cloth roof insert and a chromed tubular bumper out back. Dainty, bicycle-style fenders cover the front tires (and move with them when they turn). Under-carriage details are crisp and plentiful. This is definitely a state-of-the-art model.
Leave it to FM to come out with this icon of the Fifties and Sixties, immortalized in the film American Graffiti. It's an image as American as apple pie. One look, and it takes those of us who lived those years back to a time when cruising the drive-ins, with your honey at your side, was a fine way to spend a summer evening. You can keep your Game-Boy. The issue price is $105.
(03/27/2001)
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