Scale Club Vicky Article Series Announced!

May 28 2011

Salt Lake City, Utah

At GSL-XXIII (http://www.gslchampionship.org/), I announced my preparation of a series of articles in which I would build another scale version of my 1957 Ford Club Victoria that I built in 1978. I pitched this project to Gregg Hutchings, editor of Model Cars Magazine and he enthusiastically approved the proposal. This GSL announcement was made through two color sheets and the presentation of my 1979 Club Victoria model which hadn’t been seen in public since 1980. Here is that GSL announcement.

This new article series for MCM will start with a short reprise of the construction of my factory stock '57 Club Vicky model built in 1978, as well as the inept restyled version of the same model built at the same time which featured a period candy red/panel painted '57 Club Vicky. In 1979, I took a comparo picture of both models. The result wasn't satisfactory with either model because of a limited skill set, and I was on to the next project. But I made myself a promise that I would return to the subject matter, one day in the future, and build another version of the model and do it right! Little did I know that I would find and buy a full scale Vicky!

In the Fall of 1979, I attended an outdoor car show at the University of Utah and there saw an unrestored, very low mileage '57 Ford Club Vicky on the field, and wished I could afford it (it was for sale), but couldn't. After that, I lost track of the car, but that Vicky and I would cross paths again in 1988 when a good friend called and said he had seen that elusive Club Vicky sitting in the showroom of a vintage car dealership in Bountiful, Utah (just north of Salt Lake City). Needless to say, I beat a path to that dealership and purchased the car after getting it on a lift so my mechanic and close friend Mike Smith could look it over. Here's that car a decade before I started, in the Spring of 2011, a limited restoration of the car with Mike Smith's great help.

By the time that late 2010 rolled around, I decided that I needed to keep that 30-year old plus promise to myself and build another Vicky. This time, I had a real car to use for research (which would include the details that an underhood restoration and mild engine work would reveal). Along with what I hope to be a much-improved replica stock model ( I hope my skills have improved in three decades!), the modified scale version will explore a phantom concept car version of the 1957 Ford that will better examine and speculate upon the Ford/'58 Thunderbird interface that lead to the creation of the Ford Retractable Hardtops (1957-59), specifically the first year of that series. I've designed this faux concept car, and noted illustrator and GSL Trustee Bob Wick is presently preparing the artwork that will be submitted to Gregg.

July 18, 2011 Articles Series Outline Prepared!

I’ve gathered together a very substantial number of parts that I’m going to need to build this model, and I’ve just sent to Gregg Hutchings the article outline that will feature these topics:

  1. Make exterior trim changes which includes removing all of the Fairlane 500 trim from the body as well as changing the roof chrome trim;
  2. Adapting the AMT 1958 Edsel floor board and chassis to the vintage 1962 AMT 1957 Ford body;
  3. Building an authentic Club Vicky interior that will fit inside the one-piece body/floor pan assembly (just as it was built at the factory);
  4. Adapting the AMT 1958 Edsel frame to the Ford body (some minor changes will be necessary);
  5. Built an authentic 292 4-V engine based upon the research gleaned from the removal of and detailing of the Y block from my 1:1 scale Vicky. I’ll be using the Revell 1956 Ford truck kit as the basis for an extensively detailed scale engine;
  6. The use of exterior detail parts imported from a discarded Danbury Mint 1957 Ford retractable hardtop model (vent window assemblies, trunk emblem, antenna and other small detail parts); and
  7. The final assembly of the factory stock Club Vicky alongside the styling exercise ‘57 Vicky.

Check back here often for updates, and be sure to check out Model Cars Magazine for this article series! Thanks, Gregg, for this opportunity!