February 20: A Model Life, part 1085

 Hard at it again for the umpteenth time, is the darling little Car Modeling Cat, aka, the CMC. Using those paws in the best way she knows how, to help me craft a memory from my not so misspent youth. When girls were something that the other guys were involved in, I had my plastic model kits to provide the erotic excitement, I otherwise so lacked from the opposite sex. But hey, this isn't a pity party, since as the saying goes, "Car modeling has been very good to me.", and of course, an understanding wife. And a CMC.

Which after those thoughts, brings me to our latest build, one of my favorite cars of all time, the 1960 Ford. A car, which my misguided, style-wise, friend GN dislikes (hates?) with a passion. Not to worry, as this is our show, not his. After the very square '59, Ford dropped the '60 model on a very surprised and disappointed public. Swoopy in a way, a Ford hadn't been to that point in time. A purrfect (my apologies) model for the CMC and me to fuss over to get it absolutely right.

Typical sixties colour, that for some reason these days, would not look good on a Mercedes. But, hey, times change and the CMC and I have replicated a favorite car down to the very last chrome laden detail......

Don't remember this old Ford? Need a real life comparison?

Pretty close, minus of course, that jet pilot, which tells us, who Ford thought drove this swoopier Starliner. Question........the convertible was called the Sunliner, which made sense, so why was the hardtop called the Starliner? Please don't lose any sleep over this.

As usual our model is as accurate as we can make it, right down to the gold Starliner script on the front fenders and trunk lid.........

A slight variation in our model from one side to the other (I'll let you figure it out, if you really care). This was an expensive build, since when we had almost finished our masterpiece, I (don't blame the CMC) broke off one of those tiny fender ornaments, so I had to buy a second kit for this part. Oh, well, if this is all we have to worry about......

So back to the company's misjudgement of the Ford buying public. As they ran from the showrooms in droves, the redesign for 1961 went back to the traditional upright models, that Ford seemed to be known for in the recent past. The CMC and I have also built this one..........

.......so you can see the change in direction back to the way they came or the way the public expected them to come.

A model life once again brings to you a great model and a bit of automotive history. And after all this work, even the intrepid little CMC needed a break, which in cat lingo, means a nap.........

Until next time.......