My R/T used for a new diecast model!!!

[hemigeno]

Hey guys,

One of the coolest things a car guy could have happen to them happened to me this week!  A gentleman (Tim K.) from RC2/ERTL stopped by the shop this week and took a slew of pictures of my Hemi R/T, to be used in a new diecast release in their "Authentic Series".

First off, I gotta thank Chris/Just_6T9_CHGR.... for hooking me up with this deal.  Chris' R/T would have been just as good a car to shoot for this purpose as mine (probably better!), but the guys from RC2 were looking for something a little closer to home - and I happen to be only about a 6 hour drive from Dyersville, IA.  One small benefit to living in this steambath we call the Midwest, I suppose.  ANYWAY...

Starting off, we put the car up on the lift to do the undercarriage shots.  Tim laid on a creeper looking up at the car, and just did rows of pictures - moving about 18" each shot.  He then walked around the car while it was still up on the lift, to take pictures of the rocker panels, valances, & lower portions of the sheet metal.  Then, we dropped the car down and he took tons of pictures from every vantage point of the outside of the car with everything closed up.  Lots of detail shots of the grille & tailpanels, plus several shots down the sides of the car that shows off the contours of the body panels.  He shot the interior really thoroughly, even climbing in the back seat to get good shots of the dashboard, and got some shots of the door panels and sill scuff plates.  I think they are going to have the console compartment open up, and maybe even the glovebox too, as he was taking pictures in the open/closed positions.

Under the hood, he took tons of engine pictures, but he didn't want to take any of the carburetors, etc.  I did mention to him that although my car has electronic ignition, it wouldn't have come that way.  I offered to take the control module off so that he could get some shots of the plain firewall, but he said that as long as they knew that wasn't supposed to be there, they could edit the E.I. module out of the final version easy enough.  He took some shots of the trunk too, but not horribly many.

After he took all the pictures, we recorded some rough dimensions of the car - wheelbase, ride heights, and sizes/locations of the hood, doors and decklid.

The approximate schedule for the release of this Charger car line is somewhere around 1 year from when they take the pictures.  Tim said that they will get all the pictures put together, along with a set of instructions, and send them out to Asia (either Hong Kong or China, I wasn't clear which).  They will generate an oversize prototype (somewhere around 1:12 scale) model that will be scrutinized and approved by several groups - including Daimler-Chrysler.  Once everything is greenlighted, they will start cranking out the 1:18 models in all the different configurations.  He said they will do a 440 and a Hemi version, and he said there will be something like 17 different colors available.  One of their first offerings will be a General Lee version, as RC2 owns the right to make those.  Tim said that in particular, the 68-69-70 Charger is one of the top 4 or 5 diecast sellers of all time, so they expect to be making a lot of this general body style.  The last time they made a mold for a IIGen Charger was in the early 90s, and they used that same tooling to make a '68 and '70 version as well. 

The Authentic Series cars (that they are going to issue this car in) is VERY cool.  Here's a link to a '66 Charger that they recently released in this series:

https://www.supercar1.com/cart/CarDetail.asp?item_id=2203

This '66 has opening headlight doors, a moveable antenna, opening doors with a spring-loaded latch mechanism, active front and rear suspension, steerable wheels, a spinning driveshaft geared to the rear wheels spinning, fold-down seats, opening glovebox, opening/detailed trunk, and a few other cool features.  It's an awesome piece of diecast, and is very detailed - it has soft spark plug wires & radiator hoses, heck, they even come with carpeting and fabric seatbelt strips in the interior!  They're putting these out in competition against GMP, Franklin Mint, Danbury Mint, etc., so they generally try to get the details right.

I was pretty excited to have this chance, as you can imagine.  When they emailed me to ask if I was interested, I couldn't hit the "send" button fast enough with my reply!  I have to wait with everyone else to see what the finished product will be, but it should turn out great based on the others they've come out with in this series so far.

Figured you guys would be interested to know about the DC.com connection in all this!

Geno

P.S.  THANKS AGAIN, CHRIS!!!!

[hemigeno]

Here are a few shots of Tim K. taking the photos of my car...  Sorry they're so dark - I was using my daughter's digital instead of my usual camera. 

[hemigeno]

Two more

[JimShine]

Congrats! That is a great honor! I am excited to see these cars!

[TruckDriver]

That is really really cool! I wonder if they will even offer you a finished model once they are about to release them to the public. THAT would be really cool too if it looks just like your does.

[resq302]

Geno,

I know what you went through as we just did the same thing with Franklin Mint with our El camino out at the Hershey, PA, AACA museum.  The guy was out there for 3 days doing the same thing taking all kinds of measurements and photos and such.

congrats on the great honor.

[Shakey]

Cool stuff!   

[694spdRT]

Congrats Gene they picked an excellent example to use! Looks like I have another die cast to buy.

Dyersville, Ia is not to far south of me. The Ertl factory is right off the Interstate 20 in case anyone is driving by and wants to stop there.   

[Alaskan_TA]

Very cool, but I gotta say it........

I hope they do your truck too. 



Barry

[Dave22443]

Dang it!  Why couldn't you have owned a '68? 

[41husk]

I here you Dave,  I can never find a diecast of a 68.  Congrats Geno, Thanks for the advice on the 73.  I pulled the trigger on it and it should be in my garage by next weekend

[terrible one]

Awesome man!

It sure will be cool to be able to buy the model, knowing that it was made from your car!

[RD]

congratulations geno!!! that sounds like a really cool opportunity.  could not have happened to a more dedicated moparnut!

[Silver R/T]

congratulations, car looks great

[TruckDriver]

Very cool, but I gotta say it........

I hope they do your truck too. 



Barry

Hell ya! I'd buy a couple!

[tan top]

congratulations ( hemigeno)  awesome stuff 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Congrats Geno!
I have to admit I was pretty psyched when Tim contacted me out of the blue.  We spoke on the phone after a few emails and was real impressed with his company and his willingness to come out to NY.   He even sent me free of charge one of the 1:18th '66 Hemi Chargers from the Authentic Series (the Mauve Metallic one).
I was pretty bummed when he emailed me back stating his boss felt that NY was a bit far to travel and asked me if I knew of any other '69 Chargers compareable to mine in the level of restoration.....also stated that a Hemi car would be a plus........
Gene's car was the first tihing that came to mind.   He was close and his car is killer.
I put Tim in contact with him and the rest is history.

I just hope Gene put in a good word for me for an orange flavored one when they come out!

[Brock Samson]

GREAT NEWS!
I told ya' a diecast of your Rigs would be cool, any mention of that?.. 

[Charger_Fan]

  They will generate an oversize prototype (somewhere around 1:12 scale) model that will be scrutinized and approved by several groups - including Daimler-Chrysler. 

Wow, congrats, Geno!! It would be cool if they cave you THAT one.
I've got a plastic Dukes model that I've had since about 1979, that's probably close to 1:14 size. A 1:12 size would be friggin' cool!

Very cool, but I gotta say it........

I hope they do your truck too. 



Barry

Hell ya! I'd buy a couple!

Me too, that would be the coolest!


So...who's car is in line next for a '70 model?? Maybe they would be interested in doing mine for the "Forgotten-in-a-garage" series?

[hemigeno]

Thanks, everyone!

I really was pumped that this whole deal happened in the first place.  I'm also hoping that they send a couple of the final versions out, but it's not like I can complain of they don't.  If I'm really lucky, they will send me one of the 1:12 scale versions that they'll do for approvals - THAT would be something special.  I offered to give them my $0.02 on the model as far as accuracy goes, but they may not worry too much about my opinion.  That's alright.

Barry (and you other guys that mentioned it), I don't think they will do the truck.  I had it all cleaned up, sitting right smack dab in front of the door you go out to my shop through.  Plus, I put the framed plaque with the MCG article right by that same door where he'd have to see it.  Tim took a quick look at the plaque, but breezed right by the truck on his way to the Charger.  Oh well...  that's probably farther down on their priority list than the IIGen Charger project I suppose.  It would be awesome to see done up in diecast though!

And Chris, one way or another I gotcha covered on an orange R/T, Bud!  However, I don't know if they are doing Vinyl Top versions or not.  If they do, you'll be all set.

Thanks again, everybody!

[hemigeno]

It would be cool if they cave you THAT one.

Yep, I'm going to inquire about snagging one of those for sure.  If they don't send one out during the approval process, maybe they'll send one after someone else is done with their review...  Sure hope so!

I've got a plastic Dukes model that I've had since about 1979, that's probably close to 1:14 size. A 1:12 size would be friggin' cool!

I think I still have that same model from when I built it in the early 80s - isn't it the race hemi version, bathtub intake & with the Blue Streak Goodyear tires?

So...who's car is in line next for a '70 model?? Maybe they would be interested in doing mine for the "Forgotten-in-a-garage" series?  

   I was hoping Tim would do just that for my Daytona!  Alas, I guess the beancounters would have none of that...

[Charger_Fan]

I've got a plastic Dukes model that I've had since about 1979, that's probably close to 1:14 size. A 1:12 size would be friggin' cool!

I think I still have that same model from when I built it in the early 80s - isn't it the race hemi version, bathtub intake & with the Blue Streak Goodyear tires?

Yep, it's got the race Hemi engine, complete with a cowl type air cleaner. My tires are just blackwall though, if memory serves (I haven't looked at it in a while).
When I built it, I just built it as a Charger, not as a General...I wonder if I still have the sticker set somewhere? Anyway, they made a fuel cell in the trunk, but didn't make the trunk lid open...so I modified it. Now it's open.
If you'd like, I can take some pics & post 'em tomorrow.

[Alaskan_TA]

Maybe we can take a poll of some kind about doing the truck and send it to them? I have heard from a few folks that would love vintage style car carriers to display their diecast cars with, your truck could be the first in a series. I think there would be a great market for them if we can convince the die cast crowd. 

Barry

[69_500]

Well a congrats is definately in hand then Gene. What ever happend to the fellow that was restoring the HEMI 69 R/T that was F8 green I believe?

Gene's car is definately a good looking ride. Everytime I'm at a show with my 500 I wind up parking next to Gene's truck and car, and drool over them both all weekend long.

[hemigeno]

Well a congrats is definately in hand then Gene. What ever happend to the fellow that was restoring the HEMI 69 R/T that was F8 green I believe?

Jet just sold his car - I had asked Chris about that too when the topic first came up.  Jet's car is in way better shape than mine, but with a diecast car you can't tell where the roadrash, door dings and dull trim pieces are...

Gene's car is definately a good looking ride. Everytime I'm at a show with my 500 I wind up parking next to Gene's truck and car, and drool over them both all weekend long.

The combo works good as a DVD display case too!   


And it'd be great to see the 2-ton truck in diecast too, but how much can a guy expect in life?  I'm just tickled to have had this opportunity.  I guess I do have an email address over at RC2 now though...