Typically, pro street cars feature the largest tires you can fit in a big wheel tub, skinny front tires, and ample power under the hood. This muscular combo appears in the Revell 1/25 scale Lincoln Mark VII LSC pro street plastic model kit. First introduced in 1990 alongside the company’s model of the Matt & Debbie Hay’s pro street Thunderbird, the shares the chassis components with the latter.
The instructions suggest starting with the platform interior, a change from the usual engine-first assembly. The bottom of the transmission tunnel will be exposed once attached to the main chassis, which you’ll want to keep in mind when painting.
Revell provides plenty of pro-street accessories, like speaker boxes and a dual amp rack. Unfortunately, most of the detail parts, like the fire extinguisher bottle, nitrous bottle, parachute levers, and B&M shifter are found on the chrome tree. If you plan to build a show car, that might be OK. If not, be prepared to strip some chrome.
You’ll have to eliminate a prominent seam between the seat halves, but after assembly, they look good and allow for separate color inserts. The nicely molded door panels and dashboard with a separate gauge cluster also provide the option for a two-tone look.
The chrome-plated firewall may have to be stripped, depending on your preference. I deviated from the instructions for the roll cage and assembled it before painting, allowing me to fill unwanted gaps at the tube junctions and simplifying the interior’s final assembly. The kit provides batteries and fuel pumps, but they won’t be visible with the body in place.
Revell provides decals for practically everything in the interior, from the fire extinguisher and nitrous bottle to the five-point harness, gauges, and headrest badges.
The down tubes have four mounting points that can be a bit of a challenge to place. However, with good glue and patience, it works well. The remainder of the front chassis components are molded onto the main chassis, except for a separate rack-in-pinion for the steering.
For the rear suspension components, you will find a nicely detailed, narrowed Ford 9-inch rear with integrated wheelie bars and separate coil-over shocks. It’s another tough task, so be sure to study the assembly procedures in the instructions and follow them for better fits. I test-fitted before gluing.
The small-block 351 engine and C6 transmission assemble from halves and a separate oil pan, leaving minimal seams. My one complaint about the engine is the overuse of chrome plating. I stripped all of the parts that came chrome plated for a more contemporary look with proper paint tones.
The engine mounts to the chassis smoothly. Once the engine is in the chassis, the twin superchargers mount up front. Connecting the air tubes to the intake boxes is fiddly, as is attaching the lower radiator hose to the radiator.
Before mounting the wheels and wheel backs, pay close attention to the instructions that show where to trim unwanted tire material. Importantly, on the big rear rollers, the remaining material left after cutting is used as a retainer between the wheel and wheel back to hold them in place.
The body is nicely molded with sharp trim that makes a good foundation for Bare-Metal Foil. A bit of flash on the leading edge of the front fenders and a seam line on the rear pillar is all I needed to address. I glued the front and rear body caps onto the body before painting, and remember the inner fender and engine bay area will be visible once assembled.
The clear headlights needed adjustment—one was slightly bowed out, so I gently squeezed it back into shape before mounting.
The separate front and rear window glass fit easily, but I had trouble attaching the rearview mirror with no positive locator. I used epoxy to secure it, but then knocked it off during final assembly and left it off.
The new decal sheet offers many more marking options than the original release, including graphics and badging. There is plenty to choose from for customization.
Revell’s 1/25 scale Lincoln Mark VII LSC pro street plastic model kit represents a subject from my youth in the 1990s. It offers plenty of detail parts, fantastic decals, and crisp molding. As Revell’s skill level rating suggests, I would not recommend this kit to a beginner or modeler with little experience, but it builds into a cool subject in car culture history.