Revell-Monogram 1/25 scale "Big John" Mazmanian '41 Willys Gas Coupe

Manufacturer: Revell-Monogram 8601 Waukegan Rd., Morton Grove, IL 60053-2295, 847-966-3500 www.revell-monogram.com
Kit: No. 2350
Scale: 1/25
Price:$15.20
Comments: Injection-molded, 98 parts (4 vinyl, 1 photoetched metal), decals
Pros: Beautiful body, good chassis, fine decals for 1966 racer, engine details well-molded
Cons: Inaccurate engine accessories, no steering gear, wrong front wheels, side windows should be red-tinted, missing passenger seat

In the early and mid-1960s, the fastest full-bodied cars in drag racing were the supercharged gas coupes, older cars fitted with blown late-model engines. "Gasser wars" drivers raced at strips all over the country on Sundays and boasted about their accomplishments in the racing press on Mondays. In 1966 the altered-wheelbase, factory-experimental cars began to surpass the gassers in performance, and then to steal the thunder (and the fans) from the older coupes, but it sure was fun while it lasted.


This new Revell kit depicts arguably the most beautiful of the gassers, the '41 Willys coupe owned by "Big John" Mazmanian. It may also be the most eagerly anticipated auto kit of the year. It's the first new kit of a '60s drag racer in many years.


Revell's single-piece body and separate hood are an accurate representation of the popular gas coupe. The mold seam lines are nearly invisible.


That separate hood uses a strange method of retention; two lugs are molded to the lower sides of the hood and snap into notches on the inside edges of the front fenders. This is not an accurate representation, and it makes the hood difficult to remove and replace, risking scratches on the paint job. I recommend trimming the lugs and filling the fender notches with styrene stock.


The windshield and rear window are correctly molded in clear red, but you must cut the side windows from a kit-supplied sheet of clear acetate. The real car had red-tinted windows all the way around.


I ended up spraying the clear sheet with the same candy-apple red paint I used to overcoat the body. I also found that the flange around the bottom of the windshield hit the top of the dashboard during final assembly. You could solve this by grinding that flange off, but a better solution is to make a new clear red windshield. The real car's windshield was red-tinted Plexiglas that attached from the outside.

One of "Big John" Mazmanian's trademarks was a deep candy-apple red finish. I duplicated this by airbrushing Testor silver for a base coat, then using Testor No. 1605 transparent candy red from a spray can. I shot this into an airbrush jar and applied it to the model with my airbrush. After the paint dried I applied Bare-Metal Foil to the side trim and rear window frames. The kit decals are accurate for the car as it ran in 1966, and they went on without problems.


The chassis is simple yet correctly depicts the state of the art for its day, with long ladder bars locating the rear end and a tubular front axle on semi-elliptic front springs. Except for the tie rod, there are no steering parts, and the front axle should be plated.


There are a couple of other inaccuracies. While the kit's front wheels are beautiful, they are not right for the 1966 racer. This car ran with Cragar SS mags on the front.


The right-hand seat is missing. NHRA rules required all gas-class cars to have a seat for both the driver and a "passenger." There's no point in heavily detailing the interior, however, as the red-tinted windows prevent seeing what's in there.


The valve covers are probably the best early Chrysler Hemi valve covers I've seen in this scale. They are beautiful replicas of the most common cast aluminum covers used in drag racing, and should find their way onto lots of other model engines. The same can be said for the blower and injector scoop, the latter of which is molded in one piece and shows almost no mold seams. However, Revell provides a stock-type distributor instead of the magneto the real car used, and there is no fuel pump or drive for the stock-type water pump. Except for these errors, the engine builds up into a beautiful replica.


We've waited a long time for a completely new tool of a vintage drag racing subject and, while not perfect, Revell's gasser does a nice job of filling that void.


I spent only about 20 hours on my coupe, most of that on painting. Given a little more time, and some aftermarket detail parts, a modeler of average skill could turn this kit into something spectacular! I think Revell has a hit on its hands.