08/25/06 - Ford Coupe 1934 - Pork Chop's "Altered Coupe", by GMP. As you can see, hot rod fever is still wrecking my bank account. This time it's a limited edition model of 1000 made (mine is #0611) that GMP released in 2005. GMP created a fictional hot rodder named Pork Chop, who has a garage in Pine Sap, Georgia, and there he creates cars like this "altered" Ford Coupe . Fiction not withstanding, this model is a true gem. The paint job is awesome, in a smooth and deep black, and on the sides there's this classic flame job. Even the aggressive scoop is painted with flames ! The wheels are Halibrand magnesium wheels, with a huge pair of slicks on the rear and skinny tires up front. One thing that I wasn't expecting was the weight of the model: it's extremely light.

Bad. Evil. Diabolical. I don't know how I can call this car looking it from the front. From this angle it's plain threatening. The front grill is from a 1934 Ford Coupe that was restored and modified. The rear is plain and simple, and looks like a dragster.

Both doors open (suicide style), the trunk opens and the roof comes off. It's hard to see on the photograph, but at the front of the windshield there's a small triangle that opens up to ventilate the cabin. I just couldn't get the thing to stay opened so that I could photograph it . Doors are a show apart. To open them, you have to turn the handles, just like on a real car. Friggintastic !!! The roof is not made of alloy but a thin sheet of aluminum that is polished and painted, with rivets all around. The door panels are also made of aluminum.

The cockpit is wonderful. It's basically composed of a small seat, with cloth safety belts (with metal buckles), the steering wheel and a simple dashboard. On the dash you have a speedometer, a tach and one or two temperature or pressure gauges. The fuel tank is right behind the pilot's seat . And since this is more like a dragster then street car, probably it runs on alcohol instead of gasoline.

Looking from the roof I almost got a shot of the dashboard. But you can see the nice Bell steering wheel, made in photo etch, and the gear box. The shifter is a Hurst, and as you can see, all the drive train is exposed, right next to the pilot. The car was totally gutted, and the trunk gives access to the rear suspension and differential, since the undercarriage is sealed.

Now, what defines the car is the engine. It's unbelievable ! Mr. Pork Chop used a Chrysler Hemi V8, with 392 ci (6424 cm³) of displacement, an engine that is considered by many as the Holy Grail of hot rod engines. The engine was upgraded with a 6-71 GMC blower, Hilborn fuel injection and Schiefer magnet instead of distributor. According to GMP, this thing is good enough for 1100 hp with a shot of 60% of nitrox. Good enough ? The engine is totally wired and cabled, with rubber and braided hoses, belts and beautiful blued-out exhaust pipes. These short pipes were known as "zoomies". I don't know if you noticed, but there's no radiator, so the car is practically a dragster. And I almost forgot: the belt and pulley on the blower turn at the touch of your finger .

I was also impressed with the front suspension and drum breaks, that in theory are big finned units that came from a Buick, and have a braided hose each. The structural beams for the wheel and suspension are drilled out to save weight. On the right, once more the majestic engine, from a different angle. I didn't photograph the car from below, since it was impossible to balance the car on it's side because of the humongous rear wheels. Anyway, it has a full bottom pan painted in black like the rest of the body and the undercarriage is totally sealed. There's also a golden sticker placed there saying that this is #0611/1000 pieces. This Ford is absolutely fantastic! I know that I said in the past that I really don't care much for fantasy cars, but this one is an exception totally justifiable. Hot rods and dragsters are not a very popular theme amongst diecast collectors but I believe this is one of those models you should have "just because it's so darn good". And after this car I can say I officially made peace with GMP. Finally .

05/28/07 - To my most profound despair, this jewel was one of the victims of Black Friday . But when you have such super special friends like Mike, from Australia, not everything is lost. With his HUGE help I was able to replace the model.

This is model #0958. It was expensive, but it was worth every penny A super huge THANK YOU to Mike!