In the late 50s or early 60s, Revell released a 1/25th scale 1957 Ford Ranchero. Unfortunately that kit had several intrinsic problems that were particularly bothersome for builders who, like me, concentrate mainly on factory stock replicas. For starters, the initial release of the Ranchero kit, as well as the street machine version that came many years later, never included parts to allow for a factory stock, correct build. But the most glaring problem of all was the fact that this Ranchero kit was based on Revell's 1957 Ford Country Squire kit. The Squire marked a true high point in 1/25th scale models, especially for the era that saw its release. It was an exceptionally well-detailed kit, but wasn't completely without problems, especially the lack of window glass. Revell retooled the Squire into the Ranchero, which not only resulted in a hughly inaccurate model, but also destroyed forever the original Squire tooling. The main problem was the Squire was a 4 door wagon, whereas the Ranchero was based on Ford's 2 door wagons. Consequently, the Ranchero's doors are much too small to be accurate. Several attempts have been made over the years to offer serious builders a method for creating a factory stock Ranchero. I chose to use the one from Jimmy Flintstone. |
