Tag Archives: Nickey Chevrolet

Diecast cars

Die-cast: Johnny Lightning themed 2-packs

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Barn Finds lead the way for JL’s themed 2-packs …  

I’m a sucker for 1/64 scale die-cast cars because I grew up garaging Matchbox and Hot Wheels in shoe boxes and plastic carrying cases. Just entering my teens when Johnny Lightning debuted 50 years ago, I was impressed with its castings’ quality and realism compared with the other brands.

Now Johnny Lightning is celebrating its 50th anniversary and its parent, Round2, is creating a series of Themed 2-Packs that are worthy of being in any modeler or collector’s display case. The latest is release 1 of its Barn Finds and Nickey Chevrolet castings. As always, the display cards are stellar and challenge you to keep these 2-packs intact, and clean, or open them and enjoy the feel of die-cast model cars. Tough choice as I’ve said before.

Here’s a quick look at both packs. Continue reading Die-cast: Johnny Lightning themed 2-packs →

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Diecast cars

Die-cast: Replicarz’s 1959 Scarab Mk. II racer

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Purple Nickey Nouse Scarab a slick winner …Replicarz 1959 Scarab Mk. II

A few years back at Road America, the Midwest’s finest road racing facility, I ran into racer Augie Pabst and his beautiful metallic blue Scarab Mk. II racer.

Pabst, an heir to the brewing fortune, had been a succesful sports car racer in the late 1950s and early 1960s and was running his Meister Brauser Scarab in vintage races.

I’m a racing nut, but I’d never seen a Scarab before, so I was intrigued by the long-nosed front-engine car that looks part futuristic racer and part late 1950s roadster. Now, Replicarz has gone and produced a superb 1/18-scale resin die-cast of one of three Scarab Mk. IIs that were made and raced. This one was driven by another Midwestern sports car expert, Jim Jeffords, and features Nickey Nouse, the Chicago-based Nickey Chevrolet mascot.

 

The History

Lance Reventlow, son of Woolworth heiress Betty Hutton, was a California-based racer who owned Reventlow Automobiles Inc. He had cash! But had seen how the European automakers only sold year-old racers to outsiders, so decided to have the Scarabs designed and specially built for his team. He was looking for an advantage.Replicarz 1959 Scarab Mk. II

Scarab’s designers were Tom Barnes and Dick Troutman, both well-known race car builders. They created a space-frame chassis weighing 127 lbs. and plopped in a special-built Chevrolet 283 V8 built by Traco Engineering. Its 365 horsepower made the Scarab a beast that was hard to catch. Its first victory came at the 1958 Riverside International Grand Prix in California with noted sports car driver Chuck Daigh at the wheel. Reventlow also raced his Scarab. Continue reading Die-cast: Replicarz’s 1959 Scarab Mk. II racer →