Jimmy shot through the double-pane door the moment the rectangular cardboard sign was flipped to OPEN. The furrowed brow of the shopkeeper shifted as the twelve-year-old made his way towards the back corner of the hobby store. Within a minute, only a... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
I had one too. Mine was handed down to me from my uncle. It was half built and the box was a little beat up, but from a 10 year olds perspective, it was as good as it could get.
you can still buy them but you got to add a 0 to the end of the 10. Its a shame. I'll bite the bullet at some point because I want one.
Great Post. I had the T and a big '63 split window vette. Sold both at a garage sale about 10yrs ago.
I remember getting one when for Christmas, it must have cost my mechanic Dad and stay home Mom (they all were back then) plenty. It was BIG and it was red! Over the next two weeks I cut apart the parts as the instructions called. The smell of the glue was exciting. But my fingers and brain speak on two different levels.. In my mind I saw finished car on the box cover and I knew mine would be the same. But my fingers and the too much glue and an 8 year olds frustration level ended with too much glue, bad cuts, but you what? It looked JUST like the box cover,, in my mind. And fifty years later I remember it like it was last Christmas
Jimmy proudly dredged the full $10.98.. I wish. Revell re-released 3 of the "Big" kits at over a 100 bucks a pop.
I had the same model growing up at my grandparents house i loved building it and playing with it , everythime i see one of these at the swap or at an antuique store it brings back awesome memories to me.
I never did get one of those kits but talked my mom into taking me up to the hobby store that had the full size BIG T on display to advertise the model and then over to look at the New Avanti at the Studebaker dealer a couple of blocks away. That was a fun afternoon for both of us.
I had one too. I was pretty intimidated by it (what if I screwed it up?), and ended up never building it. I have no idea of what happened to it.
Had 57 model cars (funny you never forget some things) but never that one. Of course, never had that much money at one time. They were all destroyed when the shelf collapsed. What a memory tickle!
I had the original, built it and do not remember what happened to it. Years latter owned a real T but not red. In fall of 2006 purchased the reissued 3 in 1 and after opening box-looking inside-put lid back on and have not touched it. It was and is a neat kit/car. Earl
Mine was sitting in my parents attic along with about 50 other models I built around 59-64. I don't know if they are still there or not.Parents divorced, old man kept the house. Haven't talked to him since 73.
I received mine as a christmas gift (in 62 I think) too. That is still my most memorable Christmas gift. I still have the Big T and a few of the other 1/8 scale kits. I bought the new release of the big duece (with flathead) a few years ago. So far I have only found time to build the chassis and engine. It seems that working on the real cars takes priority over the model. Thats Ok though, the models don't take up much room in the house while they are waiting for my atention.
A friend of mine had one, when we were kids. I remember him calling to brag like it was yesterday. It took us about 3 weeks to finish it. It sat proudly on his chest of drawers with all his other models. We were in awe at the size. Then, upon us reaching 16 years old, it's turn came up for the M-80 test. Pieces went every where.
Seen some for sale in Australia, asking price is around $200 . Would like to grab one when the opertunity arrises.
I'm 62 years old, still have about a 1/3 of my model cars. They are in my sons room along with his models. He is married now with 3 little boys. They are too young now but can have them later. They look at them in the model case in awl. I never had the big T, but I remember it. $100 for the Big T today. Well I guess we are making 10 times the wages now. Ago
Got mine in '62, built it, dismantled it for updates and still sitting that way upstairs in the garage. Full size red T bucket sits downstairs, but one of these long winter days the little one will get redone. Thanks for the rewind, Carp
I found an original Big T that belonged to my boss. It was going to go in the trash and I said, "I'll take it." The glue had let go and some other stuff but a lot of the little stuff was there, like wrenches, trophies and phone. This thing was even motorized. Too kool man. I enjoyed piecing it back together.
Looks a lot like Ivo's famous T RPU. My young buddy here at work has a complete BIG T with "show accessories", mounted on a timber board and covered in a glass box, built by his Grandfather in the early '60's. [/URL]
Still have a built Big T as well as one unbuilt plus the green Big Drag and the yellow Big Rod also have the orange Tub and a few of the metalic red Lindberg T's all of those 1/8 scale Hot Rod kits were just amazing. I know that's what started me on this path of destruction loving Hot Rods.
I've had a couple of originals over the years. I even took one apart at one time and scaled a full sized bucket up from it. The one I'd really like to have though was "THE BIG DRAG" race bucket. I have never seen one in the flesh, though. I did manage to pickup the front and rear wheels plus the Moon tank from that kit at a swap meet about 6 years ago.