Fuzz Duster - MPC's loser is back with a vengeance!

[Faust]

I grew up in the middle of the Automotive Dark Ages. I was surrounded by the last, sad remnants of the old V8, rear drive cars and the vanguard of the new, more compact vehicles. At the time, I remember thinking that there was no reason to announce to the world that you had a “2.2” on big numbers on the door. I mean, what good was that? What I didn’t realize that the time was how truly sad the “real” cars had gotten.



That dawned on me as I grew up, and that’s part of the reason that I love to model cars from this time period. Remember them from my childhood, and now understand them, and what they meant as the collapse of a passion for motoring that would take a long time to recover. There are a lot of cars that fit into this category, but some of my favourites are those that tried hard, but failed.



These were the “Faded Glory” cars; little more that econoboxes or downsized shadows of their namesakes’ former greatness. Perhaps one of the best example of this is the Road Runner. By the time 1980 rolled around, it was little more than just a decal package on a Volare, and a not-very-inspiringly-restyled Volare at that.



That’s why I was so pumped to see Round 2 punch out the old MPC “Fuzz Duster” Volare! It really is an encapsulation of its era, and all that was wrong with it. Despite the lameness of the car, though, MPC did a pretty nice job on the kit, even if it’s a bit incorrect.



Check out my out of box review of this “muscle” machine here. Just remember that yes, it DID get this bad!



adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/mpc-125-1980-volare-road-runner-fuzz-duster-oob/

[fordrodnkustom]

Once again an excellent review. Thanks for sharing.

[Faust]

Thanks, man.

I do love my losers. I hope to see lots of these on contest tables in the coming years, too! About time the muscle car builders got a reminder of how sad the world got.

[harron68]

I have the '77-78 (?) Volare roadrunner kit! I was surprised mpc kept releasing them. As to the real era, the problem was that there wasn't the technology to give power, gas mileage and lower pollution, and high gas prices dictated small engines. Such are the forces and choices we make. This build could be interesting.

[Faust]

If you think about it, it's almost free money for MPC. They've got the bulk of the tooling done; all they have to do is make the few changes per year (when there are any) and voila! Brand new kit!

You're right. The technology was no where near where it had to be. Look what you can do now!

I hope this build is interesting. I'll be starting it soon!