These two big bad beefcakes are the last two in this mini series of builds that Harley Richards very kindly donated to me, via a Coffin Corner charity auction. I've soaked up incredible amounts of ideas, tips and inspiration just from looking at these builds and I know I'm going to enjoy them for years to come. The diecasts are on my desk next to where I'm typing, the built kits are on my display shelf and all the cool stuff he showed me when I was collecting this bounty is STILL bouncing around my head weeks later. The gorgeous brown-primer 32 roadster. The slingshot dragster. The unusual kits that I'd never even heard of before. The rare old Parts Paks and kits that I'd kill to have in my collection - tonnes of things.

One thing really stuk though. Harley's desk was a quarter of the size of mine but IMMACULATE. Two projects sitting there, works in progress. A cool little bike frame with engine (which itself inspired me - I love seeing stuff in progress and seeing one of Harleys builds in progress is like hearing your favourite band recording a new song) and another one. No parts laying about, no tolls scattered everywhere - I gotta get myself together. Hence today, to celebrate and pay tribute to these many fine builds, I'm tidying my bench. Who knows, it may even stay tidy for a couple of days until 'new project fever' hits again...

JB

A lot of 'real' rodders argue that it isn't cool to be a Boyd fan. And true, his super-sleek modernised creations are about as far from the traditional rodding scene as you can get. That said, and much as trad rodding will always be my first passion, I love Boyds stuff. There, I said it. Some of it dated better than others, but they're all clean, pretty, and inspirational. I'm working on a Boyd tribute 32, and I build my own version of his Aluma-Coupe, and I've seen every American Hot Rod fifty times. I bought all the AMT Boyd Coddington signature kits, although they were arguably little more than poorly thought out cash-ins.

Harley did his take on Testors' snap kit long before me, and did it better too. He envisaged a fendered version, with a big sexy rear end moulded effortlessly into the sides of the body, and sleek swooping front fenders perfectly complimenting the front end that Boyd envisaged. he pulled it off too, and then some. His build looks more Boyd than Boyd - just the kinda sleek sexy machine that the bearded one would love. Great tribute, even if none was meant.

JB

We've shown a lot of pretty pics and exterior stuff from my new collection, but not so much of the actual mechanical bits. Just to prove that Harley's more that just a pretty paintjob, check out what's under the flip-front of this pretty Gasser. Definitely sexy, to my eyes.

JB

Much as I love the 32 grille on a 32, I've recently started thinking about other options. The 32 body is distinctive enough to take a new nose and not lose it's identity.

This die cast street rod is rocking it's 33 grille shell, looking to me like a warrior holding his shield, proud and bold about to do battle.

JB

If you gotta go Austin, this is probably the way to fly - in a sky high, beautifully raked sky blue build, more than 20 years old. Sporting gorgeous vintage door art, paint that still smells like it's gassing out (ahh, the wonders of enamel) and opening door and flip front, this Harley build is my new favourite eye-candy.

JB

I'm familiar with Testors paints, but I had no idea they made die-casts too. Not too common over here maybe? They should be though, they do a damn fine 1:43 Willys gasser

JB

Or is it?

I've been debating the next part in my mini-series of the bounty I found whilst pillaging Croyden, and by the time I'd decided what to do, about a week has passed. No blog for a week? Blame my think box.

Anyway, here was the dilemma. This blog is kinda like the Jalopy Journal, but for models. Well, that's the goal...Ryan's writing skills and eye for a good story are a whole solar system away from my sporadic ramblings, but the stuff that he features is all the kinda stuff I like. On the accompanying message board, Ryan and his operate a stict rule; traditional rods and kustoms only.

My rule for this , inspired by personal taste than an attempt to ape someone else's formula, was no tuners on this blog, however cool. There's enough amazing stuff to feature here without branching into something I don't know much about. Don't get me wrong, my 1:1 daily is a 3 year old 'hot' hatch, I got nothing against people who wanna build this stuff, but my plan was to stick to the old stuff here.

Then, in my haul, was this cute little 2 seater Suzuki. It's got after market alloy wheels, carbon fibre on the silencer and the plate indicates it was tuned by computer rather than screwdriver. And yet, I think it fits. Why? Let me explain.

First up, its tiny, light. Not silly money. Long bonnet. Rear driven. Kinda classic looking, like some kinda relative to the Austin Healey Sprites and MG Midgets for the 60s. The Japanese do retro pretty well (see the Mazda MX-5's resemblance to old Lotuses - no accident, it was part of the design brief), and in it's metallic British racing green finish, it's not hard to see where they might got some of the ideas from.

Sometimes stealing liberally from the past works out pretty well (New Beetle), sometimes its questionable at best (PT Cruiser), but in this newer-is-better-gotta-get-the-newest-thing-now world, the fact that anyone in these big companies is even looking back to what's gone before is pretty damn cool.

JB

Postscript: Regardless of how off topic the model itself was, the blog it inspired was DEFINITELY left of centre. Do not adjust your set, normal service will be resumed shortly...

My family's got a little history with Morris garages and their products. As a kid I was dragged around countless MG Owners Club shows until we finally got our own (modest) slice of the pie; a got-the-runs-yellow rubber bumper Midget. I think it's still in a shed somewhere, but noone's in a rush to drag it out right now. My mother works, and has worked for as long as I can remember, for the MG Owners Club, she drives MG Metros rather than the regular Austin/Rover versions and our coffee table is home to today's newspaper and 'Enjoying MG' magazine.

This in mind, I've never actually contemplated adding a scale MG to my collection. I should've probably, those old pre-MGA roadsters that I saw all those shows cant have hurt in the development of my love affair with the shape of Americas equivalent early Fords.

I forget which model of MG this is, my encyclopedic knowledge of these things has waned somewhat since I discovered girls, but the shape of that wheel arch, that sexy wire wheel and the louvres mean this old English lady, kindly donated by Harley, is certainly welcome in my collection any day.

JB

To create a classic is something many artists strive for their whole lives. Many will achieve it, though it may never reach the public consciousness. Imagine then, creating not one classic, but dozens, creating a new genre of model kit building, becoming the biggest name in model design that the world has ever seen. Creating the Beer Wagon. Bad Medicine. The Cherry Bomb. The Fire Iron. The Garbage Truck. The Groovy Grader. THE RED BARON.

Compared to these, a 55 Chevy gasser sounds pretty tame, but Tom Daniel created another masterpiece with the Badman. This die-cast Badman II (what IS the difference?) has cut an imposing figure on my display shelf the last week, proving that even when the body's stock Tom Daniel is a guy who knows how to design a classic.

JB

Another of my new toys, and one of the nicest diecasts I've ever seen. Great subject, gorgeous stance (check how that rear wheel sits in the arch), and great use of colour.

And then consider the wire wheels - on a model the same scale as a Hot Wheels. How they even did that is beyond my comprehension...

JB

I've blogged before about Showrods member Harley, featured a couple of his builds and relieved him of a significant amount of plastic. He's a true ambassador for the hobby; friendly, knowledgeable, generous with his time and skills and best of all a fantastic and innovative modeller.

I recently won a charity auction on the Showrods site for a collection of diecasts and built-ups from Harley's collection that he'd very generously donated to the cause. Now, this wasn't junk either - the stuff Harley gives away is better than what most would keep, and I'm delighted to be able to show you some of the cool stuff that's recently set up home in my display case. There's some plastic, some diecasts, some old, some new, all of it worth a look.

Not listed in the auction, but very generously gifted to me (I'd love to say it made my day, but so many things made my day that it wouldn't be fair on the 100 other amazing things...) was a little postcard sized diorama of a Willys Coupe and Pick Up launching from a drag racing startline. The blue car is ahead by a tiny fraction, whilst the pink one climbs dramatically skywards .

Its a beautifully simple piece, two cars, a start line and the asphalt it's painted on, but the elements are combined to truly create that old cliche of something bigger than the sum of it's parts.

And you aint seen nothing yet, we got some serious coolness to come. Think yourselves lucky I felt it rude to arrive outside someone's house with a camera, or we'd be here for the rest of the year...

JB

Here's how my Saturday panned out. Woke up, drove to Harley's, took possession of a tonne of cool stuff, saw some even COOLER stuff, got excited like a little boy every 30 seconds and finally got a parting (one) shot of some cool lines on my new Stanley toolbox.

Though quite OT - this tool box is actually for my RC gear, I couldn't resist sharing those cool lines with anyone who'll look. Thanks a million Harley.

JB

He may have called his latest creation 'Stupidi-T', but Dave Kapp is no fool. It takes a clever guy to take a body as beaten-to death creatively as the Model T and do something as fresh and different to it.

Built with an Infini-T body as a basis, some Funny car bits here and there and a nice clean Hemi out front, Dave's created a cool 70's vibe with this build, kinda like if Barris made the Uncertain T. That nose screams Barris T Buggy to me (though also looks nothing like it) and the Boyd paint job is a nice hat-tip to another builder not afraid to try new things out and shake things up a little.

Read the story of this one in Dave's words here - it'd be stupidi-t not to

JB

For someone with a large collection of spare engines (easily a hundred now, it's getting to be an obsession) I rarely know what the non-V8 ones are. I know where they'd work well though, and this one is gonna get a great home.

JB

The coolest thing about this trailer, incomplete but an easy fix, is that when restored I'll have to build at least another two models to go with it. And I've got two of them! Like those little mudguards, they might get 'borrowed'.

JB