Isn't this enchanting. The folks at Fresh Cherries are trying to kill a couple of birds with one stone. These are recent examples of their new die-cast cars available. This not only attempts to put a pop culture smiley face on two of America's most dreadful vehicles, it puts commerce in the mix too.
Your eyes aren't deceiving you, that is indeed a 1/64 replica of a Ford Pinto, a Pinto. The car wasn't great shakes during its run and we also know that the Pinto's assembly often had deadly implications. See, some whiz put the gas tank in the wrong place and that's totally a no-no, especially for a rear end collision. If it's one thing I hate, it's revisionist history, this is it and then some. Here's something: If Matchbox didn't make a Ford Pinto in say, 1973--there's no need now.
Here's Part II. That thing is of course The Ford Maverick, another aggressively shitty car. There isn't much to say about the Maverick without getting that catch in your throat. What is that catch? Well, it's the fact that the Maverick has been shrunken down to toy size for no apparent reason. The first time was with a little company, Hot Wheels. Like many bland cars, Hot Wheels "souped it up" and called it, Mighty Maverick. The only thing mighty was the fact at how fast the wheels either crossed or fell off. Flash up 30 odd years and someone has the nerve enough to bring this back, without frills.
According to reports Fresh Cherries will be making an Pinto: Autograveyard Edition. Hellacious stench and crazy junkyard man not included...Update: I purchased (ha, purchased!) the Ford Pinto model and I have to say it's a well-made car. It's reminscent of a late '70s Hot Wheels. That fact makes the assembly a bit more durable than say, a Matchbox car of the same time. The paint job leaves a bit to be desired and oddly enough, the tires are rubber. The bumpers are plastic and the doors don't open. I'm gonna go to the park and try to find a slide to really test this out. I hope my friends are gonna be there too!!!!
23 comments:
The pinto was the ish Jason. I had a neighbor that owned a pinto and he was forever souping up his car. He would always me and other neighborhood kids help out. Those were the days.
Shawn, I can't wrap my head around the concept of the Pinto for some reason LOL. Oddly enough though I was looking for info and I saw a site where some dude restored his Pinto and it actually looked kind of cool...
Don't sleep on the Pinto
LOL it would be hilarious if Pinto's made a comeback.
Hey Jason Elias,
Thanks for you jack-ass opinion of these very nice die cast cars... but sorry, not everyone agrees with you. There are quite a few folks out there in the world who are pleased with the Fresh Cherries offerings and are eagerly awaiting more... especially if they will get their heads out of the mud and produce die casts of even older cars... like maybe those from the 1930-1960s. The real rubber tires and realistic sheels, and the fact that they are actually a true 1/64 in size makes them far better than most of the TOTAL CRAP put out by Hot Wheels AND Matchbox... and most others as well. Of course this is just the opinion of a 1/64 (S) scale model railroader who knows quality and realism when he sees it given his 25 + years of experience in the hobby. What credibility do you have?
Pardon my typo in the previous reply... I meant to say "realistic WHEELS, not sheels.
For the issue of fairness, let's bring back all of the missing pieces of this conversations! I can't wait! This is what I said on 7/22/06, such memories...
7/22/06
Dude, I even said I liked the car when I wrote about it later. There's not much I can do beyond that...
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Posted by Jason Elias to Jason Elias: Pop Culture Idiot at 7/22/2006 08:58:32 PM
This is what Emilee said on 8/9/06. I love you too!
Oh yes, lets criticize the Ford Pinto because we don’t know SQUAT on its history. Next time, take 20 minutes and research before you lay out false details and accuse the pinto of being a crappy vehicle. Yes, there were a few flaws, but when is there not. MOST cars of that time period had a tendency to catch fire in a rear end collision, but so do modern cars. when safety regulators wanted to point out the hazard that were seen in a large percentage of cars of that time , they chose the pinto as an example because it seemed to be one of the more major cases.. The particular fire hazard on the pinto was related to a metal bolt that would pierce the gas tank upon impact. Once ford had been confronted, they collected the pintos already sold and fixed them all, and then redesigned the tank for future models…â€An inexpensive lightweight plastic baffle was placed between the front of the gas tank and the four protruding bolts on the differential housing. This piece of plastic prevents the bolts from puncturing the gas tank. Also, a piece of steel was placed between the tank and the bumper to add support against the crumpling back end. The best method for improving the safety of the Pinto was to line the gas tank with a rubber bladder. Ford alleged that it would cost $11 per car to add any sort of gas tank, fire prevention device†(http://www.fordpinto.com/blowup.htm).
The Volkswagen beetle was found to explode faster and more violently than the pinto during safety tests, proving that the other cars have the same issue as the accused pinto. “More recently, it has been argued (in a well-known 1991 law review paper by Gary Schwartz, among others) that the case against the Pinto was less clear-cut than commonly supposed. Only 27 people ever died in Pinto fires. Given the Pinto's production figures (over 2 million built), this was no worse than typical for the time, and far less than the "hundreds" claimed by the consumer safety advocates whose allegations are largely responsible for the reputation of the vehicle. Schwartz argues that the car was no more fire-prone than other cars of the time, and that the supposed "smoking gun" document showing Ford's callousness actually referred to the auto industry in general rather than the Pinto specifically.â€(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto) More people have died in SUV rollovers than a pinto catching fire, SUV rollover deaths have been rising from 882 in 1991 to 2,049 in 2000 (http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?scid=176&did=797) .Compare 27 deaths caused by a pinto, time clock being throughout the whole ordeal, compared to 2,049 deaths in one year for the SUV and its growing rates. Plus, a ford pinto, and any car of its time period, is far safer to drive because of its strong body, compared to the cheaper flimsier material used these days.
Things were built to last in the olden days, unlike today when things are purposely built so that they will need replacement or fixing in very little time. I am not trying to attack or be rude, I’m just sick of the pinto being put down.
Although, I will agree that the new die cast model released by fresh cherries are excellent.They have also released a larger scale model and recently an RC pinto, and keep an eye out- WalMart seems to keep them in stock if you’re interested.
Also, check out www.fordpinto.com, there are countless articles about pintos in their bric-a-brac section if anyone wants to look up info themselves
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Posted by Emilee to Jason Elias: Pop Culture Idiot at 8/09/2006 12:47:56 AM
All of the comments are back, but they weren't at the time of this posting...
Em has left a new comment on your post "Fresh Cherries: Die Cast BS":
oh yes, erase a perfectly decent comment that had a solid statement with cited information, just because you don't like it and can. there's no way you can keep doing what you're doing without accepting and taking criticism from people, that’s what happens when you're in the public eye, get used to it babe
Posted by Em to Jason Elias: Pop Culture Idiot at 10:33 PM, August 16, 2006
oh sorry.. I didn't realize your server was acting up. ~innocent don't hurt me smile~ Sorry
Hey Em, I think it's back as good as its going to get...:)
i grew up on the pinto and having owned one i think this is a great little car to put-put around in.i have one of the replicas of the pinto and the mustang 2 (owned one of these also) and i just love them all waiting for more
I grew up on it too, while I didn't love the Fresh Cherries version, I can understand it. For me, the back isn't long enough and the front had a slope that wasn't captured. Picky I know, that's the Pinto to me...
I had a Bobcat (Merc version of Pinto), and yeah, it was a POS. My first car however, was a '74 Maverick with a 302 V8. The car was smokin'. The four door Mav is ugly. The two door? Quite possibly the best car Ford ever made. I'm serious. They took a pounding and kept going. I'm currently looking for a two door Mav, 70-72 vintage. They make hellacious drag racers. Aggressively shitty? Not even close.
That '74 Maverick with a 302 V8 does sound good...
Fresh Cherries are great. Just picked up 3 different sizes and looking for the 4th new size of the great and super rare AMC Pacer. Yep, I got a real one in the garage complete with working 8-Track. Blast to drive. As to the Maverick they did stay on the road for a long time for a cheap car.
Think this says it all !!!
Are these the best diecast on the market? Not at all. Are they the best two dollar cars on the market? I have to say yes. Lots of painted details, all metal, rubber tires, info cards, and just the fact that these models represent an important period in US automotive history. Love 'em or hate 'em, it's good to see a manufacturer producing cars that the other brands think have no appeal.
I wouldn't mind having a Pacer w/ an 8 track, now that sounds like fun...
Fresh Cherries aren't horrible, but I still find it a bit too much to see some these cars in die-cast form. It's odd since the Pinto was yanked off the road. Speaking of the Maverick, I remember Hot Wheels did a version of it back in the late '60s/early '70s if I'm not mistaken. It wasn't too bad looking either...
Well the Pinto car I have is well made. The bottom is metal, that's a plus--never did like plastic. Johnny Lightening's 1976 Vega isn't half as well made.
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