Johnny Lightning 1964 Chevy Impala 1:24 DieCast Car Super Detailed

May 7, 2020

#383

Gentle reader,

Previously I wrote about a 1:24th scale diecast car model I have of my very first car which I bought as a senior in high school in 1973 here: 

The Robb Collections: Replicating My First Car In Diecast 1:24th Scale. 1964 Chevy Impala  

I showed you numerous photos of it and a real one like mine for sale in Washington state.

I also showed a few photos of a super detailed one that West Coast Precision Models made which sold for hundreds of dollars.

A search on eBay revealed that Johnny Lightning made a series in 1:24th scale in 2010 called MUSCLECARS R42. To my delight there was one for $24.99 on eBay in the unopened box. I bought it and it is delightful!

Since it was from ten years ago, I could find no retail pricing for them. 

I found one for sale online for $89.00 but that was wishful thinking by the seller.

A search on eBay for the series yielded a number of different cars made in the series. With the highest sold being $65.00.

Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Is it realistic? Very much so. I will show you below what I have found.

The aluminum chrome on the sides of the car is very accurate as are the lettering and emblems such as SS and the flags with 409 depicting the engine's size.

The 1962 and 1963 Impala cars have a one piece aluminum trim like the model does.

Not so easy to see on this white car, but the area around the taillights is body color sheet metal. Also, the trunk chrome is triangular as it reaches the chrome surrounding the letters spelling: CHEVROLET.

The overall shape (below) is very good. They carefully painted all of the chrome the real car has.

The wipers are pretty much to scale and like in reality are separate pieces. They even made the holes where outside air enters the car for the heater and air conditioning! Oh, and they molded in the openings on the dash where the radio's speaker is mounted beneath the dash.

Unlike the ten dollar model I already had, they added sill plates to cover the gap between the interior and body. Just as the real cars have. Also note the chrome trim the real seats have.

Unlike the cheap car's ridiculous gap as seen here. I am SO out of practice painting. Tsk, tsk. 

Silver paint was carefully placed on much of the interior bits, but no effort was made on the steering column or wheel. Note that they did create and installed a rear view mirror.

They still have a shift lever on the steering column which should not be there. The floor shifter was straight like that and they got the console correct. As seen below on a replica one for sale on the Internet.

The dash is painted same as the body which is incorrect. Note the silver paint above the gauge. They molded in surrounds that don't exist on the real car. But that is me picking nits.

They correctly placed trim on the front of the hood and the emblem looks correct as do the grille, headlights and front bumper. They even molded in the piece of metal where the hood latch is.

The engine bay is pretty accurate with a battery and washer fluid bottle and some wiring on the left fender well. As well as radiator with overflow tubing, cap, upper hose and engine drive belt with alternator and bracket.

The engine is still a rectangular block at the bottom, but that's OK. Chrome valve covers and they even added spark plug wiring. They even molded a battery hold down bracket and cables.

All-in-all, I am very pleased with this car. But I cannot resist comparing it to my first one.

Front end comparison.

Hoods are quite different. Note the wipers and chrome strips.

Rear ends are worlds apart. They didn't even try to get the rear bumper correct on the cheap one. The taillight rings cut into the chrome that is above them on the cheap car.

The shape of the rear window and trunk are much closer to reality on the Johnny Lightning model as is the IMPALA SS emblem. The cheap one does have the end of the trunk chrome strip close to the real car's shape.

Comparing the doors. There is no comparison. The mirror on the door above is not fully seated, but the size and shape are correct. The cheap car's emphasis on large chrome everything is almost characture-like on the beige car.

But, in defense of the Chinese factory that made the cheap car, it was built to sell for a certain price and for that, it is not terrible.

Like 1:64 scale diecast which is what Johnny Lightning build far more of, this car's is all metal too. Each car has a serial number too.
They molded in the engine's starter motor and oil filter. They gave it a manual transmission (and three pedals inside the car) as well as great detail to the entire undercarriage as far as correct contours and shapes. Tires are wider than the cheap one's below. 

Vague shapes to almost everything on the cheap model. Especially the engine being set too far back. Photo is one I found on the Internet. I did not take a "before" photo of mine.

Here is the super detailed underneath of the West Coast Precision Model's chassis. Of which the detail is incredible.

I have put the JL photo up again to compare to the WCPM chassis. Looks darned good to me.

All-in-all, I am very happy with my purchase. Now, I have to choose what is going to go from the shelf below:

I would say the cheap beige car. But with all the work I put into it.... I'll figure it out.

Thank you SO much for taking the time to read my humble blog. Please take a moment and click the FOLLOW button above and you may make comments below if you wish.

Scott
May 7, 2020
#383