Bucket list builds

[Tom Birky]

I'm posting this topic to stir up your mojo a little. If I'm in a building slump..then I'm in an acquiring mode. I'm always doing research or scouting for pieces for a future build. When I get enough parts and reference then the building begins! Lets get some posts going about bucket list cars. If you are having trouble finding something, or wondering how to go about it or what to start with, post that too. There is a wealth of knowledge here on this board.  It doesn't have to be a replica, although that's what I like to build. I'll start, then you'll get the idea. Post as much about your dream car as you like.  tom


Back in 1981 the IMCA modified was in it's 3rd or possibly 4th year. From humble beginnings of some true jalopie looking cars at Benton County Speedway in Vinton Iowa, the cars quickly grew in numbers and quality. I had the pleasure as a young guy to hang around a guy by the name of Bob Bowser. He was a really good fabricator and a funny guy. He always raced with $300 in his pocket so he could claim a motor if he saw the need. Back then, motor claims happened nearly every night. He got claimed nearly as much as he claimed others. Tired of paying the wrecker driver the $25 or $50 whichever it was to winch the motor out of his car, he constructed a jib boom on the side of his hauler with a chain fall so he could pull his own motors and save the pulling fee! I'm also a huge Chevy nut with a real soft spot for the Vega,,(that's another story). The early mods were required to run a steel body Vega, Pinto, or Gremlin, a friend of mine even cut up a pretty decent AMX for a modified body.

I've wanted to build a model of his car for some time and collected a few parts. Bob passed away a couple of years ago unexpectedly and that made me want to build it even more. I was hesitant with no reference picture. A random conversation with board member Bob Dixon swerved into the subject of that Vega and he says...yeah I have a picture of it! Woohoo!! Bob promptly sent it to me and now I'm going to move forward. (as soon as I clean up some I have started)

The new Revell 68 Chevelle will donate the frame. (Thanks Greg!) The early mods were required to run stock A arms for the first few years, so the stock chassis will be perfect with the addition of some racing shocks. I have to source a small block Chevy from my stash yet. DOT street  tires were required so I'm going with the wide Mickey Thompsons from the rear of the AMT 70 Motion Camaro cause the just look about right to me. Bob ran Rally Wheels most of the time, (on the tire rack in the pic) so that's what I'm using. A SMH resin Vega body will be used for the sheetmetal. Got some cutting to do on that. Ok, well that's my bucket list car, part of the story and the basics.

[Brian Conn]

....Every build I start/build is from a bucket list....I'll never complete the list as its 120 -130 cars or so.  I am in an acquiring mode this year...sort of a bucket sub list...there are 2 elusive resin bodies that I have been after for a while now....the Ford Granada and the 1997 Lincoln (NASCAR).

  It took 5 years since the beginnings before I saw my first I.M.C.A Modifieds....1983 Riverside Stadium, Riverside , MO. and Topeka Raceway, Topeka,Ks.   I remember being on the fence, at first, with the modifieds.  I didn't like the enclosed engine compartment, which eventually I.M.C.A would do away with anyway.  That era of the 80's...84 ish thru about 1988 was my favorite time for the I.M.C.A Modifieds.  When they started going the cookie cutter route with the bodies and the prices started to soar, my interest started to wane some. 

  I applaud you for actually taking the time and effort to build a correct I.M.C.A Modified verses slapping a body over a NASCAR roller chassis and calling it good.

  I got the MPC Pinto Wagon "Pony Express" the other day with the intentions of making an I.M.C.A Modified out of it someday...Revell Gran Torino frame...I think you might get the picture. 

[Marty W]

Let's see...  here are some off the top, most of which I have parts or kits for already.

Near the top is a 1/25 '65 Landy's Dodge altered wheelbase.

1/8 scale short track '55 Chevy.

1/8 scale 60's '32 Ford, small block Chevy early modified (SoCal style).

1/8 scale 60's fuel altered Topolino.

1/16 '55 Chevy gasser.

1/25 scale Tim Flock '56 Chrysler.

1/25 blown 427 '56 Ford 60's gasser (in progress).

1/24 '37 Ford modified coupe of Wendell Scott.

1/25 '69 Barracuda street rod with 426 hemi (my little fantasy machine).

.......Annnd, the '32 Ford sedan jalopy in progress.

I know I left something out, but you get the idea.

[Michael F]

My bucket list: build all kits wich are stored in the basement. Oh well, to manage this, my days should have 35 hours and the nights as well for the next 20 years
Currently i´m working on a 50´s Chevy pickup converted into a GMC trailer tractor. The load of the trailer are two Ferguson tractors i finished recently
and some crates with agricultural contents (at least the labels on the crates says so ). I´ll post some pics of it when it´s finished.
Of course i have some modifieds in progress, a Plymouth Duster and a ´40 Ford coupe and at the recent modelcar show in Jabbeke/Belgium i picked up the
Lindberg double dirt modifieds kit, can´t wait to start those little litterbugs...
But on the top of my list, is my everlasting project of a racecar junkyard i´m constantly working on. I constructed the shop and the baseplate (both still not finished)
and the first junk racecar is the Wendell Scott Torino, i built some time ago.





So much models and ideas and so less time...

[Hondo]

Pretty much all of my kits were bucket list at one time......... until I got the next "great" idea 

I do have a certain late '80s NASCAR Daytona Dash (4 cyl class) car I want to build.

[john2]

My bucket list consists of the 20 or so kits and parts car projects in our " fun room " as we call it.   I'll be 80 before the end of the year.  Old age is creeping in.  It is a real bucket list for me.

Thought I'd list them all, but it would be boring for you.  Two are the rebuilds of a  1/16  '56 Chevy and a 1/16 '78 Firebird to complete my Freddy Fryar Tribute.  The 1/16  '30 sedan is done and posted here.

Another is an Alabama Gang Tribute consisting of a '32 sedan for Bobby, '37 Chevy coupe for Donnie, and a '32 coupe for Red.  None of these, including the Fryar cars, are full-blown replicas - just cars they could have raced in their colors. 

Also a '66 Chevy hauler for my 14 late model, shown here recently, and for my new shop diorama, to be shown soon.

All of these kits and projects are short track stuff, except a Foose pick up, and a Shelby Cobra for the street.

I guess there is one true " bucket list " item in that I have started what I call a " Wacky Racer."  It is a slab sided sheet plastic bodied early '60s super modified.  The idea is an experiment to see the feasibility of trying to design and build a plastic 1/25 scale model airplane similar to a homebuilt Piper Cub.  There are  no 1/25 plastic airplane kits on the market.   My idea is to use flat bulkheads at the windshield and rear window of the car, to learn about flat bulkheads ( and sheet sides ) for the aircraft fuselage.  We will see.

At my age, my building philosophy is changing, in that I now only build engine parts that will show,  and am seriously going toward only doing the parts of the process that I enjoy most whether anything gets finished or not.    And that is painting, decaling, and hand lettering bodies.  I have done 4 coupe bodies within the past two weeks. 

Maybe y'all won't run me off just yet. 

[Volzfan59]

I enjoy building some of the models that I built as a kid. The AMT Modified Stocker series, the MPC Super Stocker series, the AMT and MPC modified's. I guess that's my bucket list, simple as it may be. I have all of the modified stockers waiting (currently working on the Galaxie, the GTO and Fairlane are built). I have the super stocker GTO built, have the Monte Carlo waiting. Now if Round 2 would release the Chevelle and Trickle Mustang from the series, if they have the molds. Got the MPC Wild One built and have sourced the other three. Now, if Round 2 would again play ball and release the AMT modified's, that's assuming that they have the molds.

[TarheelRick]

I think my bucket list is to try to complete some of the many I have in progress. I have a '53 Ford convertible with no front fenders I am trying to build into a late model, a full custom 50 Ford convertible, trying to build a crew cab using the AMT '53 Ford pickups set on the Lindberg F-150 4X4 chassis and using the 150 pickup bed (sort of a replica of my 2022 F-150. Also have a '61 Ford Starliner that I am building into a full-custom (using all the radical parts in the Styline kit). Want to get started on a 69 Barracuda A/MP drag car and a couple other builds I have been planning, one being to use the Louisville hauler and shorten the frame into a single-axle cab then use another one to lengthen the frame and build it into a hauler. Got plenty to do, just need to motivate myself to get started.

[Volzfan59]

Looks like my bucket list is getting smaller. I've sourced three of the AMT early modified series cars. Will need to find the '35 Chevy sedan and the Mustang at some point. Now, just need Round 2 to come through with the Trickle Mustang and the Chevelle. I really admire you guys that can juggle three or four projects at a time. My mind just won't allow me to focus on two, three or four at a time. Even in my bass fishing, I can only concentrate on the cast at hand. Some guys are constantly looking ahead of the boat, down the bank for the next target. I'm just not wired that way.