As the Summer of 2022 rolls out, we are finally seeing some of the normal activity coming back to life, like the Cars N Coffee gatherings, slot car swap meets and racing events of all scales. Auto World’s new release, the second ThunderJet version of the Cars N Coffee series (SC379) will be hitting the shelves in June/July of 2022. This release has some historical racing liveries, factory stock muscle and cool customs, a little bit of everything and for every taste.
#1 1972 Buick GS (Gran Sport) – Silver Mist/Black and Fire Red/White
Buick dipped their toe in the water of the muscle car craze with the 1965 Buick GS and continued to build up the line throughout the 60’s and early 70’s. With a variety of engines ranging from the potent 455GS and GSX to the 350GS that was no slouch under the hood, Buick had made their space in the muscle car universe. This did wonders helping shake off the “stodgy old family car” identity.
#2 1957 Chevy Bel Air – Custom Yellow/Flames and Custom Purple/Silver
The car that defined the 1950’s, the 1957 Chevy Bel Air captured a lot of imaginations from drag racers to the customizers. This release has two excellent examples of the customizer/hot rodder paint work. With over 166,000 Bel Airs produced, we get to see a wide variety of examples this car can be molded into.
#3 1964 Dodge 330 – Toreador Red (Mr. Norm’s Hustler II) – Onyx Black
The 1964 Dodge 330 matched up with the second generation 426 Hemi (intended for professional racing only…Yeah, okay) and the 661 lightweight package option, turned the two door sedan into a near unbeatable monster on the drag strip. Grand Spaulding Dodge delivered a car of this description to Mr. Norm Krause and after a bit of tuning, some red paint and drag slicks, the Hustler II was born.
#4 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II – Gold/Pink/White and Red/White
This release of the GT40 Mk IIs capture the liveries of the Holman Moody built gold and pink car raced by Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson and the red and white stripped car entered by Shelby American and piloted by Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant.
#5 1968 Chevy Camaro Z/28 – Tuxedo Black/White and Ash Gold/Black
For 1968 the Z/28 was a $400 option package added to the base $2588 price tag of the Camaro. Vent windows were gone and the ‘68 wore ID badges on the nose of the front fenders giving fair warning to everyone that it was a Z/28.
#6 1964 Ford Thunderbolt – Vintage Burgundy/Gold (Dick Brannan) and Wimbledon White
Considered by many to be the first competition 1964 Ford Thunderbolt, this car was built and raced by Dick Brannon and is captured nicely here in this release with the Vintage Burgundy and gold paint. The second T-Bolt in this release is fashioned similarly to the Bill Lawton piloted car, decked out in fashionable Wimbledon White and trimmed in period racing graphics.
Here is the packaging for the Auto World ThunderJet Cars N Coffee Release #2 (SC379)
As we said earlier, this release has a bit of everything, from historic road racing, to drag cars, custom street machines and some factory muscle. Look for these at you favorite hobby shop or web store in June/July 2022.
