Chrysler Connection
by Douglas R. Kelly
Toy cars have come in every size and scale you can imagine over the past 100 years or so, and we’ve probably explored most of those sizes here in “Toys from the Attic” over the last couple of years. I think the product that we have under the spotlight this time is probably the smallest that we’ve
covered, and we’re doing so because I gave short shrift to these toys when I mentioned them in my feature article on toy convertibles that appeared a few months ago in the Journal’s “Summer Fun” issue. Let’s remedy that by getting into Revell’s HO-scale (generally around 1:87 scale) plastic Chrysler models.
For many years, Revell has been known for plastic model kits (airplanes, ships, and cars). The company didn’t produce HO-scale slot cars, but it also didn’t ignore the HO market entirely. For one brief “season,” Revell partnered with one of the Big Three automakers to produce a series of HO models—not sold in kit form, but rather pre-built—that are today fairly rare and, in fact, are unknown to most collectors.
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More than 10 years ago, I was lucky enough to have a conversation with Jim Keeler, who joined the Revell staff in April 1961 as a model builder for the R&D department. He told me that Revell wanted to get into the model car market, but Ford and GM were already collaborating with other model makers. “So Revell took [a model of a Chevrolet V-8 engine] to Chrysler Corporation, and Chrysler said, ‘That’s wonderful. We have a new engine coming … let’s do a model of it. It’s called the slab 6.’ Chrysler helped pay for the tooling for that engine model, and Revell decided that, along with the engine, that they’d produce HO-scale models to go with their HO model railroad products.”
The decision-makers at Chrysler must have liked the idea of HO models for train layouts, so they gave Revell access to the blueprints for their upcoming 1961 Dodge, Plymouth, and Chrysler models. Revell, which was based in California at the time, began working on the design of the series.
The Competition
There was no shortage of players in the HO scale market in 1960-’61. Wiking in Germany, Norev in France, and Lego in Denmark all produced 1:86-scale plastic cars, but the Revell brain trust saw that there was plenty of room in the U.S. market for their Chrysler models.
In terms of accuracy and quality, the European manufacturers set the bar high. The team at Revell responded by producing a set of seven models that not only lived up to the standard set by the European makers but also contained several models that have rarely been modeled in any scale. Each model featured window glazing, Goodyear markings on plastic tires, and chassis detail such as exhaust and suspension components. The models were also produced in authentic 1961 Chrysler colors.
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Revell offered the Chrysler models both in individual boxes and as a set, including all seven cars. The boxes had cellophane windows, enabling prospective purchasers to see the products, and the back of each box touted the “outstanding features” of Chrysler’s 1961 models, such as torsion-aire suspension and unibody construction.
There were three Dodges in the set, and I think they’re great examples of Revell’s off-the-beaten-path thinking. The first was a two-door Dodge Polara hardtop, which Chrysler had introduced for the 1960 model year. However, for 1961, the car was redesigned in a major way. The reasons for the redesign aren’t entirely clear, but the result was a very attractive car, unlike most vehicles on the road at the time.
The Polara featured a unique design element: reverse fins at the rear, which proved too unique as the American buying public stayed away from the Polara in droves. Dodge sales plummeted in 1961, and that year’s Polara wound up as another one-year-only design. Surviving examples of the Polara are rare, not unlike the Revell HO model, which captured the sweeping “C” shape of the rear fin as it rounded the rear
end of the car and continued toward the door.
Next time, we’ll delve into the other Dodges in the 1961 set, along with entries from Plymouth and Imperial.
Douglas R. Kelly is the editor of Marine Technology magazine. His byline has appeared in Antiques Roadshow Insider; Back Issue; Diecast Collector; RetroFan; and Buildings magazines.
