Auto World 1963 Dodge Polara 426 Max Wedge, 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix, and 1970 Chevrolet Impala coupe

Auto World has been limited to recolors so far this year, yet they still amaze us with the excellent level of detailing and colors.  The latest is the recolors of the 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix, 1970 Chevrolet Impala coupe, and the newest is the 1963 Dodge Polara Max Wedge.

1964 Pontiac Grand Prix

The Grand Prix was reviewed here last year on this blog alongside the 1965 Pontiac GTO that was a former Ertl casting turned into Raching Champions Mint.  Since then the excellent Grand Prix has wore some awesome colors and none finer than this maroon color with white interior.  The interior has detailed seats, center console, and door panels in white while the dashboard with three-spoke steering wheel and detailed controls are part of the same exterior color.  It has that widetrack look and GTO-like styling cues (the GTO would not adopt them until 1965) with stacked headlights and split grille with GP up front and in the rear a taillight bar on the trunklid with reverse lamps on the vertical slats.  The engine shows off the tri-carb V8 motor with light blue block, while the base has excellent details of the frame and drivetrain.  Even the black with chrome outer rings hub cap wheels still look great.  Even more is the darker colors that join the maroon colors including the dark blue version that even looks better in person.

1970 Chevrolet Impala coupe

On the other side is a casting that is a surprise hit, yet seems a bit drabby compared to other Auto World models when I reviewed the dark green version a few years ago.  Since then it has gained a new fleet of colors that are brighter and more attention-getting, such as this light blue version.  Now the car looks even better than before.  The front has quad headlights with eggcrate grille and bumper that splits the grille.  Note the grille is a bit tilted on my tester and also the Impala name on the vinyl roof top is missing on one side so I erased the other side for a more uniform look.  Not great quality, but it still looks good.  The sides show the detailed chrome trim and wheelwell spears with chrome hubcaps on white wall tires.  The rear has vertical slat taillights and 454 license plate.  The interior has seating for six with detailed seats, door panels, and driver-centered dashboard with two-spoke steering wheel.  The hood opens up to show off that 454 V8 motor with orange block, silver air cleaner and valve covers, and plenty of room to spare.  Even the base has the excellent frame and drivetrain details.  I was at odds of liking this rather mundane generation of Impala at first, but with the recent brighter recolors I am starting to like this Impala more and more.

1963 Dodge Polara 426 Max Wedge

Now for the new kid in the room, the Polara Max Wedge.  To be fair the Polara has been used before but not as a drag-strip ready vehicle joining the 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 with the Thunderbolt package.  Both are painted the same black with red interiors and sport rear wheels without the chrome center hubcaps.  The Polara was part of a new 1960's compact car line that introduced some rather awkward styling that was love-it-or-hate-it.  After a few years the unusual styling lines were smooth out and more performance features were brought in to help revive sales.  The Max Wedge used the basic Polara models and included a revised hood with functioning air scoop to feed the large 426 CID Max Wedge V8.  Taking inspiration from the early Chrysler 300 cars it has two carberator's that are fed to four intake fingers that feed the cylinders opposide of where the carb sits.  The engine produced 410 horsepower thorugh a two-speed Chrysler push-button automatic transmission with buttons located to the left of the steering wheel.  The Max Wedge was very popular in NASCAR racking up victories left and right before a ban on the engine was placed by NASCAR in 1965 putting an end to the engine.

I never was a big fan of this Polara styling, but man does it look better in this drag-ready profile.  The front has round headlights with foglights inside of the forward-thrust grille, while signal lights sit below the chrome front bumper.  That hood with those menacing dual scoops are functional and you can see a bit of the orange engine peeking through.  On the sides you get chrome trim bits with Polara on the front fenders and blacked-out steel wheels with the front wheels only containing the center cap.  The rear has a conventional look with horizontal taillight and reverse lamps and a license plate area in between.  Also note the Polara badge on the trunklid.  The interior has seating for four with front bucket seats and detailed ribbed door panels.  The dashboard has a two-spoke dish steering wheel and a large round gauge cluster.  Controls on the dashboard are far and few against the ribbed pattern across the dash.  The hood opens up to show off the 426 Wedge motor in orange with dual air cleaner, while the base falls short of excellent Auto World detailing lacking the front and rear suspension details.  It was nice to see how the Polara  stacked up agains the Galaxie Thunderbolt, but unlike the smooth-rolling Galaxie the Polara had lots of tire rub so it was hard to gauge who would be the ultimate 1/4 mile winner.  Also just like the Galaxie the Polara Max Wedge comes in three other colors.

Update 94//17:  Here's more pictures of the 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix, this time in a dark blue color that really suits this model well.  From a distance and in dim light this can be mistaken for a black color.  Probably one of the best colors of the Grand Prix so far: