Two Lane Desktop

While Greenlight tends to make a few mistakes, there's a few 1:64 castings that I think are the best in the industry.  One being the 2008-current Dodge Challenger, the other is the 2010 Shelby GT500 Mustang. New-Age Shelby GT500 Mustang, take two After a successful return of the Shelby namesake to the Ford motor company on the Mustang in 2007, the GT500 Mustang carries over onto the new 2010 Mustang body style.  The biggest change is more differentiation from the regular Mustang's; an issue that the 2007-2009 Shelby GT500 faced despite the dual stripes, snake badges, and dome hood.  The mesh grille and snake logo carry over, but the snake shifts to the right-side to allow room for the cold air intake snorkel on the left.  Hood now has larger vents, dual 5-spoke wheels are concave and give the Shelby an aggressive look.  The rear gets a flat Gurney-style spoiler and revised lower bumper with dual exhaust.  Other Mustang changes include new projec...

Earlier this year I profiled the newly-released 2013 Chrysler 300C in brown from the Greenlight Motor World series.  The verdict was a nicely-done casting with classic American luxury combined with the classic American V8 power of the Hemi.  So far this casting has been popular, if not a hot seller so far.  Now can this other tool do the same?  The SRT-8 in Cherry Red Crystal Pearlcoat. A wild child in tamer clothes The 300 SRT-8 arrived in 2006 as the muscle car sleeping in an exterior outfit that looks just like the regular 300C.  The only modifications is a mesh grille, revised front bumper, a little more bolstering in the front seats, SRT-8 badges, and of course the larger Hemi motor under the hood along with firmer suspension tunings.  For 2013 the same still carries over to the new body style; as mentioned before the new 300 body style is smoother, cleaner, and more richer than the previous generation.  The biggest improvement is...

When it comes to crediting the platform that gave birth to the original Mustang, look no further than the Falcon, Ford's first compact car introduced in 1960.  Since the Mustang's introduction the Falcon has not fared well in the light of it's younger, sportier cousin.  To make matter worse new U.S. Federal Regulations on the horizon meant the Falcon was not going to survive for long in the U.S. so Ford looked for a new replacement for the compact car segment, and what they came up with is the Maverick. Longhorns and limited styles The Maverick arrived in 1971 as the replacement for the Falcon as the new competitor to the compact and import car segment.  Unlike the Falcon, the Maverick only came as a two-door fastback with lots of Mustang styling influences.  Sadly, most of those styling elements would also be used in the unloved Pinto and Mustang II.  The Maverick was also affordable thanks to bare-bones interior with crank windows, no stereo on som...

Here's a quick look at these 2014 recolors that really stand out in their latest colors, the (custom) 2007 Ford Mustang and 1970 Camaro (formerly Camaro Road Racer). The 2007 Mustang was first released in the 2008 Modern Classics line in chrome.  It was larger than the 2005 casting and even with a custom look, still had a clean stock look to it!  Highlights include a billet grille with foglights in the lower grille, side exhaust concealed behind the bodywork, closed-off quarter windows, Saleen-style rear spoiler and lower diffuser.  The interior is pretty much stock Mustang.  It was released in the regular line in 2013 in Green and I was lucky enough to find a Super Treasure Hunt later on in a darker metallic green with hood graphics and 5-spoke mags with rubber tires.  Once again the 2007 Mustang is a Super TH for 2014, though I haven't found one yet.  Still the metallic red regular version is delicious, the graphics simple, and the tan interior...

If there is one vehicle in small scale that I am really getting tired of seeing it's the Mercury Cougar First Generation models.  It's not to say the Cougar is a bad car, it's very cool, but Hot Wheels and Matchbox have done such a nice job with their first versions out of the gate others who try to follow end up making a few mistakes on them.  Here's a few good examples of the best, with an original Topper Johnny Lightning, and the new Hot Wheels 1968 Mercury Cougar race car. Cougar: The Kitty's Pony Car The Mercury division finally got a Mustang of their own, in the form of the Cougar.  Based on the hot-selling Mustang, the Cougar offered the same amount of performance found in the Mustang, but with more creature comforts not found on the Mustang.  The razor-like front grille with hidden headlights and matching taillights with Thunderbird-style sequential turn indicators made the Cougar look very aggressive-looking!  The interior looks si...

Hot Wheels has made plenty of Bel-Air's and Nomad's over years, too many countless variations and versions to posts!  The Nomad was one of the original Redline Hot Wheels, called Classic Nomad, and retooled in 1994 to continue it's duties in the Hot Wheels line.  The 1955 Bel-Air arrived in the Hot Wheels Classics line in 2006 to replace the '55 Chevy, introduced in 1983, that lacked an interior and had some awkward spots.  Out of these two models, it's these recolors that make them really stand out and deserve their own blog on this site! The All-American, Original Chevy! To answer the long-overdue response to Ford's Flathead V8 and the new Chrysler HEMI V8 engine's, Chevrolet devised a group of designers and engineer's to create a V8-powered mid-size Chevy to be affordable to anyone and offer a diverse array of models from two-door and four-door sedan's, two-door convertible, four-door wagon, and two-door Nomad wagon.  The V8 was identi...

When it comes to Asian tuner cars, you either love them or hate them, and even those who like Asian cars may prefer the stock appearance from the Fast and Furious look of tuner cars.  Lately Hot Wheels has been getting the message and has released several Asian cars, most vintage models, that retain the stock look even with custom modifications to the body and wheels.  The Honda S2000 border lines on both fences. The hi-revving 2-door roadster The S200 began life as the 1995 SSM concept car, which showcased Honda's pursuit of their own 2-door roadster to go after the likes of Miata, Z3, SLK, and Boxster, while showcasing their latest racing technology into a street car, especially the DOHC VTEC I-4 driving the rear wheels through a six-speed manual.  After a few years of Honda and Acura fighting for rights to sell the car under their umbrella, Honda got the nod and the S2000 arrived at dealers in 1999. The S2000 looks just like the SSM concept except the hea...

Now to the other side of Maisto's 1:18 scale C4 Corvette casting: In 1996 the Convertible and Grand Sport joined the party with the ZR-1, and then along came the 1996 Coupe in Flame Red. Top/Topless Red-Head! The C4 got restyled front and rear bumpers for 1991, giving the Corvette a more rounder look.  The dashboard changes from the Gameboy ergonomic mess of the old to a simpler, cleaner, rounded look in 1991.  The color palette also got some hotter colors like yellow and this red I like to call Flame Red (though it was really Torch Red).  It looks HOT in person!!!  The biggest change is the introduction of the 5.7L LT4 V8 in 1996 for manual transmission cars.  The LT4 had changes to engine parts, including a new larger intake.  Output is 330 hp. and 340 Ib-ft. torque through a six-speed manual.  This engine also appeared on the Grand Sport models as well.  However, with a new Corvette on the horizon with new LS engine, the LT4 wa...