Racing Champions Mint and Johnny Lightning 1959 Ford F-250 4x4

With the popularity and plentiful supply of Jeeps from World War II the off-road boom was in swing and one popular aftermarket conversion was four-wheel drive added to pickup trucks.  Seeing the popularity of this feature the Big 3 from Detroit finally offered the 4x4 package from the factory on their pickup trucks.  Both Ford and Chevrolet offered the setup in 1959 and Racing Champions has decided to show off the first year of the Ford truck, then revived it under Johnny Lightning.

After a successful run with the famed F-100 trucks in the 1950’s, Ford was ready to redesign the F-series trucks in 1957 with a more integrated look that incorporates the front fenders with the hood and squares off the front-end.  Ford car-line influence still continues here with large grilles, headlights, and lots of chrome.  Also added was the popular styleside bed, basically a smooth bedside that matches the rest of the truck and offers more cargo capacity.  In 1959 the part-time four-wheel drive option was available for the first time and uses front and rear live axles with leaf springs, part-time two-speed transfer case, taller ride height and knobby tires with manual locking front hubs.  The look of the 1959 matches well with the off-road look as it has four headlights and a separate grille on the hood with the FORD letters.  The interior features a bench seat, wrap-around dashboard, full gauge package, 3-spoke steering wheel, and dual floor shifters: one for the transfer case and the other for the four-speed manual transmission.  The engine is a 232 CID V8 engine that produces an estimated 150 horsepower but has enough torque to pull this truck through anything.

Seen here in green the original Racing Champions Mint casting debut in 1999 and still looks the same today, in red, as a Johnny Lightning model.  The front still has the separate front grille and bumper with round headlights connected by signal lights and a tampo upper grille on the hood with the FORD letters, while the sides of the hood have the F250 badges as well.  The fenders have a nice flow to them and wrap around the chrome (or white) steel wheels where the Racing Champ version still uses the original treaded tires over the smoother ones on the Johnny Lightning version.  The smooth bedside continues to the rear with round taillights and FORD letters on the tailgate that opens.  The cargo area is nice and large and note on the Johnny Lightning version the recent addition of a trailer hitch since it returned first in the Gone Fishing set.  The base shows off the transfer case and some of the drivetrain, though the thick axle covers seem a bit low-end, while the hood opens to show off the V8 motor with black air cleaner, red valve covers and black drive belt.  The interior is simple with bench seat, steering wheel, and dashboard layout, but no shifters anywhere on the floor.

If that’s not enough Johnny Lightning also released a tow truck version and that’s nothing new: during the Racing Champions Mint era the F250 also served duties with a utility bed in some Hot Pursuit sets and some with a cherry picker as well.  This one uses the same tow truck body that fits in the bed of the 1965 Chevy pickup and works well here.  The boon is spring-loaded, has a hood at the end, and two round hazard lights up top, and there’s a separate plastic hook that represents the wheel traps even though they’re too small and practically useless.  On the other hand the benefit of an opening tailgate allows easy access to the black wheel traps.  This truck has the FoMoCo decals along the sides in gold and white two-tone that has a rusted and faded out look that is very neat on this truck even though some collectors object to this layout and prefer a more stock and newer appearance.  While many Ford pickups have been made in diecast Racing Champ…err…Johnny Lightning has the advantage of being the only diecast version of a 1959 F-250 4x4 with excellent details and opening parts in 1:64 scale.