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I was at hobby lobby over the weekend and saw this model kit. I remember building one with my dad, I was probably 8 years old. I would swear that the model we put together included a small electric motor (located inside the starter motor) and 8 small lamps inside the spark plugs. The electric motor would spin the engine, and the lights in the spark plugs would “fire” in sequence.
Does anyone in readerland remember the model kit? More importantly, is it still available?
At the time, I thought the model was based on a sbc. Upon closer examination, it’s obviously not. Is it based on a real production engine or just a generic representation of a V8 engine? Thanks.
I also built one with my dad, and yes, it had the eight tiny bulbs, the electric motor in the starter motor, and the batteries inside the fake car battery case.
Apparently the current version uses a hand crank to turn it over.
"Renwal's quarter-scale take on the quintessential American engine was introduced in the company's sales catalogs in 1960, Judy told us, and remained a fixture until at least 1973...
...We suspect it's no coincidence that the introduction of the kit followed the arrival of the Chevrolet small-block by five years, though consensus is that the Renwal kit is not modeled after any one engine, but is representative of its type."
they also did the slant 6,and a visable chassis that the v8 fit into. these kits are very expensive nowdays. i found a new old stock v8 at an antique shop for 10.00 about 15 yrs ago
I built that battery powered blinking V8 in the early 70s. Got the model for my birthday as a kid. Had little spring loaded ball contactors in the distributor to light up the spark plugs at the right time. The destructions said to lubricate the gray plastic pistons with vegetable oil or some sort of crap like that. Don't recall exactly. The little battery case was hooked to the starter motor which utilized little nuts and screws that held all that junk together. It was the very first V8 I had ever built. It was fun.
I’m glad to know I’m not crazy about the motorized model. I’d love to find one today, or for it to be rereleased. Judging from the attention span of today’s kids I doubt that will ever happen.
I remember the Visable V-8 but did not have it I did however have the Monogram Big-T a 1/8 scale T-Bucket also very popular at the same time as the Visable V-8 it was a father son project I built with my Dad it was awesome at the time there was a optional sold separate motor kit,
we went to the local hobby shop purchased the motor kit (big mistake ) on its first run it got away from us and crashed into the basement wall
broke the whole front end luckily the parts just broke off and we repaired it, the old man removed the battery contacts in the short bed and it never made another run !! just sat on top of my dresser and looked cool !!
I had a T-Bucket too, it sat on our family’s tube type Zenith TV. One day my Mother lifted it up to dust off the TV and the car came apart in pieces, apparently the heat from the TV dried out all the glue, in the garbage it went!
While I can't swear this is the exact model I had, I can say that this one is very similar to the one I had. It included a working chassis with working brakes, differential, shocks, shift-able trans, working steering, and of course the engine that turned over. Mine didn't have working "plugs," though.
My uncle gave me a visible Wankel Rotary engine kit back in the '70s. Never got it finished, I think the tolerances were too tight and it kept binding so I sidelined it. Long gone now.
I remember the Visable V-8 but did not have it I did however have the Monogram Big-T a 1/8 scale T-Bucket also very popular at the same time as the Visable V-8 it was a father son project I built with my Dad it was awesome at the time there was a optional sold separate motor kit,
we went to the local hobby shop purchased the motor kit (big mistake ) on its first run it got away from us and crashed into the basement wall
broke the whole front end luckily the parts just broke off and we repaired it, the old man removed the battery contacts in the short bed and it never made another run !! just sat on top of my dresser and looked cool !!
That is absolutely Evil !! I swear those two lived in my neighborhood !! Ronny Evans and Mikael Hunt, Ronny Hunt ran one of those Ice Cream tri- cycle rigs (remember loaded with ice-cream and dry ice and the bells ) anyway he stops one day says watch this pulls a piece of dry ice out of the chest then a frog out of his pocket throws the frog on the dry ice (sticks Immediately and struggles to break loose ) Ronnie laughs his *** off !! Mike Evans (his father was a appliance repair man) had a back yard full of washers and dryers he used to throw cats in the front load glass windowed dryers and turn it on and watch !! also used to electrocute worms on the spark plug of his Tecumseh lawn mower eng. I dont know if the wound up in prison or NASA engineers, but I think these two may be their offspring !!!!!
I remember the Visable V-8 but did not have it I did however have the Monogram Big-T a 1/8 scale T-Bucket also very popular at the same time as the Visable V-8 it was a father son project I built with my Dad it was awesome at the time there was a optional sold separate motor kit,
we went to the local hobby shop purchased the motor kit (big mistake ) on its first run it got away from us and crashed into the basement wall
broke the whole front end luckily the parts just broke off and we repaired it, the old man removed the battery contacts in the short bed and it never made another run !! just sat on top of my dresser and looked cool !!
I actually brought this kit home on Friday from my family’s Christmas party as a white elephant gift. The copyright date on the box says 1962.
The story was a friend of my uncle’s got it as a youngster and started putting it together but never completed it. My uncle ended up with it and decided it was a prime candidate for the gift exchange game. I had to steal it from my sister who opened it first.
I got the V8 kit for Christmas when I was in 7th grade with the lights and motor. At that time I was also taking a small engines course at school. Each two kids in the class got a lawn mower engine to completely disassemble and put back together, we had to get them running. We learned about iggie systems, honing, lapping valves, etc. The teacher also had a couple operating antique one lungers in the shop. It was one of the few non ship models that I built.
I also got the V8 model for Christmas when I was 12 or 13. They've sure cheapened them up( except for the price!) these days! My local Hobby-Lobby usually always has one on the shelf. Kensey's video of the guys blowing up their Ford V8 model brought back memories! I managed to toss a couple of rods & break the crank on my mine! I put more volts to the electric motor & got it to spin fast enough to grenade! Great fun!!. I was able to call Revell & order all the replacement parts I needed to "rebuild" it!! I had the "Big-T kit with the motor drive kit too. I seem to remember the plastic being extra brittle, something was always breaking on it. Didn't Lindeburg make it back then instead of Monogram??? I thought I'd died & went to heaven when I found that Jo-han '70 442 model in a hobby shop around '76!
Great fun!!. I was able to call Revell & order all the replacement parts I needed to "rebuild" it!! I had the "Big-T kit with the motor drive kit too. I seem to remember the plastic being extra brittle, something was always breaking on it. Didn't Lindeburg make it back then instead of Monogram??? I thought I'd died & went to heaven when I found that Jo-han '70 442 model in a hobby shop around '76!
