AMT Double Dragster (Rail)

When I got back into modeling I bought an AMT Double Dragster kit and then I somehow ended up with another. You could build a Fiat Altered and a dragster and you could mix and match the parts to a nearly endless degree. The kit is interesting because came out in the early/mid sixties, but the design was from the late fifties/early sixties. Rail design had changed and by the mid sixties they didn't remotely look the same. The roll cages circled the drivers head, the cockpit was slimmer, the front wheels were from motorcycles, and most noticeably, the chassis were much longer. A cool thing about the kit was the real nice small block Chevy with fuel injection and the fact that you could build twin engine versions. The main drag racing rules body (NHRA) outlawed nitromethane so to increase power lots of teams went with twin engines. Once NHRA removed the ban on Nitro the Chrysler Hemi took over and few continued to run twins since the limit on acceleration was the tires and the twins had way too much power.

I never liked how short the wheelbase was on the rail and since I had two I thought maybe...

Here's the length of the dragster out of the box. This is actually the last one I built. I used the Hemi instead of the Chevy, modified the body to remove the seam and opened up the rear, and changed out the wheels and tires.  Otherwise its pretty much standard kit build.  The paint is Testor's Fiery Orange.






You can see how short the chassis is and try to imagine two inline Chevy's in this. So here is two chassis spliced together to get a longer look. It's actually too long for the time period, but it has a more natural flow to it. Wheels and tires were swapped out and the body was modified so that the seam is at the bottom and not the side. Paint is flat white primer with Mod Podge Pearlizer over it. This is my favorite of the three builds.






My final finished build is the tandem version using two Chevy's with Potvin superchargers. I plain guessed wrong on the length of this one. It's proportion looks wrong but I was too far along to cut it apart to shorten it. Wheels and tires are changed and the body modified to remove the seam. Paint is Krylon Transparent Blue over a sterling silver base.





One of the options with the kit is a streamliner body and I am working on building a version with the AMT Allison V12 engine.  Finishing it is a question, but hopefully it will get done. That would complete my rail Double Dragsters.

Brilliant Collection Dave.

Thank you Chris.

I like those, the engines are brilliant Dave.

Gary.

Thank you Gary.