Kit: ERTL Gotham City Police/Goon Car 1/24 Scale 1978 Dodge Monaco
I spared no expense of time on this kit. I felt bad after looking at my Rosco #1 car, and I got about 1/100 the way through restoring it when I started looking online and noticed other people had used the Gotham Police/Goon kit. For about $12 I could start over… Deal.
I salvaged a few parts from the other car, mostly the wheels/hubcaps/rear axle. The Tires are from an entirely different kit but the fit the larger rims from the first Rosco car and still looked proportionate to the car.
The first season of Dukes used AMC Hornets or similar but by the early season two they were consistently using 1978 Dodge Monaco police cars. The ’78 Monaco is used heavily in all kinds of police shows and in real life. I did extensive research to find just a few photos of real cars. Most weren’t taken care of.
There were some (hilarious) scenes where the cars get torn apart or landed on their roof or side so I got shots of everything from the position of the CB antenna to the contents of the trunk (nothing but a spare).
I wanted to make a jumpable Rosco car. I’m not sure what my obsession with making suspension work on MODELS is, since they’re really supposed to just sit there, but I gotta be me, and things aren’t always what they seem in Hazzard County.
I actually made real styrene leaf-spring suspension for the rear (incorporating the solid axle that came from the salvage Rosco car) and just regular lower arm/coil spring suspension for the front. Both sections are heavily reinforced to accept the hard landings.
Heavily modified steering wheel
Custom under-hood supports
Bumperettes and under-hood insulation
Extra detailed dashboard and window cranks, seat belt buckles
Correct air filter added and engine bay detailed
All chrome is bare metal foil and I added interior thickness, as well as seat belts. The decals were printed on gold foil CD labels. I think this is one of the first things I ever used Adobe Illustrator for.
But can it jump? Well, yes I did a few times. It broke off the front bumper so after that and realizing how much effort went into it I only did it a few times.
This car still is proudly on display in 2022.