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Business guru Jack Welch probably said it best: “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete”. And while we can’t testify as to whether or not Mr. Welch ever watched a drag race, we estimate he’d consider the altered wheelbase quarter mile machines that Chrysler put forth in the ‘sixties - the original factory “funny cars” - as pretty damned competitive.

For many of us, these cars and the clones they spawned represent the very image of factory drag racing’s heyday. That fact has not been lost on Minnesota, USA’s Supercar Collectibles. This late-process pre-production sample went through here much like the real cars did - rapidly, and with a lot of style - but we wanted to share the pictures and our impressions while we’re waiting for the production pieces to arrive.

History being what it is, and Supercar being the car guys they are, this is the kind of subject that’s tailor-made for the collector base that’s grown around this company over the years. Back in the old days (not so old; we’re talking 1990s, here), they’d partner with the likes of Ertl, then RC2, and hook up with other makers like Sunstar and Yat Ming to generate models targeted at the real drag fans: Run of the mill Yattie Willys coupes became hellacious Stone, Woods & Cook cars; Ertl Plymouths got big slicks and custom spec’d parts to become “Super Street” machines, and so on. Most famously, the company partnered with Ertl on a set of 1969 Yenko Camaros; these were frequently traded at multiples of their original asking prices - an appreciation that’s been even more intense since some of the cars fell victim to intergranular corrosion - the proper name for the dreaded, completely unforeseeable “diecast cancer” - and rather rudely crumbled into dust inside their boxes.

When most of the Ertl crew jumped cross town and joined up with Fred Ertl III to form Die Cast Promotions, Supercar followed along, tweaking the more upscale, better detailed images DCP/Highway 61 was throwing down in ways that SC’s head, Jim Thoren, had only dreamed of back in the early days of 1:18. And it’s done well for them; new molds have been relatively well received, especially the more recent takes on the be-slicked, usually black-on-black Super Street series and deep car guy stuff, like special order Plymouth and Dodge factory drag cars… just like these killer Altereds.

Short track: We think this all-new ‘65 Belvedere body and chassis set is nothing short of amazing, with its front and rear wheels shifted forward and a just-right stance. No doubt the re-tool of the Highway 61 molds wasn’t easy - or cheap, seeing as all of the corresponding frame elements had to be relocated to fill those spaces. The 426 drag Hemi mill got smiled on, too. Obviously based on the one H61/Supercar has used for years, it’s topped here (and for this sample only) with long-bore Hilborn injectors. In life, these trumpets of the drag gods played in short form for four-speed cars, and in this 13 inch-plus length for cars equipped with TorqueFlite auto trannys. This scooped hood was worn on early, carbureted variants of the cars, as well as the “test mule” - and will appear on the models of same, sans injectors, when they debut this summer.

Look for full-liveried A/FX versions to start appearing regularly; Supercar is a canny bunch who knows the market, and how to play it, better than most. Some might call that a competitive advantage. We call it sweet.  - CRM

Supercar Collectibles’ 1:18 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Hardtop A/FX, several listed, $119.95. www.supercar1.com / 763-425-6020

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