#222609
V8 Staff
Keymaster

Meanwhile, I was about 8 years old when he first mentioned he wanted a van.   Now I couldn’t get him one, naturally, but I did convince my mom to get me a model kit that I would build and present to him for his birthday.  Heck, a little model van is better than no van, right?

The chosen kit was made by MPC and it was a custom 1978 Ford Econoline called the “Sunrunner”.   It featured custom graphics, wheels, roof rack, interior… all the things my Dad was interested in.

Here’s the problem.. it was a higher-skill level glue-together model kit, and I’d never built one.    I had some experience with snap-together kits that didn’t require paint or glue, but this was a whole new ballgame.    It was all molded in yellow, and it was waaay beyond my feeble abilities to correctly assemble.   Looking closely at the box the instructions say “ages 10 to adult”.   I was neither.

 

 

 

I tried, however,  and succeeded in creating a giant fingerprint-riddled glue bomb that was all kinds of messed up.   It didn’t fit right, didn’t sit right, with no paint, so it was all yellow… no details, no decals… not even close to the box art!

I gave it to him anyway, and I think I recall it sitting on his dresser for a bit before disappearing.   I imagine it was tossed in the “gar-baaadge”, his fancy way of saying things were shit canned.

The Sunrunner faded off into the sunset… for at least 4 decades or so.    More on that later.

Kevin Oeste