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| Racecar Of The Day: May 22, 2017; Road Champs '92 Chevrolet Lumina (Ernie Irvan) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 22 2017, 10:04 PM (440 Views) | |
| Swifty | May 22 2017, 10:04 PM Post #1 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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![]() Today's Car Of The Day is Road Champs' 1992 Chevrolet Lumina NASCAR stock car (Ernie Irvan). ![]()
![]() For more information and pictures of the real car, please visit: Ernie Irvan ![]() From the early '80s through the early '90s, Road Champs was one of the main secondary contenders in the realm of 1/64 diecast. They weren't ever going to knock Hot Wheels or Matchbox out of the top spots, but they were definitely up there with Majorette in vying for a top five finish. Their last gasp came around the turn of the century, though the brand name was still technically a registered trademark last I checked (it's been a few years). They jumped on the NASCAR bandwagon not long after Racing Champions really cracked the market for racing collectibles, but they had an extremely limited lineup of drivers compared to Racing Champions. But one of them was Swervin' Ernie Irvan. Road Champs was based out of New Jersey, which, at the time, was also my own home. To say that New Jersey was 'off the beaten path' of NASCAR's regulars is an understatement. The last time New Jersey hosted a Cup Series race was 1972 at the long since defunct Trenton Speedway. I've driven through the area where the track used to be. Literally through where the track was. But I bring this up because in 1990, Ernie Irvan's car came to the then-flourishing (but the now soon-to-be-demolished) Wayne Hills Mall. I was already a NASCAR fan at the time, and this was my first opportunity to see a stock car up close and personal. Morgan McClure had recently switched from Oldsmobile to Chevrolets, but the show car was still an Olds. They even let me sit in it. So while I wish this was a replica of the Oldsmobile, I'll settle for the Lumina since Irvan was already racing Luminas by that point anyway. I'd love to say this is a childhood piece, but in reality this gap in my collection was filled just a month ago at the Keystone CARnival. ![]()
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| pjedsel | May 23 2017, 08:44 AM Post #2 |
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Muscle Car
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Swervin' Irvan...that phrase was heard a lot in those days of NASCAR - still a great time to watch stock car racing. Road Champs, like so many of the manufacturers of the day, jumped on the NASCAR band wagon but by the time they came along there was an over abundance of product on the market - Racing Champions was the big player at the time giving collector's pretty much the first offering of stock cars. Yes, ERTL had made a few and then there was Stock Car Miniatures. I also remember Pit Row and other lesser brands plus Matchbox-White Rose and Action. Overall this is a pretty nice model of the '92 Lumina - and since I still have tons of NASCAR packed away - my example might still be buried in one of the many boxes I have as I (sadly) bought just about everything from all of the brands...is it any wonder my wife would row her eyes as I tossed blister card after blister card into the shopping cart at Target or Wal-Mart or...I miss drivers like Irvan - he had a neat personality.
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| ivantt | May 24 2017, 12:15 AM Post #3 |
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
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John, I sure remember all that you said, including the throwing in the shopping cart every racing Champion car I could find that I didn't have!! |
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| craftymore | May 27 2017, 07:22 PM Post #4 |
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Support your local demo derby.
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I had either forgot or didn't realize Road Champs actually produced NASCAR models. That's a neat background history on Ernie Irvin. Think I have the Racing Champions version of the same era car. |
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| pjedsel | May 28 2017, 08:02 AM Post #5 |
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Muscle Car
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If I recall Road Champs entry into the world of NASCAR did not last all that long - I am thinking there may have been 10 - and that might be on the high side. By the time they jumped on the bandwagon, as I noted, you had Racing Champions, Pit Row, Matchbox-White Rose - all quickly saturating the market. |
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| Swifty | May 28 2017, 04:25 PM Post #6 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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I can only recall Road Champs having four drivers off the top of my head: Ernie Irvan Richard Petty Mark Martin Rusty Wallace Not sure if there were others or not, but Racing Champions and White Rose flourished because they had most of the drivers, while Pit Row found their niche by offering drivers (often backmarkers) that the other brands didn't have. RCCA found their niche by offering historical cars as well as some drivers not offered elsewhere. Road Champs never had enough variety in their NASCAR line to gain traction. I remember these just sitting on the pegs at Jamesway before that store liquidated in 1995. Overall it's a better casting than either Lumina offered by Matchbox, Pit Row, or the first efforts from Racing Champions. The lack of an interior hurts it, though I wonder if that was specifically because the Racing Champions offerings also lacked interiors at the time. Where I must compliment Road Champs is their tampo applications - much nicer than any of their competition, look at those contingency sponsors! |
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9:53 AM Jul 11
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as I tossed blister card after blister card into the shopping cart at Target or Wal-Mart or...I miss drivers like Irvan - he had a neat personality.


9:53 AM Jul 11