Fire Apparatus Model Forums

Received my Goldvarg resin NYPD 1970 Ford Galaxie a couple of weeks ago. The car model itself is outstanding and the graphics and colors are great. The model was based on a photo of an actual NYPD 1970 Ford. The only letdown is the roof light, which should be a Beacon Ray on an extended base (to clear the siren). Some NYPD cars in 1970 (Furies in the photos I've seen) used Signal Stat flat-topped lights but this doesn't look anything like those either. Kind of mystifying because Sergio Goldvarg has a very nice-looking Beacon Ray on the upcoming 1958 Ford model. The car in the photo that he used for reference appears to have a McDermott light arrangement behind the Beacon Ray, not the one used on the model. The model's non-extending light rack is seen on a restored 1970 Ford, so I guess it's authentic too - but not for this particular car. All in all this is light years ahead of any other commercial model in the green, white and black color period that I've seen and fills a gap in an NYPD collection. Looking forward to the ESU REP '53 Ford Courier that's supposed to be released any day now.

Thanks for that great review Dick. The car looks amazing, but the whole roof light set up wont allow me to pull the trigger and buy one. Why does NYPD always have to use such funky lights?? Just like the V-bars they use now. No die-cast company has been able to produce and accurate, good looking V-bar...In my opinion.

I bought this one too and while overall I am pleased with the model, I am a bit disappointed by the inaccuracies and shortcuts that were taken to produce a model I never thought I would see in 1/43. To add to what Dick said, two other issues pop out. First, the chosen unit, 2269, is actually a 1969 Galaxie and not a 1970. Second, rather than tool the correct dog dish wheels and hubcaps, they took the shortcut of taking the full wheel cover from the civilian version and painting the outer ring green to make it look like a dog dish. But again, a welcome addition and with only 280 produced they will be tough to find.

Thanks for making the point about the hubcaps, I forgot to mention that.

Sergio has done a little bit of a tease on his Facebook page.He has posted an old photo of a 1967 to 69 Plymouth Fury NYC taxi cab in front of a James Bond movie billboard. Looks like we will see a police version of the same car down the track as well.