Polar Lights 1/25 Tommy Grove Mustang Funny Car ‘The Going Thing’ Kit First Look

By Aaron Thomas, Front Range Auto Modelers (FRAM)

First Look

Nostalgic funny cars are always a cool subject matter.  When Polar Lights brought these model kits out in the mid-90s, excitement ran rampant within the car modelers' community!  They were an instant hit!  Fast forward to 2013, some of these kits are being re-released.  The subject of this First Look is the 1969/1970 Mustang Funny Car driven by Tommy Grove from Hayward, California.  The team was sponsored by Ford Motor Company.  The car featured a chassis built by Logghe Stamping Company and was powered by a 1500 horsepower, super-charged SOHC 429 Ford engine.  This kit is the third release of this Mustang.  The first kit was the "Gas Ronda" and the second kit was the "Blue Max".

Upon opening the box, you will find lots of white and chrome styrene parts and a really cool set of decals.  After taking the instructions out of the box, some confusion begins for the builder.  The instructions are nostalgic-style and only show the exploded views of the sub-assemblies. 

As with most model car kits, the instructions begin with the engine.  While the engine assembly is pretty straight forward, the second step is the chassis and the placement of some of the parts could become confusing for the less experienced builder.  The builder must be sure to study the illustrations and read the chassis notes before proceeding with the assembly.  The last step in the chassis assembly is the wheels and tires. 

A real plus to this kit is the choice of three different kinds of front wheels and two different types of rear wheels.  The selection of the wheels and tires may be chosen to match those on the original car per reference materials or the builder can just use ones that he likes the best.  The rear tires are the typical two-piece slicks with MH Racemaster printed on the sidewalls.  Nice! 

The next part of the instructions pertains to the body.  The instructions show a 1969 grill/bumper, but also included in this kit is a 1970 grill/bumper.  This is not mentioned in the instructions, so the choice is up to the builder.  The car used both of these during its competitive life.  The final step in the instructions is the placement of the decals by referring to the Box Art.

In conclusion, having built one of these when they were first released and talking with other builders, these are "fussy" builds.  Care and time must be taken, especially when assembling the chassis, to make sure that it is straight and true.  Otherwise, the completed model may only sit on three of it tires!  And that would not be cool!  All in all, a good kit and hopefully, Round 2 will continue to release these nostalgic drag racers!

My sincere thanks to Round 2 Models for this review sample!