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From The Diecast Pub Detour Dave
40 years after the farmer from Illinois kicked off his drag racing career, his contributions to the sport were honored as Beswick was inducted into the Super Stock, A/FX and Funny Car Hall of Fame in 1995. Furthermore, Beswick was presented the Driver of the Year Award in 1996 and has since been inducted into the NHRA Division 3 Hall of Fame. But above and beyond all of Arnie's accomplishments, it's his style of racing & wild rides, not to mention his love of the fans, that have truly made him the "star of the circuit" among drag racing's followers. While Arnie is without a doubt the most famous Pontiac drag racer in the world, his career actually began behind the wheel of an Oldsmobile. It was the purchase of a 1958 Pontiac Chieftain that sparked the farmer's passion for the arrowhead marque and it was at that point that the legend was born. Aside from the pair of Chieftain's Arnie first piloted to success in the late 50's, the range of Pontiacs he drove throughout his career included Catalinas, Tempests, GTO's, and Trans Am Firebirds. In addition to being a great drag racer, Arnie took great pride in his work. Arnie ran his racing career as an independent without any sponsorship. Even so, Beswick proved time & time again that he was virtually matchless. In 1961, Arnie went head to head against the highly renowned Royal Pontiac team and in a best-of-five match race, the underdog Beswick clawed his way to a dominating three straight victories over the favored team. Throughout the '62 & '63 seasons, the fearless farmer went on a rampage, plowing through a field of factory-backed teams at events on all sides of the country. 1964 proved to be an even more intense year of competition for Beswick. Among a growing field of Ford Thunderbolts and 426 Hemi & Wedge-powered Mopars, Beswick's cars were the only Pontiacs in competition. But in like fashion, this didn't stop Arnie from acquiring victories at the defeat of those factory-sponsored powerhouses. Of course, the factory teams retaliated and 1965 saw the debut of the most outrageous drag racing creations know to the sport - Chryslers altered wheelbase "funny cars". To stay alive in the no holds barred type of competition, Arnie slapped a supercharger on his 64 GTO and set to work on what would become one of his more legendary rides. It wasn't long before the innovative farmer unveiled his fierce tiger striped altered wheelbase 63 Tempest and set out to win races & his fans hearts while performing some truly wild wheel stands. The funny car class continued to grow in technology and popularity in 1966 and Beswick was at the front of the pack with his ingenious Pontiacs. The farmer continued to cultivate and race his prizewinning fiberglass bodied funny cars throughout the remainder of the 60's & into the early part of the 70's until he collided with calamity in 1972. A horrendous fire incinerated Arnie's race shop located on his farm, devouring not only his entire racing outfit from engines to cars, but also the majority of his farming equipment. Distraught and without any sponsorship or insurance, Arnie's racing career had come to an abrupt end. Never the man to be considered down & out for long, Beswick reorganized and returned to the racing scene in 1987 with yet another Pontiac. Due to the extreme costs of running in the funny car class, which had inflated dramatically in Beswick's 15-year absence, the farmer decided to carve his niche in one of the progenies of his earlier illustrious career, exhibition match racing. Behind the wheel of his nostalgic tiger striped "Tameless Tiger" 63 Pontiac Tempest - beefed up with all of the modern pro-stock style performance enhancements - Beswick was once again blazing across the country, reviving the excitement of the 60's & 70's era of heads up match racing and entertaining fans, both old & new. As popularity of the nostalgic type races grew, other familiar names from the 60's & 70's era of drag racing joined Beswick in his cross country travels, competing against one another in these unique, fan oriented exhibition races. In more recent years, Arnie added another Pontiac to his Tamless Tiger team, a 1964 GTO. Customized in similar fashion to his pro-mod 63 Tempest nostalgia car, and painted in his trademark tiger stripe theme, the farmer's fiberglass bodied 64 GTO is capable of ¼ mile times in the high 6 to low 7 second bracket, thanks in part to the 1500hp 572ci late-model Pontiac Pro-Stock powerhouse. Capable of full track burnouts, Beswick successfully campaigned his GTO from coast to coast until the farmer was once again struck with adversity in August, 2003. Beswick's pro-mod 1964 Tameless Tiger GTO caught fire after completing a run at Mid-America Raceway in Wentzville, Missouri, critically injuring the legendary 73-year-old farmer from Illinois. Once again, Arnie "the Farmer" Beswick was out of the sport that he had been so passionate about all of his life. Rest assured though, his spirit still runs strong in the sport. Since Arnie's unfortunate accident, he has received a tremendous outpouring of prayers & support from his fans. Arnie has committed himself to returning to the sport in whatever capacity he can and he has assured that the Tameless Tiger GTO will be repaired to all of its glory and once again blaze down the two lane blacktop, assuredly captivating the favor of the crowd wherever it appears. Arnie "the Famer" Beswick is not only a legendary drag racer & inspiration to the sport, but he's a hero among his fans and to souvenir vendors and automobilia manufacturers, he's a hot commodity. In fact, in the hobby of 1/18 scale diecast models, there have been more replicas produced of Arnie Beswick's various cars than of any other popular drag racer from his era. The latest, and quite arguably the greatest replica of one of his cars just so happens to be a 1/18 scale replica of the farmers latest ride, his pro-mod 1964 Tameless Tiger GTO. This truly remarkable rendition comes to us thanks to a marvelous collaboration between the limited edition company of MIC & diecast manufacturer, Sunstar. Straight out of the box though, you can clearly see that this is no ordinary Sunstar 64 GTO. Outside appearance is paramount and in the case of the Tameless Tiger 64 GTO, the replica is outstandingly faithful to the actual racecar from the hunkered down aggressive stance of the front end to the large pro-stock hood scoop to the massive rear wing mounted atop the trunk lid. That massive rear wing is fashioned out of plastic and is neatly propped up by 4 metal support rods. Tucked beneath the rear wing is the GTO's parachute assembly, fully detailed with mounting brackets and chute cables. Also included is a detailed wheelie bar, likewise cast in plastic, which attaches itself to the undercarriage of the GTO. This 64 GTO drag car rides on a set of accurate chrome plated wheels - skinny in the front, deep dish out back - wrapped in a set of Hoosier brand meats. As for the paint & race day graphics, not only are they each authentic, but the overall look is an eye-catching work of art. The amount of painstakingly recreated detail that went into the sponsor graphics alone is literally amazing. Tucked beneath those company logos is Beswick's trademark orange & white tiger stripe theme, which has been brilliantly recreated in scale. The front windshield is highlighted with a large Pontiac banner and both the windshield and side windows - which are in the up position - are detailed with rivets represented by painted on silver dots. The hood & trunk lid are also detailed with simulated fasteners, indicated by various tampos & more silver painted dots. It's quite obvious that neither MIC nor Sunstar overlooked a single detail and taking into account the labor that went into the exterior presentation alone, it's no wonder it took the final production models over a year to complete since the GTO's unveiling at Chicago in 2003. As striking as the exterior is, MIC made sure that plenty of eye candy was also offered under the GTO's lift off hood of this 7-second dragster. The lift off pro-stock hood was manufactured with 4 metal pins molded underneath each corner of the hood, each of which fit into 4 small holes located on the outer corners of the engine bay allowing for easy removal, but also a secure fit. As for the replica of the GTO's 572ci mill, it's detailed nicely with splashes of paint to the radiator & fan housing as well as the tunnel ram, dual carbs, and the large Pontiac engraved valve covers. The engine is wired with copper lines & silver steel lines have been injected into the headers which exit just behind the front wheels through a pair of hollow tips. Those steel lines run through the firewall and into the belly of the beast to a pair of detailed NOS bottles mounted to the passenger side of the car. Aside from the NOS bottles, MIC loaded up the GTO's midsection by checking off on a long list of goodies. Based on what has been assembled between the pair of dogleg hinged doors, it's clear that MIC's order has been executed in full. The entire cockpit is enclosed in a full roll cage with additional augmentation surrounding the racing seat which is detailed with splashes of paint to the molded in racing harness. The upper arms of the roll cage are accented with a small spattering of switches & gadgets, but the true nerve center of the Tameless Tiger GTO is located directly in front of the wood grain steering wheel. A pilots dream come true, the dash & steering column are fitted with a series of gauges monitoring virtually every function of the GTO. The gauges in the dash are actually a printed decal, but the detail is crisp enough that it doesn't detract from the overall look. A dash mounted tachometer and a trio of gauges mounted to the steering column along with a series of detailed shifters further compliment the overall realism of the GTO's cockpit. While MIC's replica of Arnie Beswicks 64 Tameless Tiger GTO may not feature any of the trendy gadgets such as realistic door hinges or rotating driveshafts as found on other precision diecast, the GTO makes up for it ten fold with an abundance of accurate details found on diecasts costing twice as much. With a limited production of only 2500 copies, it comes as no surprise that at the time of this writing, MIC has sold all but 500 of the 1/18 scale Arnie Beswick 1964 Tameless Tiger GTO. Sure to be a sellout, the MIC Tameless Tiger is a great way to celebrate one of drag racings greatest legends. Enjoy!! © Copyright 2006 by The Diecast Pub |
