Muscle Machines Truckin' Magazine
 

Trucks are hot these days. The number one selling vehicle in the US is the Ford F-150. Every major, and some minor, real car manufacturers have at least one truck. So it follows that trucks will be hot in diecast as well. Again, every major, and some minor manufacturers have some trucks in their lineup. Muscle Machines has added an entirely new segment to the brand, Truckin' Magazine trucks. Sharply detailed and painted, with a few little tricks of their own.
 

Each truck in the series comes complete with a color coordinated two-tone interior that compliments the exterior paint style. There are six models in the set, all with a different interior design. Nice!! All trucks also have a chrome steering wheel.

 
The chassis setup on all the models is identical, but there's a reason for that. I'll explain below.
     
The pickup trucks also have a removable tonneau cover, revealing a ribbed bed. Paintwork on these trucks is second to none.  

     

  Speaking of paintwork, even the badges are detailed. Here on the Excursion, you can see a stylized FORD signature in the familiar blue oval.
     
The two small trucks, the S10's, have a sunroof. This would have been a nice touch on a couple of the larger vehicles as well. The hoods are static, but a separate piece, so they bring out the body lines quite well.  

     

Now here's where that identical chassis comes into play. The trucks have a settable suspension. One gentle push straight down locks the running gear into a low or even lower stance. Very Cool!!! The single drawback I found with the "one chassis for all" idea is that the S10 is as large as the other trucks. Not much of a drawback if you ask me. I tried about 7 of the 12 trucks, and all functioned very well. Some took a little extra push to lock, but the did lock down. Gimmicky? Maybe. But necessary, in the very populated diecast truck market.

 

 

Click the thumbnails below to see a full size picture of each set of trucks.

         
Radillac   Ford F-150   Ford Excursion   Chevy 1500   Chevy Silverado   Chevy S10
 

These trucks are pretty slick. Great graphics, and a nice selection of today's popular real truck styles. I would like to see this click-down suspension extended into a line of 50's through 70's American trucks. The choice of trucks is nearly endless. Truckin' Magazine has done photo shoots of trucks for years. I'm sure they'd have some archive photos to draw from.

--Joe
 

Thanks to Fred Blood and the folks at www.1stopdiecast.com for furnishing me this sample set.
 
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