BSA - Fireball 500

updated 5-28-01

There is a conspicuous lack of ANY detailed historical reference to this car on the box or the instructions sheet. It's not like there wasn't room for some. One lone line of text reads, "The SSXR Barracuda as seen in the American International Pictures movie "Fireball 500." Considering the empty expanse along the box sides a paragraph about the movie, the car or Barris would seem appropriate. I'm sure the original, which I am too poor to own, had plenty. For lack of anything better to do, I'll supply some myself:

The Movie:
"Fireball 500", the movie, not the car, was yet another vehicle for the rather generic, but pleasant, acting talents of the Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello team, who were fresh from multiple successes with their very popular "beach-party" movies. Cars and motorcycles were important props for the film's characters. "Fireball 500" took it further by having the plot revolve around the car action. It may not be great, or even adequate, movie-making, and it lacks the fun inherint in the beach flicks, but the Fireball 500 CAR is a very cool machine, with or without Frankie and Annette. This 1966 movie from the American International house of rebelious youth division (pretty much their only genre) has more in common with the biker movies of the time than beach party movies; overly melodramatic. It features Frankie, as Fireball Dave Owens. His personal ride, the Fireball 500, is used to tow his real race machine, a 426-powered '66 Belvedere stock car, to tracks in South Carolina. At Spartanburg, Owens' eye is caught by a local lovely (Annette) that just happens to be the hometown racer Sonny's (Fabian) gal. Instant rivalry. A romantic twist comes in when a wealthy socialite (Julie Parrish) takes a fancy to Owens. The introduction of moonshine running complicates the life for one and all introducing some divergent subplots, but in typical '60s fashion, the "I'm better 'n you" tension builds up to the final race. Dave versus Sonny. Guess who wins (while the other crashes badly in his flaming racer). Unlike the previous beach flicks Annette ends up with Fabian while Frankie rides off into the sunset with Julie.

Note: The Barris car was not used, or even hinted at, on the movie posters.

The Car:
The Super Stying Experimental Roadster or "SSXR," as it is known, was designed and built by the George Barris shop from a base model '66 Barracuda. As with most movie props, reality and fantasy were heavily intermingled creating a gap between what it seemed to be and what it actually was. The Hemi that supposedly rumbled under the hood never existed. It was only fodder for the masses. Hype. A small Chrysler V8, probably a 273, provided the motivation. But in all fairness, the car doesn't need a Hemi to be cool. The multiple air intakes splayed on the hood, which are an integral part of the Fireball's persona, were fabricated for fashion not function. Their appearance ties in nicely, though, with the ribbed, dual-sidepipes along the rockers and the parallel ribs of the grill. There was also nothing high performance about the drum brakes all around. They were painted red to set-off the chrome "Rader" wheels that held the Firestone 700/12.5-13 tires.

The sleek, glass fastback of the Barracuda was removed and replaced by a pair of flying-buttresses that served as head rests for each occupant. The headrests were in two pieces. A large rhomboid shaped base, with a flat rectangular portion protruding forward several inches ahead of the base. The interior was split into two separate pods (a la Batmobile), each with their own sporty, wrap-around windscreen. The screens are a three-piece, clear butarat arrangement with the outer third of each pod being attached to the door. The inner piece are attached to the center body section that split the two pods. The side pieces were removed in the movie to aid communication between characters. Below the center bodywork, the cockpit was open allowing the driver to use the gear shift on a stock center console. Stock Plymouth buckets seats were retained.

It is imporant to know the Fireball has had two distinct looks during its existence. The movie car and the show car were different in several respects, most notably the paint scheme. The movie car featured 40 coats of hand-rubbed lacquer called Barris referred to as Fireheat. The multi-color blend started with a base of White Pearl of Essence, moving rearward to Gold Murano, blended throughout in reflective gold leaf, to Kandy Tangerine, Kandy Red and finally, burgundy. The fading started at the wheel wells and continued to the center of the doors.

The show car paint scheme was simpler, with an abrupt fade from white to red just ahead of the doors leading edge. Other changes included hood pins, deletion of the protruding headrest, a more stylistic Fireball logo, and the other graphics and logos that were standard on promotional show vehicles of the time. The windsreens, now in a transparent yellow, fully wrap-around each cockpit opening. While the early show car retained the ribbed aluminum covers over the side pipes, the latest version has perforated, chromed heat shields.

The Kit:
The Fireball 500 molds haven't seen plastic in over thirty years yet this simple kit can still holds its head up high. The engineering is quite good. Part fit is unchallenging and the finish is very crisp. I don't know how much refurbishing was needed to get them in this kind of shape. It is not a detailed kit by todays standards. It especially falls down in the chassis department with the molded-in suspension detail. The wire-axle-thru-engine setup was standard operating procedure for AMT during the '60s. It made for neat, rolling cars that kids could take to the nearest sloped street but if you are a detail nut you'll just have to take the body to another engine and chassis. Still, it builds into a nice looking car with minimum effort.

There are some things that you may want to watch for, or change while building. The pop-up gas cap is very oversized (who needs that giant sink hole in the center of it too?). A more suitable replacement can be found among newer kits like the Viper GTS. The hood is a tight fit and should be pre-fit before painting so as to avoid chipping that fine, faded paint scheme you've labored so hard on. The windscreens are not interchangeable. Fit them carefully so the correct one is attached to each side. You will also notice at this point that there are nipples on the bottom of each windscreen that should be filed off. Don't confuse them with the alignment pins that secure the screen to the body. The windscreens on the show car have a warm yellow tint. Tamiya Clear Yellow may serve you well to replicate this. The sidepipes covers were aluminum, not chrome, so a dullcote can be used on them. There is only one sideview mirror included in the kit but the car had two, whether you are building the movie or the show version.

The builtup on the current box has a couple of flaws. First the door handles should not be silver. The white beading along the windows should be black. And the transition from white to red paint is too gradual.

The kit wasn't changed but AMT released the Fireball 500 in three different box art verions besides the current re-issue. The most common is the original photographic box (#911) with a smiling George Barris in the driver's seat. "Happy Model Building" is handwritten in the upper left-hand corner, above his signature. A retouched photo box with the car shown from the passenger side on a psychedelic/splattered background was produced as kit #T240-225. The best looking box, and the least common, was the other illustrated version that featured the car alone on a white background, no text, seen from a high, front 3/4 view of the drivers side. It was framed by a black border. This one played-up the "SSXR" designation over "Fireball 500". Photos of the car were on the side panel.

This kit has a bonus that ties in directly with the movie; a trailer. No, not a movie trailer, a car trailer. It's an interesting piece that isn't mentioned at all on the new box. AMT overstates it a bit on the earlier releases by calling it "super-detailed." It is made up of about a dozen pieces (including the styrene tires) and tracks wider than a scale semi-truck due to the dual-wheel setup. Slots located at the rear of the trailer are for ramps. These were included with other releases.

I'm very pleased with this reissue. Barris has hit some styling homeruns, and I think the Fireball is one of them. Kudos to AMT for bringing this one back.

– Thomas Voehringer

Oh, by the way the Fireball 500 is currently for sale to the highest bidder. You can find it HERE.

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Hey, where's the SSXR?