Monster Hot Rod Craze

The resurgence in popularity of monsters started with the "Shock Theatre" release of Universal monster/sci-fi movies to TV stations in the late 1950s.  By the early 1960s they had permeated popular culture and trickled down to the youth scene.

Many Boomers grew up with monsters in our living room -- wasn't it grand?

A nice synergy developed when somebody in marketing decided to cross-pollinate monsters with the surf-driven car-customizing crowd.  And so we got, monster dragsters!

These are all re-issues of original Aurora kits.  I haven't opened them yet.

My big brother had Frankenstein's Flivver.  I can tell you from experience that Aurora did a smart thing by reusing pieces of the ORIGINAL Aurora model.  The thorax, head, and left arm of the Frankenstein Monster were identical to the original kit!

From the looks of things, they might have re-used Dracula's original head in his kit.  And Wolf Man's Wagon could have used the head, body, and right arm of the original.

Perhaps someday when my in-the-womb grandson is old enough, we'll open these kits and I'll give him a little monster schoolin'.

See you tomorrow!