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Neet Streeter™ Analysis From the HotWheelsCollectors.com Red Line Club™ General Discussion Forum |
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I wasn't around when the original Classic '36 Ford Coupe casting was out, but loved my "Oldie but Goodie" as a kid. I always thought that the Neet Streeter™ was just the '36 Ford casting with an added hood-scoop and minus the rumble-seat. But looking at the re-tooled '36 and the re-tooled NS, I can see many differences. |
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The original Neet Streeter™ was the Classic '36 Ford Coupe™ without the rumble seat and "glass". I have used them from time to time for customs, and the retainer clamps for the rumble seat are still in place from the original '36 Ford casting. They just cast over the opening. |
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On the originals, the chassis for each definitely are different, as the Streeter had the small front wheels replaced with medium diameter wheels. The exhaust system is different, as is the rear suspension. The body details are obvious, with the elimination of the rumble seat and glass, and the dumbed-down interior with the hood scoop added. While Taz has indicated that the internal rumble seat mounts still existed on the Streeter, it's clear that all of the components were retooled and nothing was utilized from the `36 Coupe. |
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Here you go. This is a US version of the original '36 and the redline Neet Streeter™ side by side. 
The bases look very different, but the bodies are basically the same. Nothing that could not have been done by removing material from the original molds. The interiors are the same except for the lower section of the back seat. The hood scoop is a separate piece. |
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Found this on the OnlineRedlineGuide site. The caption says that the '36 Coupe molds were lost or sold, and this Neet Streeter™ prototype represents one of the first shots cast with the new tool since it has no casting number and is painted an odd color. It does indeed show rumble seat traces. |
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So has anybody drilled apart the latest NS to see if the rumble seat "traces" still exist? I only have a few and no extras of those to open up. There also seems to be a small flaw in the OnlineRedlineGuide story about the '36 Coupe tool being lost or sold; how could a trace of the rumble seat exist if the tool was no longer in Mattel's possession? |
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Is it possible that they reverse-engineered an existing body as the basis for the new design, if they didn't have existing tooling? |
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The original 3x wood model of the '36 could have been modified for the pantomiming of the NS tooling. |
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So has anybody drilled apart the latest NS to see if the rumble seat "traces" still exist? The 1990's India Neet Streeter™ is not the same as the 1970's Hong Kong casting as I had originally thought. The Indian release has seen much more wear, with less repair. I'd be surprised if any of the original tells still remain. |
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In this one from Thailand, it's a whole different animal. 
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To clear up a misnomer here: the original NS chassis was not from modified tooling of the '36 chassis. It was a new tool based upon the '36 tooling. The whole front end is different, as well as the exhaust piping and taillights. Those features could not have been accomplished by modifying the '36 chassis tooling. I have not seen a dissected original NS in decades, but I could have sworn that the black scoop was part of the black interior. It makes absolutely no sense, given the cost-cutting philosophy of Mattel® at the time, that they would have designed the NS to have an extra component to assemble. The existing '36 glass would have fit and they chose not to use it in order to cut costs, so it would seem that the interior would have been retooled along with the body and chassis for the NS. |
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Have you ever come across a mint redline Hong Kong Neet Streeter™ with its hood scoop missing, only to hear it rattling around inside the engine compartment? I have a few times. The reason is: they were a separate piece that was just slid/snapped into place. If they were attached they could not fall out and rattle around because the plastic bridge connecting them to the interior would hold them in place. It is possible, however, that later Malaysian castings had them connected to the interiors since the Indian ones are. |
