Lindberg 1/25 Little Red Wagon Drag Racing Team

The Dodge Little Red Wagon is an exhibition drag racing truck introduced in 1965. It was the first wheelstanding truck and was the world's fastest truck at that time.

Builders Jim Schaeffer and John Collier performed extensive modifications to the Dodge A100 in order to fit a 426 Hemi engine and TorqueFlite automatic transmission. Since the A100 was a cabover design, Schaeffer and Collier opted to install the drivetrain in the pickup bed, within a welded steel subframe.

Parts deemed unnecessary were removed from the body, among them the heater, dashboard, front bumper, and all body sealer. The Little Red Wagon's first dragstrip run netted a mid-11 second quarter mile at 120 mph (190 km/h).

The vehicle was not originally intended to perform wheelstands; the slight rearward weight bias caused the nose to lift in the air for nearly the entire quarter-mile run. The truck was initially given to Dick Branstner Enterprises and Roger Lindamood to help sort out the ill-handling and unpredictable truck. The team's Dodge Color Me Gone entry had just won the 1964 U.S. Nationals. They enlisted Jay Howell as driver; and the first known photo of it doing a wheelstand has Howell behind the wheel. Chrysler's Director of Marketing, Frank Wylie, arranged for Super Stock Champion Bill "Maverick" Golden to purchase the truck.

Golden turned the A100 pickup into the first exhibition wheelstander. The truck toured extensively throughout the United States and was used in television commercials for Dodge trucks. The Little Red Wagon debuted in the 1965 season opener at Lions Drag Strip in Wilmington, California, in front of 10,000 fans and reporters from major newspapers and automotive publications.

The Little Red Wagon kit was originally tooled in 1966 by IMC before the tooling was picked up by Lindberg in 1993. The most recent release was in an AMT box in 2024 as 'The Touch Tone Terror'. This kit was a special 2009 release with the addition of a Dodge L-700 and trailer to form the racing team. The L-700 itself was also an initial IMC release from 1965 before the tooling went to Testors for several releases, finally ending with Lindberg with multiple issues with a variety of trailers. This particular release includes a short flatbed trailer with a semi-enclosed forward section that holds spare tires and tools.

Despite multiple pressings, both kits, which are molded in white, look to be in good shape with almost no flash. Both include full frames onto which the various engines and suspensions are attached. Vinyl tires are included and these are fairly hard compared to those in other kits. Both kits have separate, operable doors and in my teenage experience with IMC kits, getting the doors to operate will be a bit of a trick as the hinges are fairly weak. The pickup has a functional tailgate if one so desired, but in normal use, it was braced open with a parachute on the upper surface and though the kit does not include it, there were metal blocks on the underside to drag along the track, producing an impressive shower of sparks.

The kit offers two separate sets of instructions; one for the L-700 and one for the Little Red Wagon. A set of decals for both vehicles is included, though mine had stuck to the instructions somewhat as you might be able to see in the image. Fortunately, a quick search showed that there are aftermarket options in case these don't work out.

Due to the high parts count and the possibly dodgy fit of parts that was typical of 60's IMC kits, this one is not recommended for beginners. Those with some experience should have no issues and the result will be an interesting pair of models.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Little_Red_Wagon

May 2026

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