William Caleb Yarborough (March 27, 1939 – December 31, 2023) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, farmer, and rancher. He was the first driver in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1976, 1977, and 1978. He was one of the preeminent stock car drivers from the 1960s to the 1980s and also competed in IndyCar events. His fame was such that a special model of the Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II was named after him.

His 83 wins tie him with Jimmie Johnson for sixth on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series winner's list (behind Bobby Allison, who has 85 and Darrell Waltrip, who has 84). His 14.82% winning percentage is the ninth best of all-time and third among those with 500 or more starts. Yarborough won the Daytona 500 four times; his first win coming in 1968 for the Wood Brothers, the second in 1977 for Junior Johnson, and back-to-back wins in 1983 and 1984 for Ranier-Lundy Racing. Yarborough was a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year Award (1977, 1978, 1979). After retiring, he owned Cale Yarborough Motorsports and several successful agricultural businesses as well as being a rancher and farmer himself on his own ranch at his home in Florence, South Carolina.

This car represents his 1984 Daytona 500 winning entry. The kit is exactly like every other R-M/Monogram car that was produced in the hey-day of NASCAR car kits. Not surprising is that most AMT NASCAR kits are laid out pretty much the same way.

The kit includes a full interior with roll cage. In fact, one will spend a fair amount of time cleaning up the mold seams from the cage. The interior is fairly generic and doesn't really show the small differences in things like seat shape or instrument placings that were done by individual teams. There is also a generic looking engine with full headers and exhaust system. The front suspension is dual shocks on each side and there is no front axle with the front wheels snapping into place.

A full driveshaft and rear suspension is provided. The builder needs to pay attention in this area as it is not difficult to get this part a bit out of alignment, resulting on not having all four tires flat on the surface. The body has a separate hood in case you want to detail the engine. All the windows are separate and I'd suggest installing them after painting the body. The front of the body is a separate piece that needs to be glued in place. The kit comes with a nice chrome sprue. Most will want to strip the chrome as these cars had things like valve covers in aluminum, or painted over the chrome bumpers and grilles.

Instructions are well done with each pare named and generic color information provided. This care is orange in the front with the rest in white and the back panel in black. Despite their age, the decals look to be quite usable and if not, there are some aftermarket options.

While NASCAR kits are no longer the hot item they once were, they are still fairly popular subjects among race car modelers and these older kits can usually be found at a fairly low price.

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

June 1985 

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