Bird Aero Promotional model

[Gordie]

Does anyone know of one of these models for sale?

[G.B. (All Vinyl Dragon)]

Gordie, Is this a Model Vehicle or Original Vehicle ?

[Gordie]

Sorry,  I thought I described it as a promotional model made by Bird Co.

[Gordie]

I found a seller with the grill, bumpers, axles and wheels. Now I need either a 1953 or '54 body.  They are harder to find than most of the various Kaiser models.

[ChrisBcritter]

Would a resin body work for you? Page Resin (Pedro Escanio) on Facebook makes one; basically a transkit based on the promo body.

[Gordie]

Thanks,  his kits look nice and I have inquired about the availability of the Aero kit.

[Gordie]

There was an original Bird Aero promotional model on eBay today and it was the first one I have seen for sale for about ten years.  I swallowed hard and paid the high price and am now waiting to see if it is a 1953 or'54 model.  The only difference would be in the tail lights and headlight rims.  The pictures were not clear enough to tell but according to the promotional model books they did make both years and Miller made a resin version.  I recently found one of those Miller models and am waiting anxiously to see what the differences will be.

[MarkH]

There was an original Bird Aero promotional model on eBay today and it was the first one I have seen for sale for about ten years.  I swallowed hard and paid the high price and am now waiting to see if it is a 1953 or"54 model.  The only difference would be in the tail lights and headlight rims.  The pictures were not clear enough to tell but according to the promotional model books they did make both years and Miller made a resin version.  I recently found one of those Miller models and am waiting anxiously to see what the differences will be.

Do keep us posted, both on if you hear back from the guy making kits, and on your new find.  I ran across a fairly plain '52/'53 resin kit on ebay several years ago which required axles & wheels to be bought from another model parts house. It was a bit flimsy but I was glad to fine an Aero model of any sort.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Here's a copy of the ordering information on the Bird model sent out to dealers in 1952 and/or 1953

[Gordie]

That is a very interesting advertisement and the feature of the electric head lights did not appear on the real models so that they must have been proposed features.  I don't know how many were made but they are certainly hard to find today.  It is interesting also that they were bragging about not having plastic windows or a base plate as though that was some kind of an advantage.  pictures of the models show no center bar in the windshield either so they must be somewhat flimsy and that may the reason for their scarcity.  The Lincoln Line Henry J of 1951 offered a simulated motor sound noise maker but it was so poorly designed that it you backed the car up it would break off the part that makes noise and I have only seen one that survived with the noisemaker intact.  I am looking forward to receiving my Aero and I will report on how it compares to the  Henry J promotional models.  Thanks Jack, for the very interesting flyer.

[Gordie]

Well, the Aero arrived and like most promotional models that have seen a lot of use it was somewhat scratched and dull.  A little polishing compound and about fifteen minutes time has it gleaming like new and it's light green color has a hint of darker discoloration on parts of the lower part of model.  It does indeed have a base plate and a noisemaker that was a piece of thin steel riveted to the base plate that had broken off but it was supposed to rub against a gear attached to the middle of the rear axle.  It has rubber tires with a center metal ring that gives the appearance of full wheel covers instead of the smaller hub caps on the Henry J models.  the body is attached by three small screw like nails and so the body is not really removable like the Henry J's are.  Also the grill and bumpers are made of purple plastic instead of metal in the Henry J's.  They were painted silver and the paint was almost all worn off so a new coat of chrome paint made them look like new again.  The headlights are painted with a faded white color and the tail lights left in the color of the plastic body.  I was lucky to have no cracks or warping on the fragile plastic body and after being cleaned up it looks very presentable and the long search of trying to find one in any condition is over and i am very pleased with it.  It is a '54 with no division bars in the rear windows and it does seem to have brows over the headlights and those seem to be the only differences in the 1953-54 models.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Like a lot of the early 1950's promotional scale models not made out of rubber, the plastic does funky things overtime.  You will get blotches as the plastic ages and stars breaking down chemically.  The bodies warp (like on my 1951 HJ and 1959 Rambler station wagon) and can start to crack ad the shell warps and the weaker points (and we are talking minute amounts of plastic in one part of the mold vs. other parts).  I also one one Pontiac was white when I got it and now is yellowing the way newspaper stock yellows over time.

[Aeroman]

Two pics of a 1953 promo, one showing the "noisemaker."
A tan 1953 promo with special lettering on the side commemorating a Willys-Overland luncheon.
A 1954 promo that I own, sorry about the picture quality.
Notice that all are 2-door sedans, the 1953 with a 3-piece rear window, the 1954 with 1-piece.

[ChrisBcritter]

Hmm. I wonder if the headlights on the first promo are made of glow-in-the-dark plastic? That would explain the "working headlights" from the ad.

[Gordie]

I recently found one of the Miller Memorabilia resin replicas of the Bird Aero and it has the split rear window of the 1953 models.  I will be looking for one of the Bird Aeros with the three piece back window.  That will be a tough one to find.  "The fun is in the search!"