  The real thing: Ryan Blaney navigates a narrow racing line at Darlington, in September of 2017. (Photograph by Zach Catanzareti, Wikimedia Commons).
Paint and Printing: (0 Points/3) Well, we have to start somewhere. And we may as well get the worst out of the way early. Any collector of 1/64 scale race cars will be quick to tell you that mistakes in paint quality or printing accuracy can take even the best looking concepts and turn them into disappointment. In theory, this should have been a top-tier diecast for 2017. But there are too many issues with this car to even merit awarding a single point in this category, the most critical category for a throwback paint scheme.
The front of the race car, and the way it looks head on, as if it was coming towards you, is perhaps the most important detail area on the model. It provides the car with character, and gives the vehicle a unique identity. There are two major issues at the front that need to be addressed. First, when comparing the 1/64 to the digital render shown above, you can clearly see that the area where the lower front bumper meets the splitter should be blue. That was clearly lost on Lionel. There is a blue stripe present, but it is nowhere near as thick or bold as it should be. The other problem major problem occurs when you compare the way the field of blue descends down the hood to the grill. The shaping is wrong. On the replica, the edge of the blue field angles towards the Ford logo and the angle is unchanging until it hits the actual grill. Whereas in the render, and on the 1/1, the field of blue angles parallel to the headlights but then straightens back out just past the headlight area. These issues take away from the onward facing appearance of the car, and therefore are detrimental to the overall head-on appearance of the car.  The situation is equally inaccurate upon inspecting the right side of the car. After the 2016 season, Lionel started to eliminate branding related to Coca-Cola and its subsidiaries on their products. Monster Energy, the most commonly occurring affiliated branding in the Nascar garage is all but gone now in 2025 on all Nascar products. Monster Energy was the title sponsor to the series in 2017, and all of the cars carried the Monster logo on the top of the windshield as part of the deal. Many of the cars also wore the Monster logo on the door beneath the 'A' post. When comparing the photograph above of the real version to the Lionel replica, it is evident that not only are there several missing contingency sponsors, but the most notable of those missing is the Monster Energy logo. This creates a large void on the side of the car. It's also noteworthy that the contingency sponsors that are on the car are situated too low.  Details on the back of the car are fairly decent. Most of the paint and printing here is good. the 'FordParts.com' bumper logo is slightly askew, and there is a slight blemish above the red bumper stripe. The lights, deck lid, spoiler, and rear windshield look ok. But the roof logo is a bit too small. The issues that were present on the right side of the car are also present on the left side. Lionel did do somethings correctly, so this isn't an entire loss. The Goodyear logos above the wheel wells are appropriately straight, which was the way the logo was displayed in the 1987 season (see the phot of Kyle Petty's 1987 Thunderbird below). Also, the team ran Kyle Petty's name during the race and the font on the name rail is nicely proportioned, and in the correct font. Even still, this attention to detail does not redeem the car, or save it from losing all three points.  I'm a big fan of both Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers. Through their online store, they made available to collectors a 1/24 scale version of this car, fully autographed, and individually numbered. I'm sorry to say, that even though I love this car for the autographs, and the heritage, it is almost as erroneous as its little 1/64 scale brother. Final score 0/3.  Mould and Assembly: (1 Points/3) The 2017 Ford Fusion is one of my least favorite castings created by Lionel over the last 10 years. I was glad when Ford decided to switch to Mustangs in 2019. The earlier Gen 6 Fusions were't as plain looking as the later ones became. In fact, I actually enjoyed the Fusions from 2013 and 2014. Those cars had an actual chrome-colored insert to replicate the grills found on stock Ford Fusions. These later iterations got more vanilla, and this casting not only is rather boring compared to the older Fusion castings, but it feels like a rushed adaptation with a lot less character.  The car seems to stand too high above the ground. It also has a splitter that is situated even higher than the side skirts. In fact the whole front end seems to just be a poorer effort from Lionel.  The unsophisticated profile of the mould can be easily seen when looking at the car from the side on view as well. From this perspective it is also apparent that the casting itself is lacking. The mould also could have been improved with a more pronounced door line seam. When looking at the 1/1 version of the 2017 Ford Fusion, a distinct characteristic is the seam that runs almost the entire length of the car. Why is it barely viable on the model?  The metal mould itself does fit snugly to the plastic chassis. The pin-held wheels roll nicely as well. The car is also made up of a plastic insert to replicate the larger details inside the car including a steering wheel, a drivers seat, several roll bars. and the window net. While that part does fit correctly, it is another deficiency of the mould. When looking at the windshield head-on, some of the plastic casted construction components give it a chunky and unrealistic feel. The shame of it is that Lionel, at the time of production, had the ability to print on the clear plastic windscreen components as is evidenced by Blaney's name printed on the rear windshield. A printed windshield banner would nicely conceal the unrealistic but necessary parts of the plastic moulding.  Historical Significance and Cool Factor: (2 Points/3) Measuring the historical significance of a throwback is always a little tricky. There's certainly the temptation to jointly consider the historical impact of the car that the throwback is replicating. But to be fair, I try to keep the car that's featured as the centerpiece of the argument. The reason why this car gets a historical point is not because of the tribute it makes to Kyle Petty. It's more about a paint scheme that can be affiliated with Ryan Blaney's first winning season in Nascar. Most longtime fans will enthusiastically recall Blaney's iconic win at Pocono, awarding the Wood Brothers race team a historic 99th win.  The Coke 600 is one of the biggest races in Nascar, and it's obviously the longest. Kyle Petty's win for the Wood Brothers is now etched in Nascar history. I've been able to visit the Petty Museum in person to see Kyle Petty's Wood Brothers Thunderbird. 1987 was on of Kyle Petty's best seasons. Not only did he secure one of Nascar's crown jewels, but he was also able to keep the 21 team in the top ten in points all season long. He'd finish the season 7th in the rankings. Dale Earnhardt would win his second consecutive, and third overall championship that year.  The real thing: Kyle Petty's 1987 number 21 Wood Brothers Ford Thunderbird sits on display at the Petty Museum in Level Cross, North Carolina. (Photograph courtesy of DiecastCurio.com). The car Ryan Blaney would drive at Darlington in 2017 was unveiled at the Nascar Hall of Fame several weeks before it would race. These were the early days of Nascar's throwback initiatives, and ceremonial unveilings were popular at the time. Kyle Petty, and several members of the Wood family were present at the unveiling. Ryan Blaney also made sure to explain what it would mean to drive such a prestigious looking race car at the Southern 500.  The real thing: Kyle Petty poses with his Thunderbird before the 1987 Daytona 500. All of the buildup wouldn't amount to much however. Ryan Blaney, still a very young driver at the time would experience growing pains early on in the race at one of the most challenging tracks. After just a few laps, Blaney hit the wall hard and was forced to pit road for repairs early on. He'd quickly go two laps down behind the race leader. The team was able to carry on, and even though Blaney would find the wall again later in the race, he was still able to run 256 of the 267 regulation laps. The team would finish 31st. Not the day they hoped for, and not historically significant to either the Wood Brothers, or Blaney. While the race would be a forgetful one for Blaney, it was a historically important day for The Wood Brothers, Kyle Petty, and Nascar. Blaney's contributions to honoring Nascar's rich history were still meaningful, and there is still a lot of history around both the car he drove, and the one he was representing. So is the car cool? To a degree, but it would be far cooler if it was made well. Score 1/3.  Conclusion and Recommendation: (1 Point/1) Is this diecast replica one you should own? Perhaps. It really depends on what your collecting criteria is. If you are big into Nascar history, the Wood Brothers, the Pettys, or even a Ryan Blaney fan, you should probably have a copy. It's a top-tier Ford livery, and even though in my opinion the Ford Fusion is a lower tier casting, it's now a part of the Ford legacy in Nascar racing. My advice, just don't look too closely at what Lionel has done with it. 
 Sources:
-Jayski.com -Lionelracing.com -Nascar.com -Pettymuseum.com -Racing-reference.info -Woodbrothersracing.com
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