Racing Champions: Terry Labonte '04 Kellogg's' Monte Carlo

Passing through a second-hand store last week, I was thrilled to find a Racing Champions 1/64 scale version of Terry Labonte's 2004 Hendrick Motorsports number 5 Chevy Monte Carlo. The timing was significant, the week before I was able to witness Kyle Larson's throwback to this paint scheme at Darlington during the Goodyear 400. This car, even at 21 years old, is still in very good condition. For a closer look at a car that is synonymous with the driver, read on. 

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The real thing: After the season opening Daytona 500, the next race on the schedule was the Subway 400 at Rockingham. Here, Terry races his way to a 17th place finish. (Photograph from x.com).

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The 2004 season was not a better one for Labonte. At age 47, and arguably on the decline, he would not visit victory lane this season, or ever again in the Cup series. Labonte's number 5 Monte Carlo wore a number of unique paint schemes in 2004, many were movie inspired, The car featured here is known appropriately as the 'Kellogg's-'Got Milk?' version. It is known to have raced seven times in early in the 2004 season. The car's best ever finish was a 7th place effort at Fontana.  

This car comes in some interesting packaging. Racing Champions produced cars in all different kinds of packaging in the 90's and early 00's, but I've never seen this 'Ultra Series' packaging before. The car comes with a plastic stand and collectors car (as pictured above). This appears to be a line produced specifically for Family Dollar stores as is indicated in the top right.

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Notes:
In 2004 there really wasn't any such thing as wraps on cars. Each team, especially the bigger ones had a whole department dedicated to putting the finest coats of metal flake and glossy color paints on their race cars. In 2004, the diecast themselves were once beautifully painted as well. While today's 1/64s have some awesome printed detail, it's amazing to see what's been lost. For just a couple of bucks in 2004, you could have a properly painted replica, complete with rolling rubber tires, and a full metal chassis that also featured painted components. This car isn't perfect, there is an ugly looking smudge on the driver side door panel, right on the car's number. The rubber tires are also showing some minor deterioration, which is understandable considering the cars age. This car is really sharp looking however, and Kyle Larson's recent throwback has perfectly captured the paint scheme's finest features.