The Johnny Lightning Chevy Thunder series was produced from 2004 until 2007 featuring “all of your favorite Bow-Tie rides,” including many Novas and Impalas. Sometimes the cars in this series were packaged with extras, and sometimes not. The 2005 Release 2 – from which I have the 1970 Nova SS and the 1959 Impala – included a Chevy ignition key.
2005 | Chevy Thunder R2 #13 | 1970 Chevy Nova SS | black with stripes & ignition key
2005 | Chevy Thunder R2 #18 | 1959 Chevy Impala | tan with ignition key
The back of the card lists the different castings available in Release 2.
2006 Chevy Thunder Release 5 was a simple blister card with nothing extra. From this release I have the 1969 Impala SS Convertible and the 1966 Nova SS.
2006 | Chevy Thunder R5 #26 | 1969 Chevy Impala SS Convertible | black with white top
2006 | Chevy Thunder R5 #27 | 1966 Chevy Nova SS | gray metallic
The back of the card lists the different castings available in Release 5.
2006 Release 6 brought back the ignition key. This lovely dark green metallic 1965 Impala includes a key stamped with the famous Chevy 409 emblem.
2006 | Chevy Thunder R6 #29 | 1965 Chevy Impala | dark green metallic with black top, regular wheels, ignition key
The back of the card lists the different castings available in Release 6.
For 2007 Release 7, the packaging became much more complicated and the extra was a collector card. Here’s a fun ’65 Impala convertible from R7.
2007 | 53905E | Chevy Thunder R7 #1 | 1965 Chevy Impala convertible | brown, Cragar wheels
The back of the package lists the different castings available in Release 7. It also has a window to view the back of the collector card and the other side of the vehicle.
And finally – probably my favorite of my Chevy Thunder collection – this nice yellow 1970 Chevy Nova SS from the 2007 Release 8.
2007 | Chevy Thunder R8 | 1970 Chevy Nova SS #4 | yellow with white top, collector card
The back of the package lists the different castings available in Release 8. It also has a window to view the back of the collector card and the other side of the vehicle.
The Race Case JL 