2003 Johnny Lightning Street Freaks II Scrapin’ ’63 Chevy Impala

When I think of diecast Lowriders, I don’t immediately think of the Johnny Lightning brand. But even JL got into the act when Lowrider Impalas were all over the place in the early 2000s (click here to see my Revell Lowrider Magazine collection, and click here to see my Jada Homie Rollerz collection). Tucked in as a sub-series in the Street Freaks line, Scrapin’ featured “slow and low” models with wild paint and graphics and blinged-out wheels. This ’63 Chevy Impala from 2003 R2 is a fine example.

Though it was fairly heavy on the Chevy offerings, the JL Scrapin’ series wasn’t all Impalas. Along with a few Buicks and Oldsmobiles, there were more unexpected castings, including a 1991 GMC Syclone pickup, a 1987 Ford Mustang GT and a 2000 Honda Civic.

Johnny Lightning | 2003 | Street Freaks II Scrapin’ R2 | ’63 Chevy Impala | orange with yellow trim, gold chrome base, opening hood

Johnny Lightning Pro Collector Series

The Johnny Lightning Pro Collector Series was produced from 2001 to 2003 and featured six different segments; Muscle Cars, Camaro, Mustang or Shelby, Chevy, Mopar, and Corvette. The models were spread out over 4 releases and each one included a nice collectible storage tin. There are 2 models per segment in each release, for a grand total of 48 different cars.

This 1963 Chevy Impala Z11 is from the Chevy R1.

One fun, unexpected detail of these is that a picture of the top of the vehicle is printed on the bottom of the inside of the tin.

Johnny Lightning | 2001 | Pro Collector Series R1 #4 | 1963 Impala Z11 | dark blue, opening hood | collectable storage tin

Also from the Chevy segment, I have the 1970 Nova from R4.

Johnny Lightning | 2003 | Pro Collector Series R4 Chevy #41 | 1970 Chevy Nova SS | red, opening hood | collectable storage tin

Johnny Lightning Hot Rod Magazine

For a brief time during Johnny Lightning’s Playing Mantis era, Jeff Koch, formerly of Hot Rod Magazine, worked as the JL brand manager. Probably not coincidentally, it was during these years, from about 2003 to 2005, that the Primedia Magazine series featured cover cars from some of its automotive titles such as Motor Trend, Rod & Custom, Car Craft, Hot Rod Magazine and others.

This Hot Rod Magazine 4-Pack from 2003 features four cars from the September 1994 cover: a red 1963 Chevy II, a red ’57 Chevy Bel Air, Troy Trepanier’s AMC Rambler American Wagon, and Thom Taylor’s blue metallic Ford Thunderbird “Bad Bird” Roadster.

I bought the four-pack for the ’63 Chevy II, of course, but the other cars are pretty sweet too.

2003 | Hot Rod Magazine 4-Pack | 1963 Chevy II | red with 57 Chevy, AMC Rambler, Bad Bird Roadster

This nice cherry metallic 1958 Chevy Impala, packaged with a collector card, is from the 2004 Primedia Hot Rod R4.

Johnny Lightning | 2004 | Primedia Magazine Hot Rod R4 | 1958 Chevy Impala #6 | cherry metallic with card

I also happen to have a loose version of the same 2004 Primedia Hot Rod R4 cherry metallic ’58 Impala.

The opening hood on this model lifts up far enough for it to stay open by itself, allowing me to get a shot of the engine details.

Johnny Lightning | 2004 | Primedia Magazine Hot Rod R4 | 1958 Chevy Impala #6 | red with card

And finally, from 2004 Primedia Magazine Hot Rod R7, I have this fun primer red ’69 Chevy Nova. Unfortunately, I don’t have the collector card – which had the headline “Budget-Beater Streeter” – that came with this model.

Johnny Lightning | 2004 | Primedia Magazine Hot Rod R7 | 1969 Chevy Nova | primer red, opening hood