Bye Focal (1971)
The Bye Focal was released in 1971 as a Hong Kong casting only. Designed by Larry Wood, the car was based on a fanciful two-engine version of the 1970 Dodge Challenger.
The Bye Focal featured either a clear or blue-tinted liftable plastic hood. The blue-tinted hood is more common, and present on about 75% of Bye Focals. One decal was applied at the factory to driver side, and a sticker sheet with two additional stickers was included in the blister pack.
A magenta Bye Focal showing the twin engines under a blue-tinted hood.
A rare yellow Bye Focal in the original blister pack. This item sold for $7,000 on eBay in 2003! (Courtesy of A. Thomas)
The only casting variation is a flat engine top with no injectors which have been found in magenta, aqua, blue and green. The "no-injector" cars also had a longer hood that curled up at the end. All but the green no-injector Bye Focals have a narrower hood that is removable and can be taken off the car without breaking the hood pins. Some green cars also have this narrow hood.
A very rare red Bye Focal with the no-injector engine variation. (Courtesy of B. Rosas)
No-injector Bye Focals also have been found in red. Only three red cars exist and these are thought to be a pre-production version. One of these cars features a blank base (pictured above & below). Note that this pre-production car is the only Bye Focal known with part numbers on the hood.
A pre-production red "no-injector" Bye Focal with blank base. (Courtesy of B. Rosas)
Bye focals are famous for occasionally having so-called "crumbler bases". As pictured below, these bases apparently were constructed of a poor quality batch of metal and tend to fracture and crumble quite easily. Obviously, a major bummer when the rest of the car is still in such great condition!
Color chart
| HK COLORS: |
COMMENTS: |
| aqua |
common |
| magenta | common |
| blue | uncommon |
| light green |
uncommon |
| green (no injectors) | hard to find |
| green |
very hard to find |
| magenta (no injectors) |
very hard to find |
| blue (no injectors) |
very hard to find |
| aqua (no injectors) |
very hard to find |
| red |
rare |
| light blue |
very rare |
| yellow |
very rare |
| purple |
extremely rare |
| red (no injectors) |
extremely rare |
A Bye Focal in light green. (Courtesy of G, Nabors)
A magenta Bye Focal with injectors and the blue-tinted hood.
A very rare purple Bye Focal; only a couple of these have been found!
A red Bye Focal in the blister pack!
The 1973 issue of the Bye Focal - renamed the "Show Off" - did not have a plastic hood. (Courtesy of R. Nakamura)
A stunning Bye Focal in light ("ice") blue!
Photo & info credits: Mark Axelson
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