Johnny Lightning standouts

RobertBcfc Tuesday, 12/10/2019

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A few weeks back I posted a thread about cars you just know are going to be fast.  No matter the year or version, you know you've hit a winner - think Turbolence or Way-2-Fast and you'll see where I'm coming from.

Now, when it comes to Johnny L I am a self-confessed novice - my collection is around the 20 car mark..... I'm missing out on some great great racers - problem is I don't really know where to start.

Are there any cars that stand out?  Any series that pretty much any of them are competitive? Any active rip n roll JL leagues I can research?

Ive seen mention of series such as Dragsters, Hot Rods, Lightning Speed - are they any good?

Really hoping to collate as much feedback as possible to kick start my collection.

Thanks

Rob


Discussion

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WorpeX 12/10/19

I know very little about Johnny Lightning. I only know of one car which is supposedly unbelievably fast. FOTF sent one in the Redline National League event I hosted awhile back and sure enough, it was unbelievably fast.

The BWF Camaro:

There was also a "White Lightning Silverado" that was sent to the same event. Not as fast, but still very quick. I can't find any pictures of it and i'm not 100% sure that it was JL anymore. Anyway, that is the sum of my JL knowledge.


  • Definitely more knowledge than me - took me a few minutes to work out BWF is Black With Flames! I’ve seen that one run on YouTube - if I remember rightly it beat a hot wheels f40 so must be pretty quick — RobertBcfc
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SavageSpeeder 12/10/19

dont feel bad i hv 3 jls bc THEY ARE NOT FAST

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Dadvball 12/10/19

The fastest as far as being stock, no graphite, is usually the Black With Flames '69 Camaro from the Streak Freaks series. However, they were beaten a few times this year by the JL vans in head-to-head racing in the Lightning Fast class at the LJLRC.  They clock in usually at about 90 grams or more I think. The black Spider-Man van is very fast. The Chevys are usually the dominant ones over the Fords and Dodge. Silverados can be very quick also. The purple Dodge Challenger from the Mopar or No Car series is also quick. There's a few other castings but I can't think of them at this minute. You can check out the LJLRC Facebook page as Jeremy will post pics of winners in all of the classes and you can usually see the top 3 winners in each class.

I'm actually running the BWF Camaro in LOS's current American Muscle lll race along with I think 2 others if you haven't watched it. 


  • Dadvball, for the Purple Mopar or No Car Challenger, is it the silver or gold wheels that are fast? Or are both the same? Thank you! — Your_Nightmare
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RobertBcfc 12/11/19

Thanks everyone for your comments so far.  The message I'm getting is that the BWF Camaro is a must, outside of that, vans are the way forward.

As a list:

BWF 69 Camaro (Street Freaks series)

Spider Man Van (black)

Dodge Challenger (Mopar or No Car)

Chevy Silverado (White Lightning)

It seems that there aren't as many fast castings (and more duds) but the ones that are fast are VERY fast - does that seem fair?

I've heard that there's a Marvel Wolverine pickup (brown) that's also very quick?

If there are any others to add please do just let me know 


  • Yes, the Wolverine White Lightning is fast. Theres a brown Coke Mustang that does pretty good also. — Dadvball
  • Thanks - managed to track down a white lightning Silverado - will have to be after Christmas now but looks great — RobertBcfc
  • Wow, you found the silverado? Impressive! The only mention I can even find of it is a posting on EBay with it for sale at $75. Interesting that its part of a Monopoly series, I have no idea how the design is supposed to relate to that at all! — WorpeX
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LeagueofSpeed 12/12/19

Is the Spiderman Camaro the red one with the White Lightning wheels???


  • I'll check because there's also a white and a knight blue one that are also fast. Doesn't have to be a WL. Same with the Silverado. The regular version is also fast. — Dadvball
  • There's also a purple 4 door Dodge pick up that's pretty quick. And sometimes the Little Red Wagon in red. That won at LJLRC this year I think. — Dadvball
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RobertBcfc 12/12/19

As a total novice, White Lightning seems to be quite an exclusive series - is it generally fast, set apart in some way like FTE?

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Dadvball 12/12/19

To answer your question, no. White Lightnings are chase versions of regular castings. There are numerous traits to define a WL and each casting has to have 2 of them. They include white base, white wheels, white interior, pearl white/regular white body, white motor, gold wheels with white tires and I don't remember what else.   JL castings weren't produced in numbers like the HWs, and it was supposedly 3% of a casting was a WL.  So if a production run was 10, 15, 20,000 pieces WLs were in short supply and used to be able to sell for big bucks.   Also difficult to find as it was easy for anyone to spot white body, wheels, base, etc as you flipped through the pegs (except for me lol).   I still don't find Treasure Hunts and there are far more of them produced. 


  • Ah getcha, so more of a collectible rather than race related attribute - makes sense — RobertBcfc
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LeagueofSpeed 12/14/19

Just to clarify...the brown/coke Mustang is a 05 Mustang GT correct.


  • Yes. A few guys have them at the club and they can be pretty fast. — Dadvball
  • Thanks...thought so — LeagueofSpeed
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LeagueofSpeed 12/14/19

In my experience...the hot pink Monopoly Charger Daytona can be fast as well.


  • Can't remember see that one to often. — Dadvball
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LeagueofSpeed 12/14/19

Have also heard that some early White Lightning castings can be fast 


  • The blue Caddilac Escalade from the Clue series has won a few times also. — Dadvball
  • Depends on how "early" early is. I don't see a lot of older castings. Most of my collection regular non-WL mustangs. I pretty much stopped buying when prices went up with the re-sealable clam packaging. I hadn't started racing yet but even with the cars I have there really isn't much that's competitive so I don't run much in JL stock. — Dadvball
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Dadvball 12/14/19

I got more into the JL Forever 64 class when it started. Metal body, plastic base, about $3 each. Really hit or miss cause many times only 3 wheels rolled or the axle shifted side to side because of crappy crimps. 

Ill try to put together a list of the JL stock that has won and post it later. Should give you an idea of what's being run at the LJLRC.  


  • That would be amazing thank you. Some of the castings above look absolutely fantastic - just a matter of finding them I guess — RobertBcfc

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