uy Cassaday created his initial concept for the General in 1985, and named it the "Rolling Thunder." It was quickly nicknamed the "Rolling Hibachi." A senior executive tabled the concept, presumably so it wouldn't detract from the Defiant. Years later it was reborn, albeit in a more scaled down form and with a new name. The production General was much smaller than the initial concept. The concept featured 16 wheels and required the landing pads to be retracted to fit through a standard 36" doorway. It was big enough that the Desert Fox could drive up the loading platform.
|
The illustration below is signed by Guy Cassaday and dated 1985. The production General was much smaller than this initial "Rolling Thunder" concept, which featured 16 wheels and required the landing pads to be retracted to fit through a standard 36" doorway.
Note the Mauler on the loading platform.
Note the Mauler on the loading platform.
The Polaroids below show the costing model built by Guy Cassaday (Rolling Thunder used for scale).
Bill Young took over design duties at this point in the General's development, while Guy transitioned off of the brand.
The prototype below was fabricated by Bill Cooke.
The prototype below was fabricated by Bill Cooke.
The 1990 General made its debut in the 1990 Toy Fair catalog. The 1991 Toy Fair catalog is shown below.
Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.
Roll over the images below to find out more, or click the images to enlarge them.