little difference with the rear quarter panel and rocker panel. with the left model having a straight rear panel with extension and a narrower rocker panel. these two appear to have the middle thickness of the (i believe) four front braces.
http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/5844/pontiacgprw22castsx6.jpg
here are three of the four front brace widths and the three of the black tow guide variations, i think there is another width of the tow guide.
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/3127/pontiacgprw22cast1rj2.jpg
different picture of thick to thin brace.
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/4471/pontiacgprw22cast2pn6.jpg
the thin brace as the half filled in triangle well under the dashboard, the thicker brace widths from what i have do not have a filled in triangle well.
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/6573/pontiacgprw22cast5hl8.jpg

They clearly made so many of these that the tool required repairs and strengthening.
I have only noticed the with or without tow guide, the with or without deeper numberplate varitions, plus the paint shade varying from orangey to pinkish red.A fine casting, although the tyres on the rw look undersize, and on the sf look oversize.
If anybody on this forum owns a red SF Pontiac and a purple SF with opening doors then I guess it has to be Mountain.Some folks think these 2 variations were released to the stores in small quantities, others think the survivors are so small a quantity as to be pre-pros. What does Mountain and AIM say about these I wonder???

if somebody says they found a certain model in a store all i can do is believe that they are honest and found it in a store. it was known that a few collectors had many rw and sf models in various colors that came from the factory. whether or not they were ever found in a store is anyone’s guess.

never saw either of those two pontiacs in an AIM catalog . the red sf pontiac was discussed but never added to any of the updates, which is only one of many opinions. models had to reported from two different members and having obtained them from a store. of course there were ways of getting around this method. some collectors had models in different colors before they were released including the intended release color. when the model hit the stores they would then offer the same model in different colors as a model that could be found in stores. knowing the source of the models is why some were never placed in the catalog. :)

one that has a little bit of a history behind it is the #44 refrigerator truck in all red with sf wheels plus a yellow cab with green box version with sf or black rw. these were thought of long ago as forgeries or one of’s form within the lesney factory.

repaints and touch ups were confusing too. not all were meant to be misleading and were openly stated when selling or trading. the black spoke rear wheel of the #9 dennis fire and the silver bottle/driver 7-1 milk float were two of these models. there was a gentleman that use to paint the bottles/driver silver on the float and trade them, the reason for the notation in the AIM catalog.
there was something about a y-6 blue cadillac too.

why not call a model what it is, whether pre-production, color trial etc. when many of the rw #’s and just about all of the sf #’s were available buy the hundreds at wholesalers and jobbers, you would think some of incredibly rare models would be found. of course no one can possibly know everything and hopefully nobody gets rip-off .

i kept many of the sf in blisters for a little more authenticity , it adds more of a time line to the cataloging of models too.
here is a blistered maserati bora with 3 label, probably a little hard to find blistered in a 1975 blister.
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/2531/maseratiborasf323lab1ew0.jpg
it would be nice to have some of these in blisters.
http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/6505/maseratiborasf32upbasezq8.jpg
a lamborghini countach with dark green tempa and tan interior in a 1980 blister. with the other model being the more orange color.
http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/6161/lamborghinicountachsf27sq1.jpg

Therefore it seems reasonable to assume the chances of the red SF and the purple opening door model being legitimate mass produced releases rather than factory trials or lunchbox specials are very small given the fact that no 2 reputable AIM members could find any in stores, so I will not be suprised in future if I never find a genuine example.
The red/green back 44 Refridgerator with thin SF is a genuine transitional then? But the mixing of yellow cab/green back and all red 44s are definite collector inspired lunchbox specials -it wouldnt be to hard to swap over the back box but the wheel changes between rw and sf, thats a good bit harder to fake

Interesting. On my purple GP - If you look up inside between the rear wheels and the
wheel opening you can still see what looks to me to be a relief divit cut into it
that would make room for the ends of the old rw axle.