mnwildpunk Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I see amt is releasing this kit and I have never seen this kit before so I was wondering if anyone has one in their collection so I could see what this kit contains Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Barrow Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 (edited) I don't have one, but here's the instruction sheet - http://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/mkiba-build-under-c/amt-instructions/straightline-competition/amt-corvair-funny-car/ *edit* - Pictures are fuzzy, but it appears to be based on the Hemi Under Glass kit as was pointed out below by Daddyfink Very simple, similar in its execution to the AMT altered wheelbase kits from around that same time. One built up box stock here about halfway down the page: http://speedcityresin.com/Model%20Gallery%20Page%202 Edited July 16, 2014 by Brett Barrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muncie Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Thanks Brett - that answers a lot of questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnwildpunk Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 Yes thank you I am a bit of a corvair nut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High octane Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Hmmmmmm, while I'm trying to "back off" on my model kit buyin', I see that I'm gonna hafta get one of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Looks like a Hemi Under Glass chassis and a Corvair body. What a coincidence! I have both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I'm not a funny car guy. But, like Allison Thunderland I'll have to get this kit. Just like I love big personal luxury cars from the 1960's like Thunderbirds. I love Chevy's quirky old Corvair. One of histories most misunderstood cars. And the first subject of a major paper in my going for my bachelors degree in automotive history, 25 years ago. So, I think I'll be picking one of these up. Plus it's just plain cool besides! Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High octane Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I don't know about a longer legacy for the Corvair, as Chevy already had the Nova and Chevelle, and the Camaro was fairly new as well. Smaller cars didn't sell back then like they do today. Unsafe at any speed? I had my Corvair on the Indiana Toll Road one night back in 1967 doing 110 mph in the pouring rain without a quiver, and it was a blast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrozilla Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Rifling through decal collection....There's gotta be some Pisano & Matsubara decals in here somewhere........(Quickly passes by Jungle Jim decals). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatMan Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Haven't bought a funny since I was a little feller but this one intrigues me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 This is a must kit for the Drag fans out there! Nice to see it back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) I'm not sure how handling issues with 1:1 stock Corvairs has any relevance to a model of a drag racing funny car? This thread has gone off the rails sounds like. Anyway, is the body in this kit derived from the stock Corvair kit? It seems like the stock kit still exists, was reissued in the last decade or so.. Edited July 16, 2014 by Rob Hall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Barrow Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Yeah, that's why I tried to nip it back in post 12, I knew where it would lead.... The Hemi Under Glass has more relevance to this thread, as that where the chassis is apparently sourced from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMP440 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 When was the last time the Corvair drag car was issued? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 When was the last time the Corvair drag car was issued? Only issued once, around 1968. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasafyff Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 A fuuny thing about this kit.I have pictures of this model in a 1968 1/2 and a 1969 Auto World catalogs and it has Monza Mia decals on it's sides. I have this kit in my collection and it doesn't include the Monza Mia decals. The class designation on the decal sheet is S/XS.? Maybe someone knows if that is a corrct class designation. I'm surprised they didn't market this kit as a wheelstander.I suppose if you left off the wheelie bars you would have a wheelstander. This kit is just the Hemi Under Glass with a stock Corvair body.The instruction sheet instructs the builder to remove the last flat rear section of the chassis.About 9/16 of an inch. The only unique parts in this kit are the front spoiler and the headlight covers. I think this model would look good with the custom front body extension from the Prestige 69 Covair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Barrow Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 X/SX was a rather short-lived class called Experimental Super Stock. Think A/FX cars with unaltered bodies. Since this kit has a stock body it fits the class, at least in spirit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 A fuuny thing about this kit.I have pictures of this model in a 1968 1/2 and a 1969 Auto World catalogs and it has Monza Mia decals on it's sides. I have this kit in my collection and it doesn't include the Monza Mia decals. The class designation on the decal sheet is S/XS.? Maybe someone knows if that is a corrct class designation. I'm surprised they didn't market this kit as a wheelstander.I suppose if you left off the wheelie bars you would have a wheelstander. This kit is just the Hemi Under Glass with a stock Corvair body.The instruction sheet instructs the builder to remove the last flat rear section of the chassis.About 9/16 of an inch. The only unique parts in this kit are the front spoiler and the headlight covers. I think this model would look good with the custom front body extension from the Prestige 69 Covair. Auto World catalogs often included photos and information gathered from various sources. The photo of the built kit is probably from a CAR MODEL Magazine article on the trade show where the kit was announced. Some of the "sell sheets" AMT sent out to wholesalers and retailers used photos of 1:1 cars (sometimes retouched or even altered with markers!), or altered artwork from earlier issues of the same kit. On top of that, some of the funny cars didn't necessarily include the decal sheet that matched up with the box art. These were $1.70 retail kits as opposed to the then-normal (for AMT) $2, so when they ran out of one sheet while packing the kits, in went another. (Jo-Han did a lot of that too.) The '65 Nova and '63 Tempest usually had the "box art" sheet because AMT had another kit out at the same time with the same sheet as each of those. I've seen most of the others with sheets other than what matched the box art, and these were otherwise not messed with so it would be tough to say that someone just swapped decals. Besides the spoiler and headlight covers, there were two short rear bumpers, to fill the holes in the body for the rear bumper. All of those parts were probably added so that AMT wouldn't have to include the Corvair kit's plated tree in addition to the Barracuda one (with the 'Cuda's bumpers blocked off). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vairnut Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Somehow I missed this until today. Good thing as I would get too involved in the full size discussion side of things. Currently have 8 Corvairs and drive them daily - have for more than 35+ yrs now. Great to have this available as it's the 1 Corvair kit I do not have. There were a lot of full size Corvair funny cars from the mid '60's until about 1970. It was the Chevy racers body of choice. Most of these ran during the transition period of evolving from AWB to actual flip top funny cars. I am unaware of any mid engine real ones though. For a more accurate real version the stock or a stretched wheel base body on the AWB Rat Packer kit works best. The Seaton Shaker and Malcom Durham's Strip Blazer were a couple of the well known transiton cars. The Pisano Bros. car was more of a conventional funny car. The stock Corvair kit body fits the Rat Packer chassis and interior pretty well. I moved the Corvair rear wheel wells fwd to match the AWB kit wheelbase. There are a couple resin bodies available that are "drop on's" as well. AMT also kitted the Chevrolet Astro 1 Corvair based show car as a mid engine funny car. The kit was called the Scorpion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 (edited) The Astro I kit was also first offered under that name, Astro I. Scorpion name came later. I really wish AMT would reissue the Astro I in its original form. Scott Edited July 20, 2014 by unclescott58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasafyff Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 The Scorpion kit is a combination of the Astro 1 body and a Piranha dragster frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) The Scorpion kit is a combination of the Astro 1 body and a Piranha dragster frame. All the more reason I want the original Astro I model then. I wonder if they ruined the dies by converting it to the Scorpion? Scott Edited October 17, 2014 by unclescott58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 The Astro I body, as used in the Scorpion, is pretty well hacked up. Panel lines wiped off, things like that. The Astro I cockpit canopy (one big "door") and engine cover both attach to a belly pan and tilt up. Whoever came up with the idea of stuffing the Piranha chassis into the Astro I body probably thought they could do it without hacking up that belly pan. They were wrong, with the end result that the pan was hacked up and the remaining sections now attach to the body, which ends up as a single piece. I don't think the Astro I set the world on fire sales-wise, the Scorpion was probably done as a way of recouping the investment and get another product out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Correction...the back section does tilt up to expose the engine, the windshield remains attached to the body. Still, I'd bet the designer thought he could slide that Piranha chassis in there and have it work the same way. Other than the one I've got, I haven't seen an Astro I kit in years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vairnut Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I haven't checked out the Scorpion kit in detail. I have 2 of them but both still have the parts bags sealed. I have 2 of the Astro 1 kits but both are builders, complete but all loose parts. The Chezoom is one I just wasn't going to spend $200 + on to have a copy of. All 3 have been pretty hard to find. In the past 20 yrs I've found the scorpion to be the most common and least expensive. Found more Astro 1 kits for sale than the Chezoom, but both of these have always been expensive. I'll probably pick up at least 6 of the new issues. Would really like to see a nice new tool kit of a 1962 - 1964 Spyder cvt and a pickup/van kit but that will never happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.