Whats a promo kit?

[blackace183]

Can someome please answer this

[Scuderia]

Back in the 60s thru early 90s they were plastic scale cars used by dealerships to showcase current models to buyers. Others can expand on this.

[Harry P.]

Promos were not kits.

Car dealers used to give away scale models of their new 1:1 models as a promotion, or "promo." It was just a way for the car dealers to advertise their product. These were fully assembled models, but no opening hood, usually (but not always) no paint, just molded in colored plastic. Some manufacturers of these promos then also decided to create unbuilt kit versions of them to sell to hobbyists. Many of the early model kits evolved from promos. I think that the practice of car dealers giving out (or selling) promo models ended in the 70s or 80s? Today some of these old promos are quire rare and very collectible.

[blackace183]

Thank you for the info cause that used to bug the heck out of me.

[Harry P.]

Here's an example of a promo.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1963-Ford-Galaxie-Sunliner-Convertible-Dealer-Promo-Car-/121011517033?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item1c2cd93669

[blackace183]

Ive seen this at tag sales, you say they are worth good money?

[Harry P.]

Some of them are. Very good money. But you have to know which ones are the rare ones, they're not all worth the same.

[blackace183]

yes that does make sence but if i see one for like 5 bucks is it a good buy or does it depend?

[my80malibu]

I think a modern day Example, of a promo would be the new Dodge Challenger, that was issued around 2010.

[my80malibu]

yes that does make sence but if i see one for like 5 bucks is it a good buy or does it depend?

It all depends on what it is. I have a chevy citation. I would be surprised if it was worth 5 bucks.

Edited November 9, 2012 by my80malibu

[High octane]

I have a couple of Jo-han kits that are like unbuilt promos with no interiors or engines. One is the '56 Plymouth Belvedere and the other is the '59 Dodge which states Promo kit on the box end.

[Harry P.]

Yes, it all depends. Which one, what condition it's in, how rare it is. The values are all over the place. The best way to check values is to watch the prices on ebay... that will give you an idea. But it really depends on which particular one you're talking about.

[Rob Hall]

Some of them had radios inside, and some had friction motors ('coasters')....I've got about 100 or so in my collection, ranging from a '58 Ford to the recent Challenger pre-paints (which aren't technically promos, but very promo-like). I've got a pretty good book on them on a bookshelf somewhere around here...

[The70judgeman]

I think what makes most of the older promos worth so much money is that a lot of them ended up being given to kids and eventually they...well you know what kids do. So the older surviving promos command much more. Sometimes hundreds of dollars. They were practically given out much like walking into a dealership and grabbing a brochure.

[gtx6970]

Promo kits are recent ( past 15 years or so ) attempts from the manufacture to get more mileage out of the tooling.

simply put the un-assembled promo in a different box with a different label,,,,,, whalla it now caters to the model builders crowd as opposed to the promo collector community.

As mentioned some promos will barely bring $5 - $10 range, these are either seriously damaged older original promos but most are recent issues ( think mid 90's and newer ) simply because the market is flooded with them .

SOME promos will bring some serious coin, a 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T convertible promo as an example.

I collect Mopar promos from the 60's thru early 70s time frame and even the above is WAAAAAAY out of my reach

Edited November 9, 2012 by gtx6970

[rmvw guy]

A friend of mine got a 1960 Ford promo when his dad bought a new 1:1 one in 1960. That's how I first got interersted in building model cars instead of airplanes. We went to the dime store together where I bought a 1960 Edsel for $1.25 I think, with pop bottle money. We rode our Schwinns around finding pop bottles along the street. I think the bottles were worth 1 cent each or 10 cents for a six pack in the carboard carton. How's that for a Grandpa story?

[my66s55]

I'm a little confused here. The op asked about a promo "kit". Now, I know he is young from another post and may be confused and the answers I see are even more confusing. A promo and a promo kit are two different things. As I see it, a promo is as described by most posts here, but a promo kit is different. A kit is assembled by the modeler. A promo is already assembled. Many Craftsman kits were a snaptite issued to entice young builders. Such kits as this 1964 Comet are an example. The excel kits of the 1955-56 Pontiac and 1956 Plymouth's are also examples. Although kit manufactures issued versions of their promos in the late 50's etc, the kit version and promo version may have differences. I have a 1959 promo Olds 98. I also have a kit version of the same car. The dashboards are different for one example. The Modelhaus will inform you that you need to specify if you are looking for a kit part from them as their parts are many times based on the promo version and therefore, different. A reference to what kit or promo the op was referencing would would be more helpful. Otherwise, the question is still unanswered.

[Don Sikora II]

Pontiac Firebird promos only came as unassembled kits from '75 to '80.

Yeah, these are the only true "promo kits" that come to mind. They were simplified like a promo (molded shut hood, no engine, simple chassis, etc.) but required assembly.

[scalenut]

how does a promo differ from an annual ?

[Guest]

how does a promo differ from an annual ?

An annual is just a promo that has been modified into a kit. Usually they just cut the hood open,add a firewall,radiator/support and engine. That's why so many MPC and AMT kits back in the day had such lousy chassis and underhood details. They actually started out life as a promo.

[SSNJim]

An annual is a kit, generally fully detailed, that gets updated every year. MPC was one of the big producers of them. For example, the current AMT 1975 Caprice kit was originally an MPC annual. MPC would update the kit every year, changing bumpers, grilles and interiors as required.

[Art Anderson]

Well, to take this back to the original topic title: Promo Kit....

There were promotional model car kits, and by that I don't mean an ordinarily-assembled promotional model being distributed in kit form. In 1963-64, AMT Corporation produced several Trophy Series models of Fords, including the first release of both their '32 Ford Victoria and the stock height '25 Model T Coupe, as promotional items (model kits) for Ford Motor Company--who distributed them through dealerships.

Additionally, SMP (AMT's early on cousin) produced a promotional model kit (along with an assembled version) of the 1911 prototype Chevrolet. This kit was never sold through hobby shops in any form, Chevy Dealers only--and AMT was under contract provisions to destroy the tooling (under the watchful eye of Chevrolet representatives) once the production run was completed.

Art

[Greg Myers]

Back in the 60s thru early 90s they were plastic scale cars used by dealerships to showcase current models to buyers. Others can expand on this.

The answer doesn't get much simpler than this.

Aluminum Model Toys = AMT

[Greg Myers]

A little more info : http://www.carhobby.com/index.html#Clarence