Old 60 El Camino Questions

[James2]

I purchased this AMT 60 El Camino as a Christmas present for myself and will be doing another restore/mild custom similar to the Buick I did this past year. While searching for parts I came across one of the Tom D. Street Fighter kits.

Are the scales the same?

Has anyone tried interchanging parts with these kits?

What other custom options are there for the old screw bottom?

[W-409]

That's a very cool kit! (Yep I have a '60 Impala in the garage).

I bought one of those kits too and my plan is to build a Mild Custom as well. If you want to install a detailed chassis to replace that one piece chassis that comes with the kit, AMT '59 El Camino chassis will work with a little modifications. If I remember correctly it will have to be widened a bit and maybe some other minor modifications, but nothing too hard.

As for the Street Fighter kits, I don't know as I don't have any of them...Yet.

Anyway I'll be looking closely if (when) you post a WIP thread of this one.

[slusher]

I built a street fighter kit and the chassis is very plain James. I can send you a picture if you want or search and it will come up...

[TooOld]

First off . . . that's in beautiful shape ! Maybe the best I've seen in a long time , congrats .

Forget the Tom Daniel kit , it's 1/24th ( actually I think it's bigger than that ) and has NO stock parts in it . Depending on what your plans are the AMT '59 El Camino will be the easiest , and if you want to get more detailed (and more work) the Revell "60 Impala has the best parts for detailing . Maybe parts from both kits will give you the better results .

[James2]

It is a pretty nice piece, purchased from a friend. There are a few repairs to make but I'll save those for the WIP thread when I start the build.

I had a feeling the TD kit was an odd size. So is my AMT 1/25?

I will most likely use the screw bottom chassis as I like to keep the basic kit parts together.

My main idea is to change grills and lights, shave and massage the body some and install some cool tire/wheel combo. And of course a nice paint job!

[Fabrux]

The Street Fighter kit also has a chopped roof. Jimmy Flintstone makes a resin body that allows you to make a 1960 sedan delivery using the Revell 1960 Impala kit, however once I noticed the difference in roof height I've shelved my build for now.

The AMT kit you have now is 1:25 scale. If you're going to keep the screw-bottom chassis I think you can get the Revell 60 Impala and swap the parts accordingly; some massaging may be necessary.

[disabled modeler]

Id build it as it originally was designed to be but you might try looking at the Revell 59 Impala and a 60 Bad Actor panel to make a stock one or close...far as the AMT 60 ElCamino I know one could try a AMT 59 Impala kit for parts too.

[1930fordpickup]

If the front and rear chrome just have faded chrome have it rechromed. A few places do it .

[my80malibu]

I would recommend using the AMT 59 El Camino for the Chassis, and Engine. It would be the closest match to a direct fit.

[keyser]

Mine's good but not that nice. I'd trade for that body. Mine had bed rail holes, no tire marks, painted and stripped. Dunno if you'd play but PM me. I need to dig mine out but it was nice enough for me to own and pass on many others. I think I started repair on bed rail holes but don't recall. I planned dead stock except wheels

[Greg Myers]

AMT '59 El Camino is your best bet by far. As there is absolutely no difference from year to year save the body.

[Greg Myers]

1961 Chevrolet El Camino

07/31/11...Of course you know your cars and you know that Chevrolet never made a 1961 El Camino. You are right and you are wrong.

The1960 El Camino promotional-style model pictured adjacent first came to my attention in the late 1960's. It belonged to a college friend and was first seen upon a visit to his home in eastern NC. At the time "real" cars were the focus of my attention. The thought certainly was not there that someday promo cars would become a hobby and then a business for me. The El Camino made a fleeting impression. All through the years my friend and I touched base with one another and visited each other a couple of times annually. The El Camino moved once from one display cabinet to another. Otherwise, it was always reliably on location.

In the mid 1980's Clarence Young Autohobby was established and promos were the primary focus. A lot had been learned about promos and during one visit the El Camino became a curiosity. It was a color of 1961 Chevrolets (not available in 1960) and it had 1961 Chevy wheel covers. Also, it was not warped as were 1960 Chevy promos.

A few years later all suspicions were confirmed. Chevrolet discontinued the El Camino in 1961. The company that manufactured Chevrolet promos during that time was SMP, a special division of AMT. The El Camino promo had been a great seller for SMP in the five&dime market--toy store retail market to our younger readers.

SMP did something in 1961 that AMT had done in 1956. It continued to produce a model that was discontinued by the actual car manufacturer. More about that:Summerfords. SMP did the same with the 1960 El Camino promos and with its 3-in-1 plastic kit derivatives as well.

In 1961 SMP made all its products with an improved plastic that did not shrink and warp. This explains the non-warp of the promo featured here. Obviously it was convenient to use existing plastic and existing colors for the one-year-old 1960 El Camino. Two colors can be found: Seafoam Green and Almond Beige. The 1961 wheel covers followed the same production logic. One oddity here is that the grill cavity is a bit too large for the 1961 version. The 1960 cavity was designed for body plastic that would shrink up tightly against a non-warping chrome grill.

1961 was a bit of a recessionary year. Full-sized cars and dealer promos both suffered reduced sales in a slow-selling market.

This Seafoam beauty came into CYA's ownership in late July, 2011. It's a neat model with historical and personal provenance. Cars are even more fun when they have a story.

[Greg Myers]

Above from http://www.carhobby.com/CCJ2011.htm Clarence's Car Journal 2011

[impcon]

disabled modeler, on 28 Dec 2014 - 10:13 AM, said:

Id build it as it originally was designed to be but you might try looking at the Revell 59 Impala and a 60 Bad Actor panel to make a stock one or close...far as the AMT 60 ElCamino I know one could try a AMT 59 Impala kit for parts too.

Persomally, I totally agree with mark and I'd suggest strongly that you not alter any of the side trim or do anything to the car that is not easliy reversable. Changing the grille out is something that can be easily put back should you decide one day to sell the car to someone who will giveit a proper home and care for it and who prefers the stock look. It's just too clean and nice to alter, but thats just my opinion. Were it a usual '60 El Camino model that has been painted and had the custom options added to it thus leaving glue damage on the finish, I'd not be writing this but it really does look like a very nice, clean find. Why not use a resin body to make a custom and leave this one as is?

The '59 would be the best choice if you are going to update the model as it is fairly well detailed underneath amd has the poseable steering which is a very nice feature. The RM. I do not think,has a whole lot to offer that is better than the '59 kit aside from the wide whites and wheel covers which are ( I think anyways ) quite nice and would add a lot to your model. If the 60 kit has the bumper guards, then those would be a nice addition as well but i cannot recall if it has those features or not.

It's your model - do as you wish, but really nice clean examles of those models are becoming harder to find all the time and unbutchered ones fetch a decent dollar although I am afraid that to me, this is farless about whaat the dollar value is than about just having the item. But I do so hope thaty ou leave the trim alone and do nothing to the car that can't be put back to original as it sits in that picture. Just my opinion.

[James2]

I never intended to cut it up, and this is the 59 Buick I did, http://s176.photobucket.com/user/fredjames_2007/library/59%20Buick?sort=2&page=1 Using the same methods I hope to achieve another mild custom. This one retains almost all of the original parts except for the tail lights. (Modelhaus) It even has the original glass, polished up of course!

Edited December 29, 2014 by James2

[James2]

A recent ebay find to add to my collection of Camino's Aside from some light clean up, this one is near perfect.