Ghost Kits - Shown But Never Released

[unclescott58]

It's pretty well known that Ertl was planning a '50 Studebaker and '49 Olds a decade or so ago, but did they ever formally announce or show them? Word certainly got out somehow- I remember there being quite a buzz at the time.

Every time I see this it makes want to cry. I would prefer the '51 Commander, because that had Studebaker's first V-8. But, any '50 - '51 bullet nose Studebaker Starlight coupe would be cool. To think they got this close. Ah.... It's sad.

[Casey]

On 12/11/2013 at 12:13 PM, tim boyd said:

Mark...interesting info in your response about that AMT Porsche 911. When I was doing commissioned work for AMT in the mid 1970's, I saw the 1/10th scale wooden buck for the 911 sitting on top of a desk in either the Engineering or Art Dept. I vaguely remember an explanation of a cancelled project. Porsches at the time were of little interest to me so I didn't ask any further questions.

 

In later years, I just presumed it was planned as a continuation of the Trophy Series lineup (300 SL, Avanti, Cobra et al), which would have put the intro sometime in 1966. but your quote above is the first definitive proof I've read that links it to that specific time period. I think my earliest AW catalog is 67 1/2 or '68, so I just probably missed the 'announcement' by a few months.

Interesting...I just bought a 1967 AMT brochure and it lists among "THESE COMPLETELY NEW TROPHIES COMING SOON" a Porsche 911 #2363. No pic, though. 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Casey

[Greg Myers]

Every time I see this it makes want to cry. I would prefer the '51 Commander, because that had Studebaker's first V-8. But, any '50 - '51 bullet nose Studebaker Starlight coupe would be cool. To think they got this close. Ah.... It's sad.

Still seems viable wonder what happened.

[kingiguana]

Every time I see this it makes want to cry. I would prefer the '51 Commander, because that had Studebaker's first V-8. But, any '50 - '51 bullet nose Studebaker Starlight coupe would be cool. To think they got this close. Ah.... It's sad.

I believe there were pics of built ups ( maybe early runs ) at the hobby trade show back then. But, they never made it,....so I assume they have molds to these ? I could be wrong, its been a long time. Sure would be cool.

[SteveG]

I believe there were pics of built ups ( maybe early runs ) at the hobby trade show back then. But, they never made it,....so I assume they have molds to these ? I could be wrong, its been a long time. Sure would be cool.

There was a display model of the '50 Olds made from an Ertl diecast but nothing other then box art pictures of the Studebaker.  It's almost unheard of for kit tooling to be produced and then scrapped instead of being run. The only exception that I'm aware of was Revell's first version of a mid-eighties Cutlass which there were at least one test shot shown at least 10 years ago.  It was very simplified compared the recent kit as I recall.    

Steve

[tim boyd]

Still seems viable wonder what happened.

I talked to Don Emmons about this at GSL two years ago.  You will recall that he was doing  good deal of work with AMT at the time.  

He didn't know the answer as to why it was cancelled.  But he speculated that the MB 300SL Trophy Series kit had proven a tough sell at the hobby shop level, and that there might have been a fear that a 911 would receive the same reaction.   (Remember, at that point the 911 was only 3 years old and it was pretty much  cult favorite at that time vs. the huge popularity in enjoys today.) 

Still, I can see that 1/10th wood buck sitting on a table in the engineering section of the second floor at AMT headquarters just as plain as day.  I'm not a 911 fan myself, but darn that looked good!!!!    TIM   

[Art Anderson]

 

The garbage truck was released, along with the Ryder truck also. The garbage truck was a early 70's release, and the Louisville with the Ryder decals has been done several times with different logo's.

No.  AMT never even tooled up the Ford C-series GarWood garbage truck.  I was commissioned to build a display model of it for the 1978  HIAA Trade Show.  I last saw the display model in the show window of the LaGrange (IL) Hobby Shop in I believe, July of 1982.

Art

[Junkman]

In 1966 Frog announced a new 1/25 scale car kit line. Shown in the catalog was this:

 

Also announced were a Volvo P1800 and a Caravan!
Frankly bizarre, but typical of Frog, was that they planned to plate the entire body
and one was supposed to mask the chromed parts off and paint the rest.

 

Edited February 7, 2017 by Junkman

[horsepower]

Yeah I have 1....only one I've ever seen. There was also a #1 Dennis Setzer Mopar version, also hard to find. They don't even come up on ebay very often but when they do they go for much more than your regular Nascar kit.......which at this point you can hardly give away.

The got one of the Saetzer trucks too, still unopened. Ironically I bought it to build a model of the #29 Dodge that I had a set of Slixx decals for.

[Junkman]

What about these?

 

[disabled modeler]

No.  AMT never even tooled up the Ford C-series GarWood garbage truck.  I was commissioned to build a display model of it for the 1978  HIAA Trade Show.  I last saw the display model in the show window of the LaGrange (IL) Hobby Shop in I believe, July of 1982.

Art

I would have lobed to have that one...shame they never got it out.

[chuckyr]

What about these?

 

 

Recently reissued.

 

[Dave Van]

The AMT flyer show a 'narrow nose' Pete which is different than the kit issued.....

[Junkman]

Exactly.

[Casey]

The AMT flyer show a 'narrow nose' Pete which is different than the kit issued.....

In this case I would put the difference(s) on the shoulders of the AMT Art Department. It seems odd they would not have access to or know about the then-new Pete 359 with the wider nose. If the product number (which I can't make out on the sale sheet) matches up with the original issue of the kit, I would lean even more that way.

Now if the sale sheet said Pete 351 and AMT intended to release a kit of the earlier, narrow radiator Pete 351, yes. I don't think that is the case here.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Casey

[Casey]

You are correct it was to be released as another Police car, Chicago PD if I remember right Or it might have been Detroit PD (Blue & White car anyway, and both were using blue/white at the time and both were using '69 Fury's at the time)

I remember Auto World showing a Different Fury on the Jo-Han Kit, but I believe it was a 70 or 71 Fury not a 69. I do recall it has twin grills like the Local City cruisers here at the time.

Not the best image in terms of quality, but I believe this is a '69 Fury?:

[disabled modeler]

That Fury would have been nice to have.  I also remember AMT flyer showing a Drag line crane...love to have been able to buy one but they never got put out.

[Atmobil]

In 1966 Frog announced a new 1/25 scale car kit line. Shown in the catalog was this:

 

Also announced were a Volvo P1800 and a Caravan!
Frankly bizarre, but typical of Frog, was that they planned to plate the entire body
and one was supposed to mask the chromed parts off and paint the rest.

 

Great idea to have everything chromeplated. Paint sticks so much better to chrome plating...not..haha
Would have been great to see those kits. I have seen a 1800 Landcrab beeing used as a daily driver around here in the summer time for several years.
Did Frog ever do that many car kits?
A quick ebay search gave me this find:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FROG-AUSTIN-1100-QUICK-FIT-KIT-/291768040987?hash=item43eebafe1b:g:9pEAAOSw74FXPYxK

 

[Junkman]

Apart from those terrible soft plastic Quick Fits, Frog made the following proper car kits, all in 1/16 scale:

 

They were multipiece and could be motorised, but with a bit of work could be built into surprisingly nice models.

All of them except the ambulance were reissued in the Soviet Union by a company called Novo, but not in all
of the Russian issues the chrome parts were plated.

They are rare to the extent of bordering obscurity, especially the ambulance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Atmobil]

Thanks for the list, I remember having seen the Victor estate before. I have heard of Novo making reissues of old Frog kits and I do have boat kit that was originally Frog and later Novo and then several others aswell. The version I got was made by the Polish company Gomix. The kit in question is the 1:130 Shell Welder oil tanker. The partsfit is so bad that I will most likely never build it and stuff like the railings are made of vinyl and is warped.

[unclescott58]

 

Not the best image in terms of quality, but I believe this is a '69 Fury?:

The above '69 Fury picture was also shown in the Auto World catalogs of time. As far as I know, the kit was never released. At least not as a '69. The only JoHan police car from that era that I know of is their '68 Fury kit. I don't know what was going on with advertising a '69. The '68 version appeared for several years before, during, and after the '69 was shown in the above ads. 

Scott

 

[Casey]

This is a weird one, but it does appear to be a built up model of a "Way out Funny street cleaner from Lindberg in 1/8 scale -- cute 'n' crazy"

Hard to make out, but it's the one in the center:

[Casey]

Quote feature is fubared...please ignore.

Here's one of the JO-HAN ads from Car Model in 1967, courtesy of  David Cura's Model Encyclopedia pages:

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by Casey

[unclescott58]

In 1966 Frog announced a new 1/25 scale car kit line. Shown in the catalog was this:

 

Also announced were a Volvo P1800 and a Caravan!
Frankly bizarre, but typical of Frog, was that they planned to plate the entire body
and one was supposed to mask the chromed parts off and paint the rest.

 

Was the Mercedes 220 shown above, ever produced? I'd like that one.

Scott

 

[unclescott58]

Here's one of the JO-HAN ads from Car Model in 1967, courtesy of  David Cura's Model Encyclopedia pages:

 

"Coming Classic Packard Gold Cup." I've never understood why Packard has never been well represented in model kit form. Especially Packards from mid to late 1930's. A few from the late 20's, and early 30's. But for me, Packard built some of their prettiest cars from 1934 on. 

Scott