Greg Myers Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 http://www.motorcities.org/Story/Remembering+the+early+days+of+the+AMT+corporation+1950s70s+br+By+Robert+Tate+Automotive+Historian+Researcher+br+Images++Courtesy+of+Robert+Tates+collection-348.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VW93 Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Great info. Thanks for posting this link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mack_Mechanic Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Cool find,Greg.I love stories about car modeling's history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Myers Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 So much our model mags don't report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pharoah Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Nice article. Gee,I don't know why a 1/20th scale Packard ambulance wasn't popular with young boys in the 50's. At $3.95,who wouldn't want one? That was a lot of money back then. I'd like to see one myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2000-cvpi Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 That was a good article. I want a Packard ambulance now. I'm guessing that it is expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 (edited) In 1958, AMT received the Edsel contract from Ford to produced miniature Edsel models. However, after the model year and due to poor sales, the Edsel was dropped from the model line by AMT. Bzzzt! Wrong - thanks for playing. There's no shortage of AMT '59 and '60 Edsel kits and promos out there. (Unless the author meant to say "...after the 1960 model year...") It is nice to see what the early Tenite promos looked like before they started warping and shrinking. If only Cycolac could have been used earlier... Edited April 8, 2014 by ChrisBcritter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 I started buying AMT kits as a kid in the 70's and its nice to see that there still around.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Can anyone ID the car being worked on in the first photo? Maybe a Valiant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalmage Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Looks like a Fairlane to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsDano85gt Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 very cool article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnwildpunk Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Thank you greg great link I just wish the article was a little more in depth but overall thank you for sharing it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Creative Explorer Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 To keep up with their customer's demands AMT implemented twelve hour shifts and twenty-four hour days. I never knew it was thanks to AMT, that we got 24 hours a day! One is never too old to learn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 (edited) In many situations that is called a sweat shop. if you need employees to work a 12 hour day for anything more than the very occasional emergency, you need to hire more employees and run three shifts. jb Edited April 12, 2014 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FASTBACK340 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Cool read! But as already mentioned, why an Ambulance?!? Make's you wonder what the other suggestions were! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Interesting article, with some nice photos. But way too stort. I wanted to learn more. There are some great books out there by Thomas Graham, who wrote one book each dealing with the history Aurora, Monogram, and Revell model kits. And also one on Aurora slot cars. I wish Mr. Graham would do similar books on AMT, MPC, and JoHan As for the car being worked on in the photo with the article and shown above. Jesse maybe right. But I don't think so. The roof looks more like a Falcon to me. The front almost look like the Squarebird Thunderbird. But, 2/3 down the body is a line that makes my think it's a Merury. I'm thinking this mold is maybe too early into its tooling stage to really tell what it's going to be yet. Ford product? Most likely. Valiant? Doubtful to me. Did AMT ever do a Valiant model? I know JoHan, Revell, and possibly MPC. But AMT? I don't remember. Scott Aho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertw Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Interesting article, with some nice photos. But way too stort. I wanted to learn more. There are some great books out there by Thomas Graham, who wrote one book each dealing with the history Aurora, Monogram, and Revell model kits. And also one on Aurora slot cars. I wish Mr. Graham would do similar books on AMT, MPC, and JoHan Scott Aho I agree with you Scott. I have the Graham history books and one on the history of Airfix and one on the Matchbox era in plastic models. I also find their kit lists useful on a regular basis. I wish someone would do the three big model car makers that you've mentioned and I'd also love to see histories of Lindberg, Hawk etc. rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I agree with you Scott. I have the Graham history books and one on the history of Airfix and one on the Matchbox era in plastic models. I also find their kit lists useful on a regular basis. I wish someone would do the three big model car makers that you've mentioned and I'd also love to see histories of Lindberg, Hawk etc. rob Rob, does Thomas Graham's Airfix book cover the some of the models like the Aurora 2001 Space Clipper or the MPC Space 1999 Eagle kits they shared? And does his Matchbox book cover the era when they controlled AMT? If so, these two books maybe worth adding to my collection. And yes, I too would like to see the histories Lindberg and Hawk. Plus IMC and Renwall too. And even the "Three Ps" of the model world. Pyro, Palmer, and Premier. Scott Aho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 (edited) Scott said..."Valiant? Doubtful to me. Did AMT ever do a Valiant model? I know JoHan, Revell, and possibly MPC. But AMT? I don't remember". ********************** Yes, AMT did 1960(?), '61 (?) and '62 Valiants - the '62's were "Styline" kits - and some (or all) may have been under the sister "SMP" label AMT then the '63-'66 Valiants as promos and at least some of those years also as urbside-type "Craftsman Series" kits. I have the '62 and a couple '63's in my stash. I don't recall JoHan or MPC doing any Valiant kits (by '71, the year of the first MPC Duster, the 1/1 was no longer called a "Valiant Duster" by Plymouth as it was during the 1970 model year). TB Edited May 12, 2014 by tim boyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 (edited) Thanks for clearing that up Tim. Your right of course. My mistake. Speaking of books dealing with the history of model car companies. I'd like to see more of your writing Mr. Boyd. Between Art Anderson and you, one or the other should be able a write phenomenal book on the history of different model companies. One or both of you need to be thinking about it. Scott Edited May 12, 2014 by unclescott58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 (edited) Oh yea. Speaking of the history of model companies and books on those companies, we forgot to mention SMP. The history of this company and it's ties to AMT have always confused me. Were they really seperate or something else? Scott Edited May 12, 2014 by unclescott58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eshaver Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Scott, Scale Model products was indeed a separate company . Aluminum Model Toys had better distribution . That s why you saw similar box art and similar logos . The two companies finally merged in the summer of 1961................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Scott said..."Valiant? Doubtful to me. Did AMT ever do a Valiant model? I know JoHan, Revell, and possibly MPC. But AMT? I don't remember". ********************** Yes, AMT did 1960(?), '61 (?) and '62 Valiants - the '62's were "Styline" kits - and some (or all) may have been under the sister "SMP" label AMT then the '63-'66 Valiants as promos and at least some of those years also as urbside-type "Craftsman Series" kits. I have the '62 and a couple '63's in my stash. I don't recall JoHan or MPC doing any Valiant kits (by '71, the year of the first MPC Duster, the 1/1 was no longer called a "Valiant Duster" by Plymouth as it was during the 1970 model year). TB The '60, '61, and '62 Valiant kits were SMP. '62 Valiant Styline kits can be found in SMP and AMT boxes. From what I've heard, neither is "rare" compared to the other. The acquisition of SMP by AMT apparently took place during 1961. Besides the Valiant, a handful of '62 Imperial convertibles were sold in SMP boxes, and the chrome plated "1962" license plates in the Chevy Impala kits have "SMP" engraved on them. There are "design differences" between AMT and SMP kits...the latter seem to have bodies that are thinner in many cases. Valiant snap kits were offered for '63, '64, and '65. The '66 promotional model is a super low production piece, and a snap kit was not offered that year. Jo-Han never did a Valiant. The only other one in 1/25 scale was the Revell '62 kit...the only one with an engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) The '66 promotional model is a super low production piece, and a snap kit was not offered that year. I've been watching this one for years and have a theory. I believe the '66 promo was produced in the same number / manner as the other year promos. What happened was that the model is wrong. Chrysler changed the rear roof line on the '66 but the promo still has a 1965 roof on it. There is also a problem with the rear edge of the trunk lid that isn't right. I believe that Chrysler rejected the run and ordered them destroyed, and the few that are out there were copies that were at Chrysler. The reason I believe they did a full run was that there are several different colors on this promo. I noted over the years that many of the cars offered for sale were sold as 'from a Chrysler employee's collection". So AMT wouldn't follow that up with a kit. So what happened to the tool? Remember back when the FIreball 500 was reissue announced? A lot of guys thought that since this body existed, that it must've been the last hurrah of the 1965-66 Barracuda tool. Note that the kit has the Barracuda annual chassis and drive train, so the theory worked at the time. Then AMT announced that they were releasing the Hemi Under Glass reissue... and people were scratching their heads that this body still existed. My theory? The Fireball 500 was tooled from the rejected 1966 Valiant promo tool. The Valiant essentially had the same body as the Barris car, so it's an obvious choice. Chrysler never followed up with a 1967 Valiant promo. The Signet hardtop was discontinued for '67, as Chrysler wanted to push the Barracuda coupe for those same sales, essentially the same car. So there is a '67 Barracuda fastback promo. Funny thing is that there was a '67 Valiant 2 door hardtop still sold in Mexico! But in the US the Valiant only came as a 2 door sedan in 1967. 66 Signet in red (Tom Carter photo) Burgundy, this is much darker than the red car above. Light Blue (Dean Milano photo) light blue gray. I own this car. Here's one in yellow. Note the incorrect Barracuda grill emblem. This is the only one I've seen like that. Edited May 13, 2014 by Tom Geiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Customman Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Way to go Greg, that's some great history, really enjoyed it. 6 months and 50 Grand = 18 million units a year. Yeah man, that's the kind of numbers I'd enjoy seeing. What a return !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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