Why are there so many iconic cars that have never been kitted ?

[Rob Hall]

So then how did funny car and TF dragster kits sell so well in the 70s and 80s? A ton of big name FCs and dragsters were kitted, all with full decal sheets. I assume licensing was then, as now, in force.

So what has changed so dramatically from the days when we had new kits of the Garlits dragsters, the Chi-Town Hustler, Gene Snow's Rambunctious, the Blue Max, and on and on and on?

They could (and did) do it then. Why can't they do it now? Is it really a mater of that much less interest in such kits?

A big difference probably is that in the 70s (and the 80s to a lesser degree) a lot of kids up through high school age watched racing and built models...but from the 80s onward, I suspect that % has shrunk dramatically (blame video games, computers, the internet, whatever).

Edited July 6, 2014 by Rob Hall

[Harry P.]

A big difference probably is that in the 70s (and the 80s to a lesser degree) a lot of kids up through high school age watched racing and built models...but from the 80s onward, I suspect that % has shrunk dramatically (blame video games, computers, the internet, whatever).

Yeah, that must be the case... because the business model itself couldn't be all that different today than it was then.

[Rob Hall]

Yeah, that must be the case... because the business model itself couldn't be all that different today than it was then.

Though with licensing, the cost of producing a contemporary racing car subject may be higher? I do wonder how kit makers handle the licensing for each of those sponsors on the decal sheet.

I do wonder what the # of modelers in the US is today and how that compares to the # 40 or 50 years ago, or the % of the population. And what is the average age? Seems the hobby skews towards an older demographic today and that many of those builders have been in it off and on for a long time.

[Harry P.]

But licensing was also in effect then, right?

Why is licensing such a problem now? Have licensing fees gone up that dramatically?

Maybe the higher licensing fees coupled with the smaller customer base is the problem.

[Longbox55]

Could be more of an issue of back then, it was free advertising for the license holder, but now it's more of a if you want to use our product name/image, you're going to have to pay us.

[ChrisBcritter]

I really can't see why AMT hasn't taken a crack at a '27 T roadster and coupe, unless they figured their '25 T was close enough. Considering the successful variations they came up with for their '32 and '39/'40 Fords, you'd think it would have happened by now.

As to why the Mantaray and so many iconic '60s customs weren't kitted - I'm guessing it was the luck of the draw, considering how many customs were kitted back then. Maybe that complex Maserati chassis was the deciding factor?

If it had been the Mantaray instead of the Silhouette, we'd probably be asking for the Silhouette today.

[blunc]

Aurora, in 1/32 scale?

yup, Mr. Myers got it also.

[Art Anderson]

Could be more of an issue of back then, it was free advertising for the license holder, but now it's more of a if you want to use our product name/image, you're going to have to pay us.

Actually, the requirement for "protecting" one's trademarks and logo's is the biggest reason for licensing--this was specified by the US Supreme Court almost 30 years ago, in a trademark/copyright dispute involving US automakers and the producers of foreign-made counterfeit repair and crash parts.

Art

[Art Anderson]

Sorry Harry, But there is still one more to go. Danbury is still offering a '35 or '36 Ford stocker in 1/16th scale and that's it, no more !! I'm still trying to understand why? Must have been extra parts

The Danbury Mint '35 Ford Coupe was a very short run, and the last run of any new diecast from Danbury.

Art

[Art Anderson]

But licensing was also in effect then, right?

Why is licensing such a problem now? Have licensing fees gone up that dramatically?

Maybe the higher licensing fees coupled with the smaller customer base is the problem.

Yes to all that you ask about. Where years ago, a lot of product/brand licensing was handled in-house, almost with a nod of the head and a handshake, the costs have gone up for licensors. Where once it might have been some minor management person, now the corporate legal office has to be involved. Couple that with the rise of licensing agencies over the past 30-years or so, and now it's a profit-making thing for the agent(s) involved, plus a cost to the licensor to be charged to the licensee as part of the total licensing fee.

Product/brand/trademark licensing costs are figured as a percentage of the model kit price, per kit sold, with an agreed upon "guarrantee" billed upfront when the license is granted, with an accounting provided by the licensor periodically for as long as they produce the licensed item in question, still using the same percentage royalty charge per kit as agreed on at the outset, as a general rule.

Art

[Art Anderson]

So then how did funny car and TF dragster kits sell so well in the 70s and 80s? A ton of big name FCs and dragsters were kitted, all with full decal sheets. I assume licensing was then, as now, in force.

So what has changed so dramatically from the days when we had new kits of the Garlits dragsters, the Chi-Town Hustler, Gene Snow's Rambunctious, the Blue Max, and on and on and on?

They could (and did) do it then. Why can't they do it now? Is it really a mater of that much less interest in such kits?

I seem to remember the "heyday" of model kits of drag racing cars being pretty much about 10 years say, between 1965-66 and perhaps 1975-76 or thereabouts. After that, relatively little was done with really new kits, until the mid-1980's, with Swamp Rat XXX, along with some Pro-Stock cars from Monogram? By then, the two most prolific makers of drag racing model kits, Revell and MPC, were on their last legs as free-standing brands of model kits.

Probably the biggest cause for such a drop-off of new kit development was the rapid decline in sales, due mostly to the decline in the birth rate that began in earnest by 1960, with the "Official" end of the post-WWII "Baby Boom" having been declared as December 31, 1964. Consider that the last of the true baby boomers graduated from high school in 1982-83. What drove such sales as existed after that depended on early boomers coming back into the model car kit market, something which really began in earnest about 1981-82. But there, a funny thing pretty much happened: For a lot of those who came back to model cars (I still remember my days as a hobby shop owner, in the 1980's to the early 1990's, when I almost NEVER had a day where I didn't get several phone calls and walk-in customers asking me if there were still model car kits being produced!)--for many of them, their tastes and interests in cars, and the models thereof, changed from what they wanted to build as kids. Funny how that happens, hmmmm?

Art

[CJ1971]

...well. I'm an _enthusiastic_ car modeller, and I don't recognise any of those "icons", nor do I have any interest in building them...

A decent state of the art kit of an E-Type would be top of MY list, followed by any number of more recent Jaguars and Astons and Maseratis and Alfas and Lotuses and Lancias...

bestest,

M.

I'm with Matt. I have NO interest in any of these "icons", mainly because I'm not into drag cars or hot rods. I have money to burn on kits, muscle cars ( Mopar ) & modern/or older "exotics/super cars " but wouldn't spend $1 on any of those icons.

[Dragline]

I'm one of those "post" boomers having been born in 1965. I built when I was very young [iE: 7-10], then stopped when I got my first skateboard. Grew a bit and didn't return to model cars till about 82-83. I was stoked to see my fave maker [Monogram] had Pro Stocks and Funny Cars on the shelf. I scooped em all up. And waited for more. More really didn't arrive at all for some time. Then The Top Fuel and Funnys came back in the 90's and once again I scooped em up. The only problem was it was the same kit over and over again. I got tired of that and I guess this is where we are. The last kit was i think either the Bud King or the Snap-On dragster.

Looking at the recent Hawaiian and Chi-Town cars one can see the ease with which those were agreed upon. Relatively no sponsor decals at all on either of them. Certainly no Goodyear logos. And with only the frame variation they got a two fer for 95% of the kit.

I guess it is out of the realm of possibility we will ever see a new drag racing subject ever again. More's the pity.

Bob

[johnbuzzed]

I think we don't see many, if any, "new" dragsters or funny cars or pro stocks today because they all look alike. Except for graphics, of course. Same with NASCAR. One is hard-pressed to determine a Ford from a Chevy from a Toyota until one sees the manufacturer's logo or nameplate somewhere on the vehicle. And the corporate sponsors lend little to the motorhead or speedfreak or "carguy"(please, no offense intended to anyone) mindset. Sunglasses? Glorified courier services? Soda, insurance, tractor manufacturers? And the cars have no cool names. I don't even think any have names now, but I could be wrong. They might go fast but they're colorful blurs with no character.

And, in my humble opinion, I think Revell should have produced the McMullen roadster in kit form instead of that green Deuce. That car has been around forever, in different stages of evolution. Think of all the kit options... But, what do I know?

[High octane]

This is all really VERY simple, we modelers can enjoy the vast selection of model kits produced today and that goes all the way back to the late 50's, or if we want a special kit that has never been made, there's a solution to that as well. A person can have ANY model car kit made that they want, all they have to do is "foot the bill."

[jwrass]

Art, Thank you for your insite and histroy lesson, very interesting!

Rob Hall, I am among that bunch that bought all the Revell cars in the 70s. Revell made allot more than they paid out, however modelers benifited and the racers did too as it helped pay the bills on the match race curcuit. So it was a win win for all of us. Revell being the biggest winner in $$$$$$$ modelers with the kits, racers with the bills. I think it was a great marketing venue. Sadly i don't think it would work today.

[johnbuzzed]

Well guys I really don't know what to say about your not being able to obtain most of the original cars in this thread. I must be missing something because I have most of them except the Manta Ray. and the Cheetah. But the Cheetah is available in resin. Most of these are not kits but Diecast from The Danbury Mint. I have the California Kid, The Little Deuce Coupe and the McMullen Roadster plus several others. Butttttt....The Danbury Mint is almost gone now so it could be somewhat difficult to pick these up in the future.

I think you missed the "...have never been kitted" (ital. mine) part. Anybody can buy a diecast, if they choose to spend that kind of money, and say "Look at what I got!" Be advised that I do have over two hundred diecasts in my collection; most 1/64, a few 1/24 or other scales. They are a form of instant gratification and they save time that I would rather devote to my priority, which is building/fabricating/creating, to the best of my abilities.

[Greg Myers]

So (sadly) Buzzard, when it comes down to it, conversely, one would have to build / fabricate / create, to come up with any of the cars pictured in the first post.

[Brett Barrow]

And, in my humble opinion, I think Revell should have produced the McMullen roadster in kit form instead of that green Deuce. That car has been around forever, in different stages of evolution. Think of all the kit options... But, what do I know?

I have to think that a big reason they spent $$$ remastering and cutting fresh molds for the Stacey David roadster is because it would make a McMullen-esqe Roadster kit a nearer possibility down the road. No way they spent all that money and that'll be the only kit they get out of the new molds. My Spidey-sense says stay tuned...

[Greg Myers]

Get out yer secret decoder rings kids.

[johnbuzzed]

So (sadly) Buzzard, when it comes down to it, conversely, one would have to build / fabricate / create, to come up with any of the cars pictured in the first post.

Yep, and remember, tempus fugit.

[RancheroSteve]

As usual, Art's comments are informative and spot on. I'll admit I'm an over 45 builder with more than enough kits on the shelf to keep me busy for the rest of this lifetime and a few more, but - in the case of the Manta Ray and the Cheetah especially - it's nice to dream, right?

[Greg Myers]

Yep, and remember, tempus fugit.

Guess i'd better get busy.

[PeeBee]

I thought Eldon had done the Manta Ray, but it was the "Invader" and the "Pink Panther" I was thinking of. I do recall that those kits came with excellent mags (Cragars?) and tires. Or so it seemed when I was twelve, when I thought the IMC '48 Ford and VW Beetle were terrific kits...

[Motor City]

I remember a Starsky & Hutch Torino. It was 1/25th scale and I think it was made by AMT or MPC. A Ranchero GT would have been a cooler choice, but the show was popular at the time.