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MPC '71 Dodge Demon re release


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I'd really like to build a replica of the 71 I used to have a lifetime ago -340 Auto painted B2 blue (Faded to a near bluish silver) with a white buckets-console interior and a steady rotation of soon to be perma-bald G60 15's out back mounted to a set of slotted police rims with dog dish caps. Sadly, no pictures but it would be easy to build with the right kit/body; really, the correct body with the bumpers and grille would be enough since there's more than enough resources for kitbashing a Demon.

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Hopefully Round2 will include an MPC sticker with this kit, but I'll buy one just for the box art alone. :wub:

Here's a look inside an original issue kit:

aec6b95d-7b74-420c-9616-dff7fdec5182.jpg

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thank's for the pics these old original kits are sure a work of art...hope they release EXACTLY as original !!

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  • 7 months later...

I am sorry, the 71 dodge demon is the one i'm wondering about. Got the years mixed up. Thanks John

No problem, John, just wanted to be sure which you were asking about. The '71 Demon is still in the works, but no release date has been set that I've seen. I think it's still on target for a 2014 release, but it sounds likely it will be close to the end of 2014: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=80054&p=1092015

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I've read some conjecture that the reissue has been cancelled ; that it's going to be more of a modified-reissue , in the same vain as the 1970 Super Bee from the early 90's (i.e. , MPC body and interior , with the chassis / suspension / engine compartments from the then-new-tooling '68 Road Runner).

It's alleged that the AMT 1971 Duster 340 (first issued in c.1998 , et seq.) is going to marry the MPC 1971 Demon Annual (ostensibly , 1971-issue) for its chassis / floorpan / suspension / etc. , etc.

I hope that that is not the case !

Also , note how the original issue '71 Demon (and its 1971-1972 cousin , the Duster) had only stock Rallye wheels ; no optional wheels ! But a purusal of its chrome 'tree' reveals that there's room for custom wheels . Wonder why that option didn't materialise until the 1973 Duster ?

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I've read some conjecture that the reissue has been cancelled ; that it's going to be more of a modified-reissue , in the same vein as the 1970 Super Bee from the early 90's (i.e. , MPC body and interior , with the chassis / suspension / engine compartments from the then-new-tooling '68 Road Runner).

It's alleged that the AMT 1971 Duster 340 (first issued in c.1998 , et seq.) is going to marry the MPC 1971 Demon Annual (ostensibly , 1971-issue) for its chassis / floorpan / suspension / etc. , etc.

This sounds like a good approach..the chassis and engine of the AMT modern-tool Duster is better than the simplified old MPC chassis and engine that are in the recent '75 Dart Sport reissue..

Anyway, since nothing has been announced officially that I know of, speculation now is ultimately pointless...

Edited by Rob Hall
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Also , note how the original issue '71 Demon (and its 1971-1972 cousin , the Duster) had only stock Rallye wheels ; no optional wheels ! But a purusal of its chrome 'tree' reveals that there's room for custom wheels . Wonder why that option didn't materialise until the 1973 Duster ?

Because for '71, MPC was obsessed with those incredibly stupid "spoof" parts. I guess they thought that kids liked building Zingers, so they'd like to build regular car kits as Zingers also. Epic fail. About half of the '71 annual kits got them; they wasted a lot of plastic and took up space on the parts trees that could have been used for other optional parts. Most of the '71 kits that had them, kept them for '72 also (the Vega and Jeepster Commando lost them for '72). For '73 they were gone, replaced in part with another waste of plastic (those "belt badges"). Hopefully the tooling inserts for all of those things are lost, never to be found...

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Because for '71, MPC was obsessed with those incredibly stupid "spoof" parts. I guess they thought that kids liked building Zingers, so they'd like to build regular car kits as Zingers also. Epic fail. About half of the '71 annual kits got them; they wasted a lot of plastic and took up space on the parts trees that could have been used for other optional parts. Most of the '71 kits that had them, kept them for '72 also (the Vega and Jeepster Commando lost them for '72). For '73 they were gone, replaced in part with another waste of plastic (those "belt badges"). Hopefully the tooling inserts for all of those things are lost, never to be found...

Apparently 40+ years ago they were marketing models to kids..what a novel concept. ;)

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Apparently 40+ years ago they were marketing models to kids..what a novel concept. ;)

I was eleven when those kits appeared, and thought they were dumb even then. I didn't care for the Zingers, but in the case of those I could just ignore them and buy something else...

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  • 1 month later...

OK, I'm still waiting for some official news of this '71 Demon kit everybody has talking about for over a year now. Was this truly planned? Or was this some over optimistic rumor started when Round 2 announced the Dart Sport reissue? As many may remember, in the 1/1 "real" cars, the Demon got a name change for the '73 model year to Dart Sport. (Something about sales residence to the Demon name. Also notice the logo/emblem change from '71 to '72. The cartoon Demon disappeared.) Was/is this just dreams of overly optimistic people making a leap from a Dart Sport to a Demon? Wishful thinking?

I hope I'm wrong. I truly hope Round 2 is planning on a Demon. But when? And is there any truly official word on this from anybody at Round 2? I'm waiting to buy one if it ever turns out to be true.

R. Scott (aka Uncle Scott)

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I was thinking about this exact subject last night !

It was alleged to have an April 2014 release ; however , there's zero mention of it on Round2's website ...

Earlier in this very thread , someone alluded to the cancellation of the original restored release (i.e. , the Demon being back-dated from its present 1975-1976 'Sport version) , and instead become a modified-reissue in a fashion similar to the old MPC-come-AMT 1970 Super Bee (e.g. , MPC 1970 annual body with AMT's 1968-1969 Road Runner , et al. , components ; a "factory kit-bash" if you will) .

So , another "factory kit-bash" is the latest rumour . In this instance , the MPC 1971 Demon 340 body is alleged to be 'bashed' with the AMT 1971 Duster 340 . However , to what extent , I have no idea .

Lettuce hope that the 1971 Demon kit sees the light of day , soon !

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Earlier in this very thread , someone alluded to the cancellation of the original restored release (i.e. , the Demon being back-dated from its present 1975-1976 'Sport version)

Round2 never "cancelled" an MPC Demon re-issue. The original plan was to base the Demon on the new-tool AMT/Ertl '71 Duster, not the old MPC tool.

When Round2 announced an upcoming '71 Demon, everyone assumed it was a re-issue of the old MPC kit....Round2 never called it a "re-issue".

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My last posting here got me thinking (not always a good thing). I find it interesting now that MPC never offered a '72 Demon model kit. Only the '71. Yet they continued its sister the Duster for '72 and beyond. Could there have been some sale resistance to kit, again because of the name? Back then models were mainly sold to kids. I know my Mother would have had some objections to buying a model of car called a Demon. A Duster OK. But a Demon? I know she would not have been happy even if I bought it myself. For sure I did not get a Demon for Christmas or my Birthday. One Demon, me, in the house was enough by her thinking. I wonder how many other Mothers felt the same?

Also didn't General Mills take over MPC about the time the new '72 model kits would have appeared? I wonder if they may have objections to selling Demons? General Mills was about as middle American as you could get.

It's also interesting to see Dodge's take on selling the Demon for '72. Not only did they dump the little Demon cartoon character, but they changed their selling pitch to the car in their brochures. Look at the '72 sales brochure. In '71 it was just called a Demon. '72 they make a point of tying it closer to the other Darts. It was now called a Dart Demon. And the main picture of a '72 Demon show a newly married couple getting ready in enter their Demon in front of a church. With Demon sales being no were near Duster sales, I think Dodge pretty much knew it had problem. As noted before, with redesigned front end for 1973, came a new name, Dart Sport. Also note, as Dodge was working on tying Demon to Dart. Plymouth is not doing the same with Duster and Valiant. Everybody knows Duster is a Valiant, but Plymouth only needed remind us of that it's first year out. Two years for the Valiant Scamp by the way.

Now I assume that adult modelers of today will have no problems with the Demon name. So I'm sure it's safe now for Round 2 to offer us another Demon now.

One last thing. Does anybody know of other Demon models in other scales, or as funny cars and things like that? I have the Johnny Lightning die cast, and I've seen at my local model car club a larger die cast Demon. But, nothing in plastics or as a kit.

R. Scott (aka Uncle Scott)

Edited by unclescott58
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Round2 never "cancelled" an MPC Demon re-issue. The original plan was to base the Demon on the new-tool AMT/Ertl '71 Duster, not the old MPC tool.

When Round2 announced an upcoming '71 Demon, everyone assumed it was a re-issue of the old MPC kit....Round2 never called it a "re-issue".

At the risk of being contenteous ; the "(1975-1976) Dodge Dart Sport" kit which is the most-recent restored-updated-reissued , was , at least initially , hearalded as a "One Run of Fun" kit before being backdated to the 1971 tooling of the 1971 Demon 340 annual .

Sounds like a "reissue" to me .

Truthfully , I hope that the pending pentagramme paradigm is based-off of the late-90's-origins AMT 1971 Duster 340 , albeit with better windshield , backlight and quarter windows ... and better windshield wipers ... and a non-A/C option for the engine ... and ...

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One last thing. Does anybody know of other Demon models in other scales, or as funny cars and things like that? I have the Johnny Lightning die cast, and I've seen at my local model car club a larger die cast Demon. But, nothing in plastics or as a kit.

R. Scott (aka Uncle Scott)

Nothing else in plastic that I know of...ERTL/American Muscle did a 1/18th diecast in the last 10-15 years, IIRC...or maybe it was Highway 61. In 1/25th there have been a few resin '71 and '72s made, though.

Edited by Rob Hall
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One last thing. Does anybody know of other Demon models in other scales, or as funny cars and things like that? I have the Johnny Lightning die cast, and I've seen at my local model car club a larger die cast Demon. But, nothing in plastics or as a kit.

R. Scott (aka Uncle Scott)

Revell did the Revellution F/C in both 1/25th and 1/16 scale

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