Ragtop Man

In hindsight, the Peterbilt changed the business for them, and everyone else. AND DAMMIT, 54 YEARS AFTER "DUEL" WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR THAT PETE 261 AND TANKER!!!!

I found a few annual reports from AMT "in the day" - they were as cyclical as Detroit or any other factory town, maybe worse. AMT made some bad business decisions at the peak of their success, particularly with regard to slot cars, as the big three were dialing back promo contracts and MPC was ascending in product. Were it not for the class-8 series trucks such as the Peterbilt "Californial Hauler," and to a lesser extent, some quick saves like Mod Stockers and the Countown series, there wouldn't even BE and AMT now.

The build up the thread ^^^^^ is clearly channeling the Chili Coupe (Chili Sedan, anyone?) and really looks great, one of the first complete builds of that I've seen. I'd love to see a build that used the AMT " instructions " for the Custom Sedan, now that most of the parts save for wheels have been re-released; a proper scrap box would get you most of the rest. That has Tim Boyd written ALL over it! My hunch is that the 'radical rod' look of Lil' Coffin/Chili Coupe/etc. went off a cliff not long after the release, may have been cut completely out of the tool to do the pickup. Mag coverage of that type plummeted about '65-6, as the "vintage tin" stock with all the barbs and trim look became fashionable again. May be some crossover in the rationale with XR6, which also flared and disappeared in the same breath. Speculating, here, but it seems to me that if there were legacy parts in the tool, the 'knock out the gates' effort before the RC sale would have yielded some bits - see "Ala Kart" / "Mod Rod" - in the Willys. Still shaking boxes at the shows looking for a good one to build, and for sure I'm printing the AMT recipe cos all of those parts and more are taking up space in the boxes.

Oh, do I have heart for this kit! Built my first one in the '70s (issue with the coke-spoke American mags) for the Auto World large scale contest. Flared the wheelwells, converted to a gullwing with working doors all the '70s Car Craft cliches in one build. Apparently, it won third place, but I never found a shred of documentation - only a package in the mail with a 1/16 Aurora Vega FC body and a brief note saying "you came in third, thanks for playing." Went to glory in the Great Shelf Collapse... sigh. There is still a door and a wheel or two from the build extant, but that's about it. Second was a replica stock for the best man in my wedding, who wanted a '63 SW, used that "80s art" issue to build it. Spent a LOT of time on it, even rounded up a very nice base and plexi cover from our local collectible shop, as well as an engraved "Built for..." plaque. I don't recall any major issues beyond normal modeling cleanup and fitting. Have tripped over and picked up a few since then, just cos I want one for me, now. A local estate sale had real body shop 1:1 cans of Dupont Lacquer in Daytona Blue (!) for a dollar... hard to believe it was 11 years ago. I was really a big MPC fan in the era, they had the details down. Everything went together pretty well, looked right when complete. Given that my modeling tools of the time were orange Testors, emery boards and a dull #11, the completion rate and quality were surprisingly good.

... fat fingers. ... To quote Kramer from Seinfeld, "I'm out!!!" Your Comets are fantastic, wanted to do BOTH of those builds! Would love any details you have on them, I think they are awesome.

To

This is the best issue of MCM I've read in a while. Tim's FC story is terrific and the photos do a great job of telling the tale of the FC kits. Some day, one of those El Toros will turn up for me! I'm overdue for a Nebraska visit to the family farm operation, I know I will be in the Lincoln area for an extended stay, now. But I'm heaving all the laurels on the MPC '67 GTO-LeMans convertible build and the clear, common sense build suggestions in the story... and oh wait... why ELSE would I love this story? FWIW, I'm a news stand buyer, not a subscriber, so it is an hour drive, minimum to the LHS where MCM is on the shelf. Worth every penny to chase it down this issue!

Well, hell yes. This is one I missed, superb buld and the roof really does look better. Wondering if the '64 Falcon might have a better roof? Honestly, I really never noticed the annual/Craftsman, but now that I see it, it's like people clicking dentures or cracking gum. I can't NOT see it. Great job.

I would be very surprised to learn there had been much remastering of the '64; Moby has been pretty clear that if there's something close in the kit world, they're going to copy it ('61 Catalina is virtually identical to the AMT '62, etc.) Bet the AMT and this are very close... FWIW, though, as we have discussued quite a bit in the past, a "K-" engine code in the Comet for 1964 or 1965 does not mean it is the Hi-Performance version of the 289. I'll spare the bandwidth, but it is very confusing to know what is a true original car with the HP engine bits - they WERE built - because so few actual survivors are available to reference with solid docs to day one.

Digging the '32 Sedan - wondering if they actually found that tool, or just knocked out a new one?

Oh damn! Simple and perfectly executed! Really nice job on that, would really get the nods at NNL.

That is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo it. Wow. Nice work.

Tim's comments are right on the money from what I've observed or suspected for a while. Knowing a few builders, they are INTO the drags and will research the daylights out of the project/era to get them just right. I'll theorize that it is possible to exhaust the build possiblities when the subject is a very specialized or specific (TJ Taxi, f'rinstance) vs. a generalized subject that can be harvested for parts in any number of ways (MPC Bantam, Miss Deal, etc.) Moby has been pretty smart this way, IMO. The ability to reconfigure tooling for stock, S/S, AWB in their Mopar line is impressive. Not sure if I have ALL of them, but there is a good stack going waiting for the shop to be completed.

I'd be very surprised to learn a stock hood was not in the offing at some point for a version of the kit (Daytona Durability Run, anyone? E. African Safari?) I sure wouldn't let one of these get away for that reason.

I wouldn't put it past them - but there would have to be a pretty solid business case for the one-off. Pro Stock had advanced light years from the original Dyno Don car to the TJ Taxi. The innards would not be correct for an 'early' car, so the crossover work done with the F-Series is pretty well off the table. Drag kits always do well, maybe not as crazy as it would seem.