Motor City

I picked up an MPC '66 Corvette assembled kit and a '71 Chevelle SS promo at a model car shop in the Detroit area decades ago. The Corvette had a nice paint job and interior, but the suspension was a gloppy mess and one wheel that wouldn't stay on. I recently picked up a '65 kit that was never completed, so it has the pieces I need to fix it. The Chevelle had silver trim sloppily applied to the windshield, emblems, and ram air door! It had a slight bow in the passenger side windshield post, and had a '72 rear bumper. I was able to get the correct bumper, straightened out the bent pillar very slowly and carefully, and was able to get the paint off. It also had the exhaust system painted, and the interior had been messed with. I used a variety of small polishing tips attached to arbors (in my drill) to clean off the chassis, polished the glass and put the interior back together properly. It now is a very nice promo.

Mark and Bill, Thank you very much for the detailed information. Jim

Wasn't the '69 Barracuda one of those messed up tools that had emblems and other details resurrected? Is it too jacked up of a kit to make anything realistic out of?

interesting; I never read the book, but saw the movie, and read the awful reviews of the kit! I wonder about people stealing works of art, historical manuscripts, archaeological artifacts and celebrity cars. Who do they show these to for bragging purposes?

Lorne, That's a dirty shame. Has the room been at a stable temperature all of these years? I bought 6 Modelhaus kits shortly before they shut down. I wonder how those will hold up over time.

thanks for the tips, Snake and Bill! Jim

that is really cool; Whomever did the body also did a great job, and it would make a nice kit. 3D printing will allow us to eventually create our own. How about some Starfires!

interesting comments on this topic; The Christine car was a Belvedere hardtop - not a Fury (as claimed in the Facebook post). Jack Kevorkian's (Dr. Death) '68 VW van that he used as a mobile "clinic" to euthanize clients, was also bought at auction. I wonder who would buy such a vehicle. Sadly, one of Ted Bundy's innocent victims graduated from the same high school as me.

What methods do most of you use to safely dismantle the glue bombs since most were assembled with model cement? I've seen interior tubs with the tabs broken off. Would it be better to use a tiny drill bit to drill through the cement surrounding each tab? Have you salvaged glass with cement on it? If so, how? THANKS!

and someone on the forum will think it should be made into a model car

PMC made the 150 4-door promo that year. I have the bank version (no windows). They are quite affordable with minimal warpage.

Steven, Thanks for the suggestion of using Evergreen sheet styrene. I would have thought with all of the "phantom" kits done of cars that never existed (Modelhaus), and highly customized bodies (Jimmy Flintstone), someone would have done this already because it is one of the best styled cars of that decade.

The Henry Ford Museum (I won't call it by its dumb, newer name) store sold a very nice 999 assembled model. It isn't currently shown on their website. I believe it is 1/18th scale, but could be 1/24th. I don't know if it's resin or diecast or a combination of the two, but it had really nice detail. The price was around $200.

Steven, The 401 was standard on the '63-'66 Riviera, with the 425 optional. The Super Wildcat dual-quad 425 was optional on the '64-'66, and standard on the '65 Riviera GS. The Formula Five chrome wheels were an option on the '64-'66.

Scott and Joe, I sure was wrong on that! I read years ago that the '65 Riviera was the last to use the "X" frame. Obviously that was not correct. I always thought the "E" bodies from '66 to '70 (Riviera, Toronado and Eldorado) shared the same perimeter frame, and read that GM had considered making the Riviera FWD for '66. Buick felt that its buyers would prefer the traditional RWD, so it appears the Riviera had an "X" frame that was unique to the North American market. Thanks for correcting me on the photo, too, Joe. That's an interesting induction system on the 425 engine! For all you modelers, don't worry. AMT put a new "X" frame chassis under the '66 Riviera model car (I checked it against my '65)!