Motor City

I went to the local one on Saturday. I've never seen kits marked down at this store. The only model I was interested in was the '34 Ford truck, so I used my coupon. Lots of slots were empty or had the ID tag on the side of the cubby crossed out in black magic marker. Some incorrect kits were put in multiple slots to make it look like they had more models than they really had.

There have been a lot of comments I've heard or read about over the years. One was the Cruver '49 Olds 98 sedan, one of which I saw at Toledo years ago. Another was the SMP '11 Chevrolet Prototype. Then there are cars that were reportedly molded in colors in small quantities such as black '57 Thunderbird and '67 Eldorado. Since Ebay came along, people no longer had to resort to seeing the same cars at the same shows for years on end. Now people can find rare models and colors on the Internet from other cities, states and countries. A couple of years ago, someone out of Chicago was selling 2 or 3 prototype National Products '51 Buick sedans on Ebay. The Buy-It-Now price was $180.00 each. It was very crude looking compared to their '49 and '50 model cars. A paperweight version of the '51 was made. I wonder how rare that is?

Tom, It looks like the back window is flatter on the real car and doesn't have all of the moldings that show up on the promo.

A lot of the MTU engines are formerly Detroit Diesel off-highway engines (marine, generator, mining, etc.). When Daimler bought Detroit Diesel in 2000, they eventually decided to sell the off-highway business and just keep the on-highway engines. These multi-cylinder engines are really impressive to see up close. Some for yacht usage had lots of chrome plating. The largest I saw at Detroit Diesel was 20 or 24 cylinders.

It's nice to have a resin kit available of so many different cars, but without chrome plated bumpers and wheelcovers or hubcaps, I'm not interested in buying. I think a lot more resin kits would be sold if you could buy a complete kit without resorting to taking parts out of another kit to get something almost correct. Oh, well.

I have the '53 convertible and 4-door promos, and the detail is pretty good. I'd like to see a '54 with the plexiglass roof:

Back in the early to mid 1990s, someone my grandmother knew from church had visitors come up from North Carolina. They all decided to come over to my folks' house to visit. I happened to come over later that day and saw their vehicle. It was a '71 or '72 Vega GT in that nice green color shown above. I complimented them on their car. It was in nice condition, and was driven from the south all the way to Michigan. For someone to drive such an old car seemed kind of gutsy to me. I was tempted to make an offer for it, but I kept my mouth shut.

Guys, The Vega promo is dirt cheap (under $50.00). Okay, let me rephrase that for those who complain about $50.00 being a lot of money. You could probably buy two for that price if you are patient. Aside from not being able to open the hood, it makes a great model. I have the ugly Mesa Sand '71 (an orangy tan) and a dark green '73. There are many out there with scratched paint or molded plastic, broken bumpers, scratched glass. You can do a lot with these for little money. It's the same situation with the Monza, Cavalier and Beretta.

I wonder what happened to the '71 Impala convertible promo tooling? It includes the fragile sun visors.

M Mark, This was made in Hong Kong and Japan, was sold by Radio Shack, and is often listed as 1/18th scale (according to a few Ebay listings).

thanks for the information, Chris!

I would place it on a piece of wax paper right side up on a thick piece of sheet Styrofoam. It looks like it's die cast, so JB Weld might be the best way to repair it. Just make sure that is listed on the JB Weld tube. Apply with a rounded toothpick (much sturdier than a flat toothpick). Be careful not to slop too much adhesive on the pieces or it will be more difficult to remove it from where you don't want it. If you can, try practicing on something else first. When you are satisfied with the repair, since it looks like one or more studs is missing, you might consider mounting it on a piece of wood painted the color of your uncle's car. Good luck! By the way, I had a crimped sheet metal fitting securing the antenna to the bottom side of my El Camino's fender. I couldn't believe something so crappy was used. I wasn't sure how to fix it, so I used JB Weld and it is fine today. It has never vibrated loose.

There have been previous comments on this topic, but they usually went in other directions (I'm guilty of this). Anyway, do we have any experts? I am aware of two models, the NT-11 and P-22. The GM model cars I have seen don't mention Philco on the chassis. Here are the cars I am aware of: 1964-1968 Thunderbird (multiple colors) radio NT-11 1966 Mustang 2+2 (Antique Bronze, Signal Flare Red) radio P-22 1965 Dynamic 88 (Target Red) radio model unknown 1966 Impala SS (Aztec Bronze) radio model unknown 1966 Riviera (Shell Beige) radio model unknown Chrysler Turbine Car (Turbine Bronze) radio model unknown I haven't seen the Impala SS in this color as a regular promo. Is it correct that Aztec Bronze was only used on the radio version? Did I miss any models or colors? Does anyone have knowledge of who repairs these? Thanks, Jim Thunderbird: Mustang: Impala SS:

Adam, I hope you keep buying up all of these loser cars and corner the market! They are much more affordable than the muscle cars, pony cars, and full-size cars. You can add the ugly duckling early Valiant and Lancer to your collection if you haven't already done so. I want to add an early Comet and Rambler American to my collection of early compacts (1st generation Falcons, Lark convertible, '65 American, Nova convertible) .

right you are, Bucky! thanks for the correction; the small Charger was based on the Omni/Horizon