Mark

The DeSoto grille bar IS in the recent reissue '57 Ford kit. It's not shown on the box (other than the parts layout) or mentioned in the instructions because the Stylizing extension needed to use it isn't in the kit. I'd suspect that 99% of the people who want the deleted parts could find them in a parts box or started older issue kit, and there aren't enough of them to make tooling those parts a thing.

'57 and later blocks have the oil filter pad. '58 and later have provisions for motor mounts on the sides, and you need those for a '59 application.

The person buying that GTX kit might own a real one. The promos are hard to find, but a minty kit is even tougher. I was watching an AMT "for 1968" Camaro kit the other day; that auction ended earlier today. This one was in nice shape, even the box...but was missing the BODY. This is an original kit from when the car was new. But it's a "for 1968" kit, it doesn't represent a 1968 car. It's a '67 with some changes to differentiate it from a '67. I was looking at it as a source of parts for a couple of rebuilders, nice chrome and other unused parts. But it fell off my radar when it hit $35 or so. The thing ended at $99. Apparently a couple of people are really looking for parts for one of those Camaro kits.

The Model A is a good kit, in spite of the fenders/frame being one unit. I saw a couple of those Friday and left without one, but went back and snagged one today. The sedan body still drops right on, as does resin copies and derivatives. Besides having a couple of sedan kit bodies, I remembered buying a Jimmy Flintstone sedan delivery body that is based on the sedan. The delivery has shorter doors besides the more obvious differences. Sure enough, it too fits right on the woody fender/frame.

If they think it's real, they'd be more upset about the lack of a windshield, the painted trim pieces, and the "clocked" headlamps.

I've got one on backorder from Auto World Store...they are saying "late December". Same goes for the '60 Chevy wagon, '65 Barracuda, and '72 Duster among others.

That's from a third generation Camaro or Firebird ('82-'92). I believe it's from an MPC kit.

But that does tell you that the package is still with the seller and hasn't started moving yet. I'd guess the seller has to create the label to start the clock ticking for USPS to pick the item up. Might as well start the notifications with the first action (creating the label).

Seller might be having the shipper pick up the sold items at the place of business, and maybe the shipper charges for that service unless there's a minimum number of items to pick up? Yes, eBay flags the item as "shipped" the minute a shipping label is stuck on, and tells you it has been "shipped". But, open the link to the tracking number, and you get more accurate info. That used to irritate me, but no more. As long as the item gets to me, it's cool.

There are more custom parts in the '57 Ford than are shown in the instructions. It has the Stylizing vertical quad headlamp setup. It does not have the Stylizing front and rear extensions, or the Edsel wagon taillight bezels. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for those to come back, as they were probably chopped out of the tool fifty years ago to fit the fuel injection tubes in. They're in the space on the tree where the bezels were in earlier issues. The Stylizing extensions were probably cut out so other parts could be put in later.

They had to have the same configuration as the showroom version, but not stock parts. The '72 Torino, having coil springs front and rear, would need them on the race version as well. That really started in 1966-67 with the Fairlanes and Comets using Galaxie frame stubs up front. A fabricated version of the stub was allowed around 1970. The early AMC Matadors ('72-'73) were built by Holman & Moody and were essentially Fords under the skin. Both cars used coil springs front and rear as built on the assembly line. I believe the Matadors used Ford rear axles too, as the AMC pieces weren't up to high performance usage. A real outlier in that period was the Ray Nichels/Chris Vallo/David Pearson Pontiac GTO that ran in NASCAR briefly in 1971. GM frame, fabricated Ford front stub, GM (probably "truck-arm") rear suspension with a Mopar 8-3/4" rear axle. As raced, it had coil springs all around so it did fit the rule book, but nothing except sections of the frame were "stock".

I doubt Jo-Han was planning a stock Torino with that level of detail. Look at the other annual kits they were still doing. Interior buckets with front and rear seats molded in were still the order of the day (though some earlier kits DID have separate parts). To even get to a stock kit with an engine, they'd have had to create the engine unless they were going to stick the Boss Nine in there. Jo-Han seems to have been trying to recast itself as "the race car model company" in 1971-72, after losing the last of their Mopar promo model business after 1970. They did some great new tooling, but most of the drag cars were too unique and the NASCAR and Trans-Am stuff got outdated quickly. So after that, they went pretty much in the only direction they could go...diving into the tooling bank.

Jo-Han tended to use parts they already had tooling or masters for. Compare the S/C Rambler rear suspension to that of the Sox & Martin Barracuda which was tooled around the same time...very similar. The S/C did not use that axle, it used the same setup as other AMC cars around that time. The Torino having that rear axle is simple...Jo-Han already had that part mastered. It's the same as the others, right down to the (incorrect) separate gear carrier. The Torino's upper front suspension arms resemble those in the Chrysler Turbine Car kit also.

Anyone who watches shows like "Cops" or "The First 48" know that, when someone says that, the next thing that comes out of that person's mouth will have absolutely no relationship with the truth. Usually the people asking the questions already know the answers, and it just becomes a game of how many go-rounds there are before that last person's verbal stylings veer anywhere near the truth. And even then, it's sometimes by accident.

But that's a stock Torino frame, which the race cars didn't use. The front stub, at least, would be different (probably a fabricated '65 Galaxie piece). The Dana rear axle isn't right either; should be a Ford 9" unit. Jo-Han's Dana 60 isn't 100% correct either, having a 8-3/4" Mopar gear carrier ("chunk"). The cover and housing are great, just needs work up front. And it's incorrect for the S/C Rambler kit too.

The original Craftsman wagon kit was pieced together from the original promo model wagon (which may have only had a metal chassis) and the hardtop/convertible kits which were produced from another tool. The wagon kit's rear bumper was reworked from the HT/conv piece, you can see where the original license plate recess was filled in to move it down for the wagon. The '59 El Camino chassis doesn't have the spare tire recess out back because the Camino's spare is behind the seat on the passenger side.

It's a shame that the T-bucket kit engine is as far off as it is. Even the valve covers, nice looking as they are, aren't quite right (the ones in the Customizing Boat kit are closer, though a bit small as I remember). As far off as that T-bucket engine is, Aurora cribbed it for their '22 T. They put Corvette valve covers on it, and called it a Chevy engine!

The Monogram 1/24 scale '56 Thunderbird engine could be reworked into a 1/25 scale Lincoln engine. The two are similar in block shape and port spacing, different in size. You would have to make exhaust manifolds, valve covers, and other parts, and come up with a transmission.

It was '66, AMT started re-boxing Trophy Series kits then. Many of the re-boxings brought some fresh parts into the kits. The Toronado was a big deal (as it should have been), people were looking for things from it to use on other cars. The Deora, for example, has a cut-down Toronado steering wheel. I have seen another street rod or two from that era with Toronado steering wheels.

AMT Cobra is out right now. Older issues aren't hard to find, nor expensive. I picked up a Modern Classics early Seventies issue a couple of months ago for seven bucks, complete and unbuilt.

AMT '40 Ford coupe and sedan delivery. They're meant to represent Olds Toronado wheel covers.

$2.00 retail price kits were $1.44 at K-Mart every day. When they went to $2.25 in the early Seventies, K-Mart went to $1.66.

The weird styling is there to make these things stick out. Same goes for the Amazon trucks, Cybertruck, Rivian, Hummer, and Priuses until recently. You could say "virtue signaling", or you could say that the mere sight of one is free advertising. It worked for the Gremlin and Pacer, and the Jeep before that, so why not?

There are places for EVs to get into now, and become mainstream later. The Amazon delivery trucks, for example. At the end of the shift, there's a bunch of them in one place, where the charging facility is ready to get them charged up for the next day's work. It would have made more sense to sell EVs to the public as a second car or a commuter. Short range, charge it at home overnight. Heck, I'd have bought a Miata type two-seat roadster as a second car for commuting and short weekend drives. But then again, the dealers would kill something like that with markups and other nonsense like they do with anything else that has more appeal than the average car. Get people used to the idea of it as a second car, some will take the leap to the idea that they could get away with one as primary transportation. The charging stations would pop up to service the "second cars", and gradually there would be enough of them to take care of additional cars coming in each year. Nope...someone had to put their thumb on the scale, forcing manufacturers to build and sell cars without enough places to charge them.

No criticism here, the '36 is another Trophy Series kit from AMT when they were "on the way up". The separate roof deal didn't hurt the kit; Monogram's '36 is designed pretty much the same way.