Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

AMT 61 Impala


Brutalform

Recommended Posts

Noticed an AMT 61 Impala in my searches. Does anyone know if this AMT is new tooling? Wondering if its one of those old screw bottoms. If not, is the Lindburg have better detail?

AMT1013-12-1961-Impala-SS-1.jpg

To answer your question about construction this is a modern kit tooled in the 90's with separate frame and floor pan, clear head and tail lights, and other goodies typical of a new kit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To answer your question about construction this is a modern kit tooled in the 90's with separate frame and floor pan, clear head and tail lights, and other goodies typical of a new kit.

This kit doesn't have a separate frame... but the interior you build into a tub (which I love any kit like this).... It has separate suspension and 4 of the tail lights are molded in red, two in clear..... It's an excellent kit, I'm building my second one now!  ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Correct!  That is an Impala--I forgot that the bubble top was an Impala feature for 1961.

They're very rare, but there was a Bubbletop Bel Air for '61. Four taillights instead of six (different side trim too IIRC). I snapped a number of pics of one at a show last year, but they've seemed to have gone AWOL on my hard disc. :o

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here you go, Bill:

5508524.jpg

Back in 1988, I spotted an ad in the L.A. Times for a '61 Bel Air bubbletop at the Caddy dealer in Beverly Hills. Turned out to be a 25,000-mile metallic beige car with a six and Powerglide. That thing was near mint and drove like it too; they were asking $4,888 for it. I scraped up every dime I could and offered them my nice '66 Coupe deVille in trade - but no deal. For some reason I kept the ad; it listed the car's license number, DIS 246. About a year later, I saw an ad for a red '61 Bel Air with a 409/4-speed - license DIS 246. Out of spite I called the consignment dealer selling it; he said it was presented to them as original. I told him the car was a fake and how I knew; the guy said he was going to have a little talk with the owner...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Lindberg kit is pretty decent.  The main glitch is the very shallow interior.  The dash goes about 2/3 of the way to the floor and is still quite compressed.  If you can live with the interior, it is a very nice looking kit.  If the interior bothers you, it is a pretty tricky fix, with almost every part having to be rebuilt and stretched vertically.  It is not quite as well detailed under the hood as the AMT and Revell kits of the '90s were, but it's pretty well done.  The body looks the part, and I have seen some really nice ones on tables over the years.  I have one in the to do pile, and I will tackle it as soon as I decide on a color for it.  

The Impala also looks great as a mild street machine with the wheels and tires from the Revell  '32 Ford 3W kit too.  I built one like that right when the '32 first came on the scene.  I already had my Modelhaus wheels for the '32 picked out and I had the '61 Impala in the bench with fresh non factory paint, so I needed some street machine wheels for it.  I was building the two kits side by side and started holding the mags up to the Chevy.  The rest was history!  It was a long time ago, but I remember it being a fun kit to build, and I don't recall any issues or swearing fits while putting it together.  I just built the interior the way it came from the box.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here you go, Bill:

5508524.jpg

Back in 1988, I spotted an ad in the L.A. Times for a '61 Bel Air bubbletop at the Caddy dealer in Beverly Hills. Turned out to be a 25,000-mile metallic beige car with a six and Powerglide. That thing was near mint and drove like it too; they were asking $4,888 for it. I scraped up every dime I could and offered them my nice '66 Coupe deVille in trade - but no deal. For some reason I kept the ad; it listed the car's license number, DIS 246. About a year later, I saw an ad for a red '61 Bel Air with a 409/4-speed - license DIS 246. Out of spite I called the consignment dealer selling it; he said it was presented to them as original. I told him the car was a fake and how I knew; the guy said he was going to have a little talk with the owner...

The dealer should have figured that out; I don't think the 409 was offered across the board in '61, as it was '62-'64.  I'm led to believe that with Fifties and Sixties Chevies, where both sixes and V8 engines were offered, they can be told apart by either the VIN or by other information on the ID tag. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anyone bought one of these and checked out what's inside?  I'm curious what Round 2 has added to the Lindberg kit, other that those mag wheels.

I got one last week, the only difference from the previous issues that I see are the optional mag wheels.  Box art is much better as compared to the awful Lindberg donut boxes.  A pair of slicks are included also, presumably left over from the drag version.

Edited by Rob Hall
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got one last week, the only difference from the previous issues that I see are the optional mag wheels.  Box art is much better as compared to the awful Lindberg donut boxes.  A pair of slicks are included also, presumably left over from the drag version.

Thanks, Rob, that's what I needed to know.  I've got at least one of the older issues, so I guess I'm good.  Gotta agree with you on the box art--between the red car on the box ends and the blue one on the box side I almost bought a new one!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies. I know about the Lindburg kit. I have built them before. I was just wondering if this kit had better detail than the Lindburg kit. I probably should have phrased that differently. I think I might just pic one up anyway. 

That's what we're saying, this is just a reissue of the Lindberg kit. The same company owns the names Lindberg and AMT and all their respective molds and they have decided to reissue the few really good new tool Lindberg kits under the AMT name since the Lindberg name is synonymous with unbuildable BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH to a decent percentage of the modeling public.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like they took some of the parts from the AMT '62 Bel-Air kit and put them in this one for street machine pieces.

Straight reissue of the Lindberg kit, the only thing different are the new mag wheels, they aren't the ones out of the '62 kit.

The mags are the same ones that were newly-tooled for the Lawman Plymouth as shown in these two pics.

I'm not sure which optional rear tires are in the re-issued Impala.  I believe the original plan was to use the Lawman slicks, but they were found to be a tight fit on the Impala, so I'm not sure what the production kits contain. Note the the Impala also has added parts to raise the rear suspension height as well.  

mag 2.JPG

mag 1.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...