AMT Ford Courier Pickup. Any good?

[Art Anderson]

On 8/25/2017 at 8:51 PM, Chuck Most said:

I'll have to see if I can get a pic of the defect I'm talking about- it seems fairly common to this kit. The only flaw I can think of is that the most recent reissue is mislabeled- 

The 1995 reissue (2wd drive with aftermarket Flareside bed) is labeled as a '77 on the instruction sheet, but the grille-mounted turn signals date it to '78 or later.

About the bed on this version and the Bush Baby.... yes, it technically isn't factory, but neither was the Styleside (wide) bed. The Courier was shipped to the US without a bed, and a bed built in the US by Sheller-Globe (if I remember correctly) was installed on the trucks after they'd arrived here. But, several aftermarket firms did offer step side beds for them, and the AMT resembles what appears to be a less-commonly chosen version. Many had fenders that looked like GM units. 

The trucks were shipped here that way to get around the good old "Chicken Tax", an archaic and idiotic law still in use today. The Subaru Brat had those weird rear-facing seats in the bed for the same purpose. 

Same story for the 4x4 variant- the Courier was never offered as a 4x4 from the factory, but a number of aftermarket firms would build you one. 

I'd say it's been more than long enough since this one's been reissued. I'd love to see Round 2 bring it back, preferably with the Styleside bed. Or, maybe throw in the Flareside bed and 4x4 components as options?

Actually. at least into the 90's,  ALL Japanese pickups were shipped to the US sans the beds!  That was due to a clause in the 1951 Peace Treaty between the US and Japan, wherein the Japanese agreed to never ship any military vehicles overseas--and that included pickup trucks.  So, Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi all contracted with US companies to build and install the beds of trucks that landed on the US Coast for distribution.  Hence, there were no factory-fitted pickup boxes on any of those trucks (I owned three Toyota's in the 1980's-early 1990's).  As for Subaru's, those were virtually unknown in most of the US east of California etc., until Subaru of America opened its massive plant here in Lafayette IN, to produce the then new Legacy and Outback back in the late 1990's.

Art

[oldcarfan]

The stepside bed was built and sold for an aftermarket fitment and fit on most of the small trucks of the time. A couple of LUVs and a Datsun 620 in my hometown had them. They were offered through the dealer as a conversion thing.

[TarheelRick]

I got a "California Step-side" kit for my 1:1 '74 Datsun 620.  Never finished the build, instead traded it for a '78 King Cab.  It was a fairly straightforward conversion.  Al it required was a little bit of drilling and measuring to get it straight.

[Casey]

AMT 1210 - Ford Courier Minivan

[gray07]

[gray07]

[Daddyfink]

9 hours ago, gray07 said:

The Revell version shares it's guts with the Datsun and Luv kits. Not accurate at all.

[Casey]

That topper sure is funky looking...:

 

Hopefully Round2 will include some stock style Free Wheelin graphics, like so:

Edited June 15, 2020 by Casey

[1972coronet]

55 minutes ago, Casey said:

Hopefully Round2 will include some stock style Free Wheelin graphics, like so:

 

A set of stock wheel covers would be great , too (though I suppose that the wheel covers from the E-150 would "suffice" ) .

[stavanzer]

That Camper Shell, looks about like the ones I remember seeing. I sold some in the late 1990's that were almost that swoopy, so I don't think there anything at all "Odd" or "Funky Looking" about. In fact, I will guess, that Not only is it patterned after a real one, but a Popular Real One.

[1972coronet]

1981 Ford Courier Brochure ( note the Free Wheelin' Bob Dylan Package as mentioned by @Casey ) 

http://oldcarbrochures.org/United States/Ford Motor Company Trucks-Vans/1981_Trucks-Vans/1981-Ford-Courier-Brochure/slides/1981_Ford_Courier-04-05.html

[espo]

I agree with Alexis on the shape of the Shell. The only part that seems the least bit unusual is the rear side window that extends below the bed rail. I don't recall ever seeing one but that doesn't mean that they didn't have them. I also remember some that had a complete plexiglass rear wind and tail gait in one. Either way this should be a good blank canvas to work with.  

[Robberbaron]

On 6/14/2020 at 9:07 PM, Casey said:

That topper sure is funky looking...:

 

 

On 6/14/2020 at 10:09 PM, alexis said:

That Camper Shell, looks about like the ones I remember seeing. I sold some in the late 1990's that were almost that swoopy, so I don't think there anything at all "Odd" or "Funky Looking" about. In fact, I will guess, that Not only is it patterned after a real one, but a Popular Real One.

 

On 6/15/2020 at 3:18 PM, espo said:

I agree with Alexis on the shape of the Shell. The only part that seems the least bit unusual is the rear side window that extends below the bed rail. I don't recall ever seeing one but that doesn't mean that they didn't have them. I also remember some that had a complete plexiglass rear wind and tail gait in one. Either way this should be a good blank canvas to work with.  

Well, maybe it's patterned after a 1:1, but that doesn't mean the styling is any less bizarre.  This is obviously an aesthetics thing/matter of opinion, but the "swoopy" styling of that camper shell clashes with the straight-lined styling of the Courier, IMHO.

My first reaction to the above picture is "it looks like it was left in the sun too long". ?

[Casey]

On 6/15/2020 at 3:18 PM, espo said:

I agree with Alexis on the shape of the Shell. The only part that seems the least bit unusual is the rear side window that extends below the bed rail.

 

20 minutes ago, Robberbaron said:

Well, maybe it's patterned after a 1:1, but that doesn't mean the styling is any less bizarre.  This is obviously an aesthetics thing/matter of opinion, but the "swoopy" styling of that camper shell clashes with the straight-lined styling of the Courier, IMHO.

My first reaction to the above picture is "it looks like it was left in the sun too long". ?

The box side states it's a "Beach Enterprises "Lil' Van" camper shell", so a replica of a specific product, maybe a West Coast thing?  Those convex dips in the roof, no to mention the skylight, would be a disaster anywhere snow could pile up, so definitely not an Upper Midwest thing. 

[espo]

I would have to agree with you on the sky roof option, even with just a normal rain the seals would start to leak real soon since the design has no natural water runoff that I can see. The side window that requires removal of part of the bed rail would also compromise the integrity of the bed rail. While it probably looked good at the time I don't think that it would age well.    

[Tom Geiger]

4 hours ago, espo said:

I would have to agree with you on the sky roof option, even with just a normal rain the seals would start to leak real soon since the design has no natural water runoff that I can see. 

Maybe not. If that was the typical third party installed pop up sunroof of that era. Those were installed so the entire assembly was higher than the surrounding roof so rain would roll off it. I had one in my 65 Barracuda and it never leaked.

[Casey]

Here's the parts breakdown from a completed listing on eBay, showing the cap/topper and the extra set of bedsides to match. Note the notched bedside pieces also have the wheel arch flares molded in:

Edited June 18, 2020 by Casey

[Vince Nemanic]

Around California, Courier models are scarce. I heard that the frame fits perfectly under the AMT'49 Mercury to provide a more modern  front suspension and it lowers the model automatically. I never did it, but I sure wish I could find a set of uncut bed sides left over from somebody's conversion...

[espo]

15 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Maybe not. If that was the typical third party installed pop up sunroof of that era. Those were installed so the entire assembly was higher than the surrounding roof so rain would roll off it. I had one in my 65 Barracuda and it never leaked.

I'm somewhat familiar with the "popup" style sun roof you mention. You are correct in that the seal was between the roof panel and the metal frame for the top with a thick rubber gasket in-between. The ones that I saw that leaked were usually victims of poor installation or the gasket dried out and cracked with age. The models overhead type sun roof in the shell appears to be recessed in the roof in a fixed position as if mounted from the inside and the shell surrounding it would form a BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH effect about the thickness of the shell that would hold moisture and in time would start to leak on a 1:1 application. Remember were talking about a shell based on a product from long ago and I'm not sure just how accurate this is in that area.  

[Tom Geiger]

Agreed! My Barracuda sunroof never leaked in the 30 years I owned it. I did see a duplicate kit at a swap meet and bought it as a spare just in case. 

My 1982 Nissan Stanza had a factory sliding sunroof that never fit well and always leaked. It did have two drains that always clogged. I was forever cleaning them out. Finally when the car got old and I was the primary driver I got tired of getting wet and siliconed the darn thing shut. 

[espo]

4 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Agreed! My Barracuda sunroof never leaked in the 30 years I owned it. I did see a duplicate kit at a swap meet and bought it as a spare just in case. 

My 1982 Nissan Stanza had a factory sliding sunroof that never fit well and always leaked. It did have two drains that always clogged. I was forever cleaning them out. Finally when the car got old and I was the primary driver I got tired of getting wet and siliconed the darn thing shut. 

I was working in a Chevrolet dealership in central California, in the '70's, when we received some inventory orders. One ( which I ordered as my demo) had the factory sliding sun roof and came off the truck with about 3 to 4 inches of water standing in the rear foot wells. The dealer informed me that we weren't going to order any more sun roof cars only T-Tops as needed. I had the same problem with a '67 Type 1 with the factory roof. Seems assembly lines and sun roof drain lines don't seem to work together very well. 

[Spottedlaurel]

On 8/26/2017 at 1:51 AM, Chuck Most said:

I'll have to see if I can get a pic of the defect I'm talking about- it seems fairly common to this kit. The only flaw I can think of is that the most recent reissue is mislabeled- 

A useful and interesting thread here, as I'm just about to make a start on building the '95 reissue above. Before I get too far with it I plan to do a lot of trial fitting, a bit challenging when there are lots of separate components but I don't want to get caught out at the final assembly stage and have it look like it's broken its back....

Current thoughts are low and fitted with the supercharged 3.8 V6 from the Revell '92 Thunderbird SC - a stepside might not be the obvious choice for this treatment, but I think with the backstory I have it will make sense (and sadly I don't have the fleetside loadbay as an option!).

Other than alternative wheels I am surprised it doesn't have many/any optional parts included. I'll be doing a bit of parts box raiding for bucket seats, appropriate wheels etc.

This truck is more familiar to me as the Mazda B1800, popular with builders and other tradesmen back in the day. If AMT had given the option of building it as a Mazda I'd have been tempted to drop in a rotary engine, to create an update of the original REPU, but they didn't and I have a thing about trying to keep engine swaps 'in the family'.

[Chuck Most]

11 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

A useful and interesting thread here, as I'm just about to make a start on building the '95 reissue above. Before I get too far with it I plan to do a lot of trial fitting, a bit challenging when there are lots of separate components but I don't want to get caught out at the final assembly stage and have it look like it's broken its back....

Current thoughts are low and fitted with the supercharged 3.8 V6 from the Revell '92 Thunderbird SC - a stepside might not be the obvious choice for this treatment, but I think with the backstory I have it will make sense (and sadly I don't have the fleetside loadbay as an option!).

Other than alternative wheels I am surprised it doesn't have many/any optional parts included. I'll be doing a bit of parts box raiding for bucket seats, appropriate wheels etc.

This truck is more familiar to me as the Mazda B1800, popular with builders and other tradesmen back in the day. If AMT had given the option of building it as a Mazda I'd have been tempted to drop in a rotary engine, to create an update of the original REPU, but they didn't and I have a thing about trying to keep engine swaps 'in the family'.

I built one years ago with a Rotary from a Tamiya RX7.  I'm hoping Round 2 will reissue the Styleside version.

[Spottedlaurel]

19 hours ago, Chuck Most said:

I built one years ago with a Rotary from a Tamiya RX7.  I'm hoping Round 2 will reissue the Styleside version.

I have several of the Tamiya RX7s and I toyed with doing the same thing, but that '92 Thunderbird (edit: 1990) was bought as a donor and it looks like it should fit nicely. I'll start a WIP thread on it in a bit, when I've edited a few photos.

For inspiration I was digging through some of my old Truckin' magazines, I found one or two things of relevance to this topic:

On 6/15/2020 at 9:18 PM, espo said:

I agree with Alexis on the shape of the Shell. The only part that seems the least bit unusual is the rear side window that extends below the bed rail. I don't recall ever seeing one but that doesn't mean that they didn't have them. I also remember some that had a complete plexiglass rear wind and tail gait in one. Either way this should be a good blank canvas to work with.  

I was interested to see the LUV above after reading your comments, the arrangement looks very similar to the kit.

A couple of California Step Side ad's:

The AMT kit's stepside body seems to sit a bit too high looking at those photos, I'm going to try and drop it down on mine.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Spottedlaurel

[niteowl7710]

So looks like Round2 is going to do an Auto World Exclusive run of 500 pieces of the Courier in it's Stepside configuration with Firestone Super Stone livery (and new wheels).

https://www.autoworldstore.com/product-p/scm063.htm