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Cuda,s 1/25 &1/24 Why not more 1/25


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MPC also did Cudas in 1/25...they did every year annually from 1968 to 1974. The '68's, '70's and '71's were never reissued in stock form, so they can be pricy, but you can still find reasonably priced builts once in awhile. 

The '68 was turned into the '69 annual kit, which, while altered a bit from it's original form, is still mostly a stock '69. It was changed into a pseudo- '68 Super Stock for awhile in the '70's, but these kits really were '69's with a few Super Stock parts and '68 turn signals (the grille & taillights were never converted back from '69 form). 

The '70 was issued stock for one season (most of these in lime green plastic, maybe a small few in white?). The body was used for a funny car kit (I think Candies & Hughes, definitely blue plastic), then turned into the '71 annual (Mostly in white plastic, perhaps offered in another color as well), then the '71 body was used as a funny car body for the Don Schumacher funny, again in blue plastic. 

The '71 body was then revised for the '72 annual. For 72-73-74 annuals, the body was mostly unchanged, I think the differences between those years were mostly in the bumpers and custom parts. 

The body was again used as a funny car body (red plastic, the Dunn & Reath car), and also, a Motown Missile Pro Stock kit was done, using mostly a new hood, intake and wheels, but still the same stock interior and stock chassis with full exhausts (incorrect for a pro stock car). 

Things get interesting from here. The body was revised to drop onto a common stock car chassis, as a "super stock" racecar. The body was wiped of all emblems, door handles, etc. The headlight buckets were paneled in. 

After that, in the early '80's, MPC tried to restore the stock appearance of the '74 body. The headlight buckets were never fixed right, as the headlights now sat flat on the buckets instead of being slightly tunneled in. There were two issues: a "Hemi Cuda" in blue, with stock chassis and various street and drag options, and a "Pro Street Barracuda" in orange, which had a new tubbed chassis, race interior, and the old Motown Missile hood. 

They weren't done with this tool yet: in the '90's, the kit was revised into a promo-style "Snap Fast Plus", with no custom parts or engine detail. This was issued at least twice, now branded as an AMT kit. I saw that Round 2 was talking about reissuing this kit again, maybe they're working on improving the tooling a little?

Most of these are fairly common at swap meets and auction sites. The detail might not be be what you're used to with the new Revell kits, but personally, I think the body shapes on the MPC kits are MUCH better. (I think the Jo Han kits have great body shapes too). You could combine the MPC bodies with the guts of the Revell kits to make a nice '72-'74. The only real caveat is that you would have to work on the shape of the headlight buckets to tunnel them in more for any of the '80's and '90's issues, and also, the engines and chassis that come with those MPC kits are REALLY dated now. 

Edited by CapSat 6
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There were also 1964 1/2, 1965 and 1966  Barracudas issued back in the years when the cars were new.  The tooling was updated each year, ending in 1966.  That body was turned into the "Hemi Under Glass"  car,  a kit that was recently reissued and easy to find in the secondary market.  No, there are not enough parts in this kit to build a stock 1966 Barracuda,  there were modifications to the body including hogged out rear wheel wells.   There is also the Fireball 500 kit, which also was based on the 1966 Barracuda. It's been reissued and can be bought cheap, especially if someone is selling one minus the trailer it came with!  Again the body is useless, it's very custom.  But if you wanted to restore any of the original year cars, there are parts in each of these two kits from the original kit that would be helpful.

There are resin copies of the first generation Barracudas.  The best chassis to use under these would be the AMT '71 Duster or the Revell 68-9 Darts.  Those are modern full detail units.

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 There is also the Fireball 500 kit, which also was based on the 1966 Barracuda. It's been reissued and can be bought cheap, especially if someone is selling one minus the trailer it came with!  Again the body is useless, it's very custom.  But if you wanted to restore any of the original year cars, there are parts in each of these two kits from the original kit that would be helpful.

 

The real car was supposedly a Barracuda, but I think the F500 kit was made from the tooling for the Valiant. As I understand it, the Valiant was only done as a promo in '66 (and they're pretty rare), but I believe that previous years were done as full kits.

Somewhere in my swaps I picked up the grille assembly for a '65 Valiant (or maybe it's a '64, I dunno). Just to use it, I'm gonna put it on a Fireball 500 body and make a phantom Plymouth factory show car of some kind.

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The real car was supposedly a Barracuda, but I think the F500 kit was made from the tooling for the Valiant. As I understand it, the Valiant was only done as a promo in '66 (and they're pretty rare), but I believe that previous years were done as full kits.

Yes, I had mentioned that before on the board.  I have both a Fireball 500 and one of the rare Valiant promos. I found some markings inside the body that would indicate that.

The '66 Valiant promo had the wrong roof on it, so I surmize that the bulk of the promos were scrapped and the ones that exist were originally in Chrysler employee hands. I know of two that were sold with mention that they came from a Chrysler employee's collection

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MPC also did Cudas in 1/25...they did every year annually from 1968 to 1974. The '68's, '70's and '71's were never reissued in stock form, so they can be pricy, but you can still find reasonably priced builts once in awhile.

 

Outstanding rundown, but you left out the AMT '67. I'm pretty sure these molds became the MPC '68 (and subsequent), but I don't know which company tooled them originally, nor how/why the manufacturer switch occurred.

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Outstanding rundown, but you left out the AMT '67. I'm pretty sure these molds became the MPC '68 (and subsequent), but I don't know which company tooled them originally, nor how/why the manufacturer switch occurred.

Richard you are correct...the AMT '67 'cuda DID become the MPC '68 and '69.....same tooling  used for all.  TIM 

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Richard you are correct...the AMT '67 'cuda DID become the MPC '68 and '69.....same tooling  used for all.  TIM 

What year were the Hemi and 225 Slant engines "removed" from the lineup ? I've only had the "'69" version (the c.1988 reissue) , and that only has the 383 . Then there was the Judy Lilly 1968 SS/B (with 1969 hood and fascia) , and the late 70's / early 80's 'street machine' version , both of which were 426 Race Hemi equipped , IIRC ...

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What year were the Hemi and 225 Slant engines "removed" from the lineup ? I've only had the "'69" version (the c.1988 reissue) , and that only has the 383 . Then there was the Judy Lilly 1968 SS/B (with 1969 hood and fascia) , and the late 70's / early 80's 'street machine' version , both of which were 426 Race Hemi equipped , IIRC ...

I think the last of the MPC Gen II Cuda kits to have both the Slant 6 and the Hemi was the '69 Annual.

IIRC, either the Judy Lilly or Boss Cuda came next in about 1972-73, and for those, they lost the Slant 6, ditched the other custom parts, and modified the body a bit (by getting rid of the molded in pinstripes / trim from the upper sides of the '69 body, as well as the '69 marker lenses and the windshield wipers). They also wiped the single exhaust from the chassis plate.

After the Judy Lilly and Boss Cuda (Great Street Machines) issues, they added new custom body scoops, side pipes, and a pedestal-mount spoiler for the "Killer Cuda" issue (c 1977). The Killer Cuda is one of my favorites, as I built this one in my childhood, and it had really nice & colorful cartoon Barracuda graphics, based on some of Plymouth's advertising from the late 60's. Round 2 could do worse than to rebox the kit with these graphics.

Next up was the "Avenger" Cuda (c 1980)- molded in orange, it was mostly the same as the Killer Cuda, just with different (6-lug!) modular wheels.

AMT/ ERTL acquired the MPC tooling after this, and made many modifications to bring the '69 Cuda back to stock (c 1987). They ditched the Hemi engine, tooling a new B/ RB engine in it's place, that looks to have been copied from the MPC '71-75 Road Runner and '77-'78 Dodge Monaco engine. They added back engraving for the side marker lenses and windshield wipers & emblems, added back the stock "Recall" wheels, and kept the custom parts for another building version. The added dual exhausts to the chassis plate then. They reissued the kit several times in this form.

The latest Retro Deluxe '69 apes the original 1969 Annual box art. It comes with decals that are enhanced copies of the original '69 sheet (but no stock stripes), and while it's mostly like the 1987-up reissues, they have opened the tooling gates so that some of the original '69 custom parts (and some, but not all of the Hemi and Slant-6 parts) are back. They also threw in some new 5 spoke mags, that look like the same ones they're including with some of their other recent issues.

To me, the Hemi was no great loss from this kit (a lot of people complain that Hemis come in every kit now, soooo....take your pick, there are much nicer ones available). The Slant 6 would be a nice building option, but again, there are much better ones available now. The parts in the Retro Deluxe kit will give you an idea of the quality of those original engines.  

I'd like to see them improve the kit by retooling the inner fenders on the chassis plate - they just don't look right, not at all like A body inner fenders, also, the grille is very tired and the grille surround on the body is a mess. Make those changes, throw in newly-tooled "Cuda" package hood scoops & graphics, and it will have new life.

Sticking a new chassis under the MPC/ AMT Gen II Barracuda does wonders. The Revell '68 Dart Chassis is excellent. Even the chassis from the MPC Dart Sport is a big improvement. Just be prepared for some cutting and grinding in order to do this...    

 

  

 

Edited by CapSat 6
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I have the latest issue of the 1969 Barracuda , and I really , really like it . The Crossram from the earlier versions' Hemi is a nice re-addition (and will perhaps fit-atop the kit's 383)  ; the Torq-Thrust wheels are a welcome addition ! Those 6-lug custom wheels of the c.1980 release and the subsequent 1987 (ad seq.) reissues were atrocious back then , and they're even less desirable now .

I agree with you regarding the lame rendition of the shear panels / firewall ( 1966-style brake master cylinder ! ) ; not even close to the factory A-bodies of 1967-1976 ! But , all considered , it's just nice to have a Barracuda of '67-'69 vintage .

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I have the latest issue of the 1969 Barracuda , and I really , really like it . The Crossram from the earlier versions' Hemi is a nice re-addition (and will perhaps fit-atop the kit's 383)  ; the Torq-Thrust wheels are a welcome addition ! Those 6-lug custom wheels of the c.1980 release and the subsequent 1987 (ad seq.) reissues were atrocious back then , and they're even less desirable now .

I agree with you regarding the lame rendition of the shear panels / firewall ( 1966-style brake master cylinder ! ) ; not even close to the factory A-bodies of 1967-1976 ! But , all considered , it's just nice to have a Barracuda of '67-'69 vintage .

it's the only game in town, Good Buddy! Amazing that every single '67-'69 Barracuda in 1/25 scale came from the same single set of molds. Fortunately, the body and interior are pretty accurate, at least for a '69. The body is a little tired, but still looks like a Barracuda to my eye.

I did end up getting a few of the Retro Deluxes- I like that the rear seat filler, "racing console", and custom parts made it back in. The new decals, white plastic, and slicks don't hurt, either!

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Several years ago, I came across a glue-bombed MPC '70 Cuda, and I did a lot of work to it, combining it with a shortened "Latest tool" '71 Charger. I also did a similar thing to a Craftsman '64 Valiant, combining it with a '71 Duster in order to get the desired detail I wanted in the build. I have been fortunate in that I was able to procure a not so nice '65 Barracuda, which I am going to transform into a 273 "Power Pack" car using the skills I learned from doing the Valiant, and a dilapidated '66 Promo, which I am going to open up, and re-work into a detailed build, using parts from the '71 If I can find another one. 

Revell's ;68 and '69 Dodge Darts are pretty nice kits, and I wish that the AMT '71 Duster was as nice a kit ( excellent chassis and running gear, poor execution of side windows), as well as the '69 Barracuda (ancient tooling).

I built one of the AMT '69 Barracudas pretty much from the box as a street machine, and it went together quite easy, and looked great. I worked over a Revell '70 AAR into a Gran Coupe, and I have yet to build a Revell '70 Hemi Cudas as I have several for a few projects. Even though I am a Chevy guy at heart, I am deep into well detailed Mopars and Fords too.

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I have an original '67 AMT body, with all body parts. I built it as a funny car back in the day, putting it on a HUG chassis. All the other parts of it got lost over the years, and somehow the body got broken around the A-pillars and vent window frames. I think I'm going to repair it as well as I can and restore it as a "survivor."

Last year I scored a moderately "distressed" red '68 promo. Gonna try to restore that one, too. The right A-pillar is broken and might not be repairable, but I have at least one reissue body with a packaging-deformed roof that might make a good A-pillar donor. That might make a good project for this winter, maybe.

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I did end up getting a few of the Retro Deluxes- I like that the rear seat filler, "racing console", and custom parts made it back in. The new decals, white plastic, and slicks don't hurt, either!

The console is supposed to represent the Hurst Dual-Gate , which is a welcome addition . That bad boy is going into the 1968 'LO23' Dart I'm s-l-o-w-l-y working on ...

...which will 'permit' for me to leave my AMT 1969 Hurst / Olds alone .

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