AMT 1969 Cobra questions

[fairlane1320]

Is there any chance this kit will ever be reissued/updated? 

Or was the tooling changed to produce the Modified Stocker?

[Mark]

It can be produced as either.  The original annual GT fastback kit became the Stocker.  That kit had the Cobra grille/bumper from the one-shot coupe/convertible kit.  AMT (the original company) took some shortcuts with that kit compared to other Modified Stockers.  They removed the molded-in exhaust from the chassis, wiped the door panel detail from the interior bucket, but didn't remove the windshield wiper detail or other emblems from the body.  All they did was whack the wheel openings out. 

Ertl did some remedial work including new body side "slides" for the tool, which put the wheel openings back to stock.  They also scratched some door panel detail back into the interior, and created separate pieces to put a stock exhaust system back in the kit.  Someone had the Modified Stocker produced as a one-shot deal about fifteen years ago, and RC2 (not Round 2) ran the stock version again after that, so apparently it can be produced as either version.  There aren't as many differences between the two as you'd think: the main one would be the wheel openings on the body.

[droogie]

I have a bagged kit of the stock version that I'll unload. PM me if you're interested.

[unclescott58]

Again, I'd love to see pictures and/or a review of the above kit. 

[Can-Con]

Here's one I did on commission a few years ago. 

Not a hard kit to build, pretty strait forward. I did swap out the engine on this one and add some extra details to the engine bay as the 1/1 had a small block and the kit only has a small block. IIRC, I shaved off the emblems as they didn't match what was on the 1/1. The tires are from another kit.  Probably did a few other things I can't recall right now, it was over 10 years ago when I built it.

I have an original built-up too and there's a few more differences than Mark mentioned.  The biggest being the glass parts. The current issue has separate windshield and rear window. The original had a 1-peice glass with the windshield, back and side glass all as one part, similar to what you'd get in many Japanese kits today.  The stock rally wheels [shown on my build] are much wider now than the original. Also the front metal axle was replaced with shorter plastic pins and corresponding wheel backs.

The seats are new with slightly wider pleats and the front ones are 2-peice with headrests now. The originals were one-peice with no headrests. 

There's probably more differences but that's the most noticeable ones to me.

 

[Snake45]

I built one in the '90s and thought it was a nice kit. IIRC, it only had two "special problems." The whole rear panel was molded in chrome, so had to be carefully brush-painted to match the rest of the paint job. And the little chrome trim strips on the roof gave me fits until I decided to make them out of--hold on, now--Christmas tree tinsel! It's not a bad looking model. 

I bought a coupe body from Motor City Resin a couple years ago, and I'm gonna do another one as the coupe. 

[Mark]

I didn't mention the one-piece window unit because I was comparing the two most recent versions (Cobra fastback and Modified Stocker).  Only the annual kit (which was a GT) had the one-piece unit.  The Modified Stocker series kits had only a windshield, sometimes half a windshield.  Did dirt track racers really cut windshields in half?

The '69 annual kit didn't have a wire axle in front.  AMT tried something new for '69: aluminum "stub axles" that went through the chassis on each side, from the inside out, into the inner wheels.  Looks like they were trying to eliminate the hole through the engine block.  The stubs didn't work, they left the front wheels flopping around.  The Modified Stocker went back to the wire axle in front.   

The annual GT kit had a "rear grille" just above the rear bumper, in the area between the taillights.  The Modified Stocker used the part as-is.  Ertl wiped the "rear grille" detail for the Cobra issue, leaving that flat panel that had to be painted.  The '68 annual kit didn't have that: the taillight trim and bumper were one piece, the gas cap and the panel between the taillights was molded as part of the body, right down to the bumper. 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Mark
misspelling

[Snake45]

34 minutes ago, Mark said:

I didn't mention the one-piece window unit because I was comparing the two most recent versions (Cobra fastback and Modified Stocker).  Only the annual kit (which was a GT) had the one-piece unit.  The Modified Stocker series kits had only a windshield, sometimes half a windshield.  Did dirt track racers really cut windshields in half?

The '69 annual kit didn't have a wire axle in front.  AMT tried something new for '69: aluminum "stub axles" that went through the chassis on each side, from the inside out, into the inner wheels.  Looks like they were trying to eliminate the hole through the engine block.  The stubs didn't work, they left the front wheels flopping around.  The Modified Stocker went back to the wire axle in front.   

The annual GT kit had a "rear grille" just above the rear bumper, in the area between the taillights.  The Modified Stocker used the part as-is.  Ertl wiped the "rear grille" detail for the Cobra issue, leaving that flat panel that had to be painted.  The '68 annual kit didn't have that: the taillight trim and bumper were one piece, the gas cap and the panel between the taillights was molded as part of the body, right down to the bumper. 

Good info, Mark, thanks! 

The Cobra issue I built had Cobra emblems molded on the front fenders. Apparently some of the real cars had cartoon-like decals here, and some had metal emblems like the model. I suppose it's an early/late thing but have never heavily researched it. The Motor City Resin body doesn't have these emblems. When I do mine, I'm gonna see if someone has decals available. If not, I'll foil-clone the metal ones off the kit body and use them on the resin. 

[Ron Hamilton]

2 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Good info, Mark, thanks! 

The Cobra issue I built had Cobra emblems molded on the front fenders. Apparently some of the real cars had cartoon-like decals here, and some had metal emblems like the model. I suppose it's an early/late thing but have never heavily researched it. The Motor City Resin body doesn't have these emblems. When I do mine, I'm gonna see if someone has decals available. If not, I'll foil-clone the metal ones off the kit body and use them on the resin. 

If I am not mistaken, the Revell 70 Torino Cobra has a set of front fender decals.

I really liked the Ford Torino line of cars, having built an original '68 annual. As a matter of fact, when I first started collecting and building vintage annual kits, the 68 and 69 AMT Ford Torino GT sportsroofs were among the first ones I got. I replaced the cracked kit decals with sets from Fred Cady and Keith Marks, which will allow me to build color combinations which were not available with the kit decals. I love that black 69 Cobra that was done by Steve Milbury. I purchased a few extra AMT/Ertl 69 Cobras as kit fodder for any shortages in my annuals, as well as being the base kit for a Modelhaus '68 Torino GT 2 door hardtop resin transkit I have.

[oldcarfan]

The stock version was in Walmart a few years ago wasn't it? I remember buying a couple of them.

[fairlane1320]

On 2/15/2018 at 11:40 AM, Mark said:

It can be produced as either.  The original annual GT fastback kit became the Stocker.  That kit had the Cobra grille/bumper from the one-shot coupe/convertible kit.  AMT (the original company) took some shortcuts with that kit compared to other Modified Stockers.  They removed the molded-in exhaust from the chassis, wiped the door panel detail from the interior bucket, but didn't remove the windshield wiper detail or other emblems from the body.  All they did was whack the wheel openings out. 

Ertl did some remedial work including new body side "slides" for the tool, which put the wheel openings back to stock.  They also scratched some door panel detail back into the interior, and created separate pieces to put a stock exhaust system back in the kit.  Someone had the Modified Stocker produced as a one-shot deal about fifteen years ago, and RC2 (not Round 2) ran the stock version again after that, so apparently it can be produced as either version.  There aren't as many differences between the two as you'd think: the main one would be the wheel openings on the body.

Thanks Mark, good info. I was hoping to see the GT reissued some day.

[fairlane1320]

On 2/15/2018 at 6:08 PM, Can-Con said:

Here's one I did on commission a few years ago. 

Not a hard kit to build, pretty strait forward. I did swap out the engine on this one and add some extra details to the engine bay as the 1/1 had a small block and the kit only has a small block. IIRC, I shaved off the emblems as they didn't match what was on the 1/1. The tires are from another kit.  Probably did a few other things I can't recall right now, it was over 10 years ago when I built it.

I have an original built-up too and there's a few more differences than Mark mentioned.  The biggest being the glass parts. The current issue has separate windshield and rear window. The original had a 1-peice glass with the windshield, back and side glass all as one part, similar to what you'd get in many Japanese kits today.  The stock rally wheels [shown on my build] are much wider now than the original. Also the front metal axle was replaced with shorter plastic pins and corresponding wheel backs.

The seats are new with slightly wider pleats and the front ones are 2-peice with headrests now. The originals were one-peice with no headrests. 

There's probably more differences but that's the most noticeable ones to me.

 

 

 

 

WOW! very very nice!

[Motor City]

I remember the AMT '69 Impala SS Custom Coupe had plastic front axle assemblies that were a bite to install, and never looked right.  I eventually sold it and bought the MPC convertible version of it. 

That's a sharp looking Torino!