Seventies Land Yachts?

[American 185 Heavy]

It would be so nice to see some Land Yachts from, the 70's and early 80's. I am so sick of seeing builds of Mustangs, Firebirds, Camaros and Cudas. The USA built more cars than just those 4, and a lot of us could have cared less about the Pony Cars Anyway. Give me a 75-79 Grand Marquis or Colony Park, a nice Lincoln Towne Car or Coupe or and early 80's Delta 88 sedan or coupe. Cars that the average American drove daily or our parents etc. Now that Revell has a new owner we can only hope he pays attention to older customers and loyal customers like myself and others, and asks us what we would like to see. The regular Gran Torino kit was long over due, but now follow it up with an Elite !!! 3 kits I would kill for is a 77-79 Thunderbird,  any year New Yorker 5th Ave, and the ultimate a 68 Mercury Park Lane Brougham sedan like the one Jack Lord use on Hawaii Five-O. We have had all other cop cars except this one. Long over due I feel, great tribute and would sell like wildfire I feel......

[ChrisBcritter]

Hope the folks at Greenlight are listening - a '70s Country Squire would seem to be right up their alley, and if they did it with the quality of their Dodge Monaco or the two trailers, you could leave it as is or detail it out.

How much cheaper is it to produce a good (Greenlight quality) 1/25 diecast as opposed to a 1/25 plastic kit?

[Eric Macleod]

I too could go for a 70's land yacht.  And I would happily pay money for a '71-3 Riviera or '72-3 Continental Mark V.

[unclescott58]

I've always been a "big" car fan. But, more of the 1960's. As some of may know my present project is building an AMT 1965 Imperial Crown convertible. I love Buick Wildcats. Letter series Chrysler 300s. 1962 - '71 non-letter 300s.  '63-'68 Pontiac Grand Prixs and 2+2s. Thunderbirds, Rivieras, and Toronados. Ford XLs. Mercury S-55s and Marauders. Plymouth Sport Furys. And of course, 1955 - 1975 Imperials.

Edited May 31, 2018 by unclescott58

[oldrevellfan]

1 hour ago, Eric Macleod said:

I too could go for a 70's land yacht.  And I would happily pay money for a '71-3 Riviera or '72-3 Continental Mark V.

I aslo want to see a 71- 73 riviera !!

[gray07]

I wish they would make a 71-74 buick electric 225

[Motor City]

Maybe Missing Link (an appropriate name) can fill in the gaps of the 1960s and early 1970s large cars that weren't produced by AMT, MPC, Jo-Han:

'66-'69 Caprice Custom Coupe, '63 and '66-'68 GP, '64-'70 Catalina 2+2 ('68-'70 only available in Canada), '61-'66 Starfire, '62-'63, and '67-'68 Wildcat, '62 and '70 XL, '67-'70 Marquis, '67 S-55, '68 wood-grained Monterey, '69-'70 Marauder, Continental Mark III and Mark IV, any '65-'71 Sport Fury, '67-'68 Monaco, '69-'71 300, '70 300 Hurst.  That's enough for now.  My fingers are getting sore!

   

[tim boyd]

MCW Automotive Finishes/Dave Dodge offers the '63 GP for those interested IIRC - TIM 

[modelercarl]

5 hours ago, tim boyd said:

MCW Automotive Finishes/Dave Dodge offers the '63 GP for those interested IIRC - TIM 

I have one of these in my "todo" pile.  Bought it from Dave at the Toledo NNL several years ago and have the body cleaned up and primed, chrome redone.  it is a very nice kit.  I bought one of these a couple years after I got out of the army in '64 and absolutely loved driving it, very comfortable and great handling car.

[Chuck Most]

I'd be up for a few... a Continental Mk V, Ford LTD II, '78/9 Grand Prix/Cutlass Supreme/Regal... I could go on. Trouble is, none of them are muscle cars, and that seems to be what the majority of modelers want, so....

 

[Art Anderson]

15 hours ago, Chuck Most said:

I'd be up for a few... a Continental Mk V, Ford LTD II, '78/9 Grand Prix/Cutlass Supreme/Regal... I could go on. Trouble is, none of them are muscle cars, and that seems to be what the majority of modelers want, so....

 

Chuck's got this pretty much right, folks:  Of all the dozens of 1970's cars that could be kitted,  for the most part, the luxury cars, even the more mundane full-sized cars of the 1970's, would unfortunately, even amongst themselves,  simply would not attract enough buyers in plastic kit form, to pay for the tooling, let alone turn any profit for the model company who might do them.  The problem is, each one of them, one its own, would be a stand-alone subject, with little if any potential even "modified" releases (unlike say, muscle cars, sporty cars and the like).  That was just as true back in the 70's as it is, IMHO, today.  If it had been different, say back in the 1970's,  we'd have seen just about all of them having been kitted back then (all those JoHan 70's Cadillac kits would not have come to be, had it not been for Cadillac Motor Division of GM wanting to buy 1/25 scale promotional models all the way out to 1979 or so).

Art

[Luc Janssens]

2 hours ago, Art Anderson said:

Chuck's got this pretty much right, folks:  Of all the dozens of 1970's cars that could be kitted,  for the most part, the luxury cars, even the more mundane full-sized cars of the 1970's, would unfortunately, even amongst themselves,  simply would not attract enough buyers in plastic kit form, to pay for the tooling, let alone turn any profit for the model company who might do them.  The problem is, each one of them, one its own, would be a stand-alone subject, with little if any potential even "modified" releases (unlike say, muscle cars, sporty cars and the like).  That was just as true back in the 70's as it is, IMHO, today.  If it had been different, say back in the 1970's,  we'd have seen just about all of them having been kitted back then (all those JoHan 70's Cadillac kits would not have come to be, had it not been for Cadillac Motor Division of GM wanting to buy 1/25 scale promotional models all the way out to 1979 or so).

Art

I can relate to that statement, but if one takes for instance the recent Revell '76 Gran' Torino S&H, a lot of siblings can be done, all of which use the same or simmilar chassis and drive-train....also on the 3D files one doesn't have to start from scratch but copy --> paste and adjusts...sure the tooling is still the most costly aspect of it all, but with clever tool design one can eliminate waste to a minimum.

[Can-Con]

2 hours ago, Art Anderson said:

Chuck's got this pretty much right, folks:  Of all the dozens of 1970's cars that could be kitted,  for the most part, the luxury cars, even the more mundane full-sized cars of the 1970's, would unfortunately, even amongst themselves,  simply would not attract enough buyers in plastic kit form, to pay for the tooling, let alone turn any profit for the model company who might do them.  The problem is, each one of them, one its own, would be a stand-alone subject, with little if any potential even "modified" releases (unlike say, muscle cars, sporty cars and the like).  That was just as true back in the 70's as it is, IMHO, today.  If it had been different, say back in the 1970's,  we'd have seen just about all of them having been kitted back then (all those JoHan 70's Cadillac kits would not have come to be, had it not been for Cadillac Motor Division of GM wanting to buy 1/25 scale promotional models all the way out to 1979 or so).

Art

Kinda like a '53 Hudson or a '56 Chrysler, right?

[Motor City]

Once the annual styling changes went away, it would have been easy to do some 1970s cars.  A good example is the '75-'78 LTD, but how many would want one?  The Mark IV could be done in the various special editions (Cartier, Bill Blass, Givenchy, etc.).  I can think of many intermediates from that era that would have been a better choice than the Gran Torino, but hopefully it's selling decently.  That one appeals to people who watched that TV show, Starsky & Hutch, or knew someone who owned one.  Rivieras, Thunderbirds and large GM convertibles would do well if they could be built stock, custom, or as a low rider.  The market is there, but not in the quantity it was back in the 1960s.  Moebius has done well with the Hudsons and Chrysler 300s, and many on this forum would have expected these to be a total disaster.  I find it hard to believe that we are still waiting for a 1970s Ranchero GT or El Camino SS.

[KWT]

2 hours ago, Motor City said:

 I find it hard to believe that we are still waiting for a 1970s Ranchero GT or El Camino SS.

I can't believe we've not seen these either...

several folks on InstaGram have been discussing 70's El Caminos, Chevelles, Olds 442, Rancheros and Impalas.

[echoxrayniner]

15 hours ago, KWT said:

I can't believe we've not seen these either...

several folks on InstaGram have been discussing 70's El Caminos, Chevelles, Olds 442, Rancheros and Impalas.

Oh I'm right there with ya', I'm genuinely surprised the only offerings available are(albeit top quality) resin versions. Hell Revell is halfway there with the '76 Ranchero, they already sculpted a gorgeous front end on the Torino.

I wouldnt mind seeing a '77 Can-Am and Grand Prix, Christ I would actively give my soul for a boattail '73 Riviera in 1/25th scale.

[MrObsessive]

44 minutes ago, echoxrayniner said:

Oh I'm right there with ya', I'm genuinely surprised the only offerings available are(albeit top quality) resin versions. Hell Revell is halfway there with the '76 Ranchero, they already sculpted a gorgeous front end on the Torino.

I wouldnt mind seeing a '77 Can-Am and Grand Prix, Christ I would actively give my soul for a boattail '73 Riviera in 1/25th scale.

I was seriously hoping the 1971-73 Riviera would see the light of day when I mentioned this car to Ed Sexton at the NNL East a couple years ago. Now with the shape they're in, that's just a pipe dream. I'll just have to be content with the resin one I have. Not a bad casting, but the roof shape (crown) bugs me to no end, so that's Job 1 once I decide to ever begin building it.

[disabled modeler]

2 hours ago, echoxrayniner said:

Oh I'm right there with ya', I'm genuinely surprised the only offerings available are(albeit top quality) resin versions. Hell Revell is halfway there with the '76 Ranchero, they already sculpted a gorgeous front end on the Torino.

I wouldnt mind seeing a '77 Can-Am and Grand Prix, Christ I would actively give my soul for a boattail '73 Riviera in 1/25th scale.

Id love to have a 77 Can AM to maker a replica of one we once owned in my family...been on a quest to build as many as I can get a hold of for the collection but its hard.

[Art Anderson]

On 6/1/2018 at 5:23 PM, Can-Con said:

Kinda like a '53 Hudson or a '56 Chrysler, right?

Except that the Hudson(s) have been issued now, in several variations, stock '52 convertible, stock '53 Club Coupe, stock '54 Club Coupe, stock '54 2dr Sedan, Matty Winspur's drag-racing '54 sedan, a few Nascar versions--the Chrysler's have done very well, particularly the '56, in Nascar versions, as well as stock.  In today's model kit market, the more possible variants that can be done from tooling that has been planned for those variations, the more likely the kit(s) will be very successful.

Art

[wku88]

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 4:01 PM, Luc Janssens said:

I can relate to that statement, but if one takes for instance the recent Revell '76 Gran' Torino S&H, a lot of siblings can be done, all of which use the same or simmilar chassis and drive-train....also on the 3D files one doesn't have to start from scratch but copy --> paste and adjusts...sure the tooling is still the most costly aspect of it all, but with clever tool design one can eliminate waste to a minimum.

Exactly. The 77-79 'Birds have been requested forever, and the LTD II, Cougar, and MKIV, and MKV could all be done with the same or slightly modified chassis tooling. Dash is almost identical for most versions, and seats and interior tubs have minor variations, but the Mobius F100 kits show how that can be done.  

[Rob Hall]

22 minutes ago, wku88 said:

Exactly. The 77-79 'Birds have been requested forever, and the LTD II, Cougar, and MKIV, and MKV could all be done with the same or slightly modified chassis tooling. Dash is almost identical for most versions, and seats and interior tubs have minor variations, but the Mobius F100 kits show how that can be done.  

IIRC the Mk IV and V were much larger cars and on an unrelated chassis.  The '72-76 T-Bird was on the same chassis.  

[sfhess]

1 hour ago, Rob Hall said:

IIRC the Mk IV and V were much larger cars and on an unrelated chassis.  The '72-76 T-Bird was on the same chassis.  

Mark IV and V were on the same chassis as the  72-76 Thunderbird, which was a lengthened version of the Torino/Montego etc chassis.  Rear anti-roll bar from a Mark IV was a direct bolt on to my 72 Montego wagon.

[Eshaver]

On 5/30/2018 at 7:06 PM, ChrisBcritter said:

Hope the folks at Greenlight are listening - a '70s Country Squire would seem to be right up their alley, and if they did it with the quality of their Dodge Monaco or the two trailers, you could leave it as is or detail it out.

How much cheaper is it to produce a good (Greenlight quality) 1/25 diecast as opposed to a 1/25 plastic kit?

Chris , have you seen the 1967 Chevrolet Impala 4 door HT ? I lucked into one as a Toys Is us closed . I'm impressed by this one ...

[Can-Con]

My point was Art, that "those in the know" said that both those kits would never see the light of day and would never sell as little as 10 years ago.  

I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince anyone here that a '75 Chevelle or a '77 Daytona or anything else from any era would sell and could be done with multiple versions because those who don't think they could won't listen and would just say it won't work and I'd be just "preach'n to the choir" to those who do think they'd sell . 

[Robberbaron]

2 hours ago, Can-Con said:

My point was Art, that "those in the know" said that both those kits would never see the light of day and would never sell as little as 10 years ago.  

I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince anyone here that a '75 Chevelle or a '77 Daytona or anything else from any era would sell and could be done with multiple versions because those who don't think they could won't listen and would just say it won't work and I'd be just "preach'n to the choir" to those who do think they'd sell . 

Same thing happened with the '80s Cutlass kits.  Before the Revell kits were released, several self-proclaimed experts on this board declared that there was not enough interest, it would never happen, no manufacturer would ever dare to release it, yadda yadda yadda.

When the '83 and then the '85 kits miraculously materialized, low and behold they seemed to sell like hotcakes, to the point that in my area the '85 kits seemed to come and go pretty quickly in my local retailers before the whole Hobbico implosion happened.

Edited June 6, 2018 by Robberbaron