The 'other' Graffiti cars ?

[57peppershaker]

Hi Guys

I have the Revell diecast American Graffiti 55 & 32 in 1;25 scale. And slowly finding the figures of Toad, Debbie & Wolfman Jack. Was thinking about the other cars and what kits would be best to use as a base ?

Steve's Impala - AMT or Revell 58 ? 

Curts 2CV - Could only find a Tamiya kit ?

The Pharaoh's Mercury - AMT ? Guess would need to chop the roof or anybody offer a better kit ?

Laurie's Edsel - AMT ? 

Toads Vespa - Could only find a Tamiya kit in the Campus friends set ? 

Anything else I'm missing ??

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by 57peppershaker

[BigTallDad]

Depends on how deep you want to go...

American Graffiti vehicles

 

[Old Nasty]

Wasn't there a T Bird in the film?  

[my80malibu]

There was A 57 T-Bird. And  there was Buddah's Tight, uniform ,not a vehicle mind you, but She sure looked like she could Move.

[57peppershaker]

1 hour ago, my80malibu said:

There was A 57 T-Bird. And  there was Buddah's Tight, uniform ,not a vehicle mind you, but She sure looked like she could Move.

I had the T-Bird but wished I had more than a model of Buddah lol.

I'm thinking more of the main character cars, not a car in background for 3 seconds.

[BigTallDad]

1 hour ago, 57peppershaker said:

I'm thinking more of the main character cars, not a car in background for 3 seconds.

Your call. All I was trying to do was give you images of vehicles used in the movie so you could pick from them.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Sounds like you have most of the cars dialed in.

 

Either of the '58 Impalas would work.

I've seen several representations of this car from various builders.

 

The Pharaoh's Merc was a '51, but the Revell '49 would be a better place to start than the AMT kit.

The top is already chopped on the Revell kit.

 

 

Cindy's '58 Edsel might be a little tougher.

The car portrayed in the movie was a Corsair 4 door hard top which was based on the longer Mercury wheel base.

The AMT kit, (both old and new) is a Pacer, which is on a shorter Ford chassis.

Not only is the wheel base too short and a 4 door conversion have to be done, but the roof line is totally different on the Corsair and Citation models.

 

 

The Thunderbird that Suzanne Somers made famous was a '56.

AMT made a kit for that one.

 

 

I suppose a representation of the '61 Ford police car might be fun.

It made several appearances in the movie, including one of the most famous scenes.

You could fashion one of them from the AMT Club Coupe without too much fuss.

I think I would build this version.

 

 

Can't help you much with the others.

 

 

Steve

 

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by StevenGuthmiller

[Richard Bartrop]

The roof Pharaoh's Merc is chopped differently from the Revell kit, or from most chopped Merc.  so to get the roofline right, you'd probably want get something with a stock roof, and chop it yourself.

 

[Dave Van]

I have built a few AG cars but not as many as planned.........

Steve/Toad 58 from Revell kit.....it was going to be a die cast but Revell changed their mind.

 

Modelhaus wheels and Caddy tail lights. 

 

For a more obscure AG car how about the T bucket Milner is talking to while sitting in the parking lot???

We never see it clearly so I did a best guess version....

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Dave Van

[Bucky]

This movie was supposedly set in 1962, but during one of the boulevard cruising scenes there is a 1967 Impala parked at the curb. I think it may be a 4 door, so the upcoming Supernatural kit would work for that. It's not a main character car, but it is an American Graffiti car. Also, I believe the Cadillac that got sprayed with shaving cream is a '59 4 door.

[ChrisBcritter]

41 minutes ago, Bucky said:

This movie was supposedly set in 1962, but during one of the boulevard cruising scenes there is a 1967 Impala parked at the curb. I think it may be a 4 door, so the upcoming Supernatural kit would work for that. It's not a main character car, but it is an American Graffiti car. Also, I believe the Cadillac that got sprayed with shaving cream is a '59 4 door.

Looks like a '67 or '68 Caprice coupe:

The Caddy's a '60:

You could build it from the Jo-Han '60 Fleetwood; for the wheelcovers use the '74 Chevy Impala ones and replace the bowties with Caddy crests.

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

The roof Pharaoh's Merc is chopped differently from the Revell kit, or from most chopped Merc.  so to get the roofline right, you'd probably want get something with a stock roof, and chop it yourself.

 

True, but it might be good enough if you're just looking for something close without getting into a whole bunch of modification.

 

Steve

[Bucky]

18 minutes ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Looks like a '67 or '68 Caprice coupe:

The Caddy's a '60:

You could build it from the Jo-Han '60 Fleetwood; for the wheelcovers use the '74 Chevy Impala ones and replace the bowties with Caddy crests.

Thanks for the pics! Looks like I was close....but no cigar! Hahaha

[SCRWDRVR]

You would have to add Suzanne Summers 56 T-Bird, it may be a back ground car but it's brought to the front several times. Other than that I would say you have the major cars, and the police car with the rear axle ripped out would definitely be a cool addition.

[Force]

As mentioned a few posts above AMT did the Suzanne Somers 1956 T-bird back in 2003.
The Pharao's Custom Mercury is a 1951 and that year has never been done as a model kit, but the movie car can be done from the 1949's from either AMT or Revell as it's all we got for the "shoebox" Mercury.
But a 1951 Merc is quite different from the 49-50, the rear window opening is larger and has a different shape with sharp pointed lower corners, they are rounded on the 49-50, and the rear quarter panels are longer and extends beyond the trunk wich they doesn't do on the 49-50, the 51 also have different "church window" style tail lights and they kept them on the movie car.
The dash panel and gauges are also very different from the 49, they upgraded it for the 1950 model year and continued with the same panel for 51.
The grille is also different on the 1951 but it was custom with just a single bar in the middle on the movie car so it doesn't matter.
So to do a correct one it involves some work.
Star Models has a chopped 51 Coupe in resin but it's not exactly correct as it's most likely based on the AMT 49 and has the 49-50 rear window shape for the opening with rounded lower corners and it has to be modified further to more resemble the movie car.

In my personal opinion the 1951 is my least favoured "shoebox" Mercury of the three followed by the 1949, and I like the 1950 the best, it would have been nice if Revell had done a 50 instead of a 49 as AMT allready had one.

Edited January 11, 2020 by Force

[57peppershaker]

22 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Sounds like you have most of the cars dialed in.

 

Either of the '58 Impalas would work.

I've seen several representations of this car from various builders.

 

The Pharaoh's Merc was a '51, but the Revell '49 would be a better place to start than the AMT kit.

The top is already chopped on the Revell kit.

 

 

Cindy's '58 Edsel might be a little tougher.

The car portrayed in the movie was a Corsair 4 door hard top which was based on the longer Mercury wheel base.

The AMT kit, (both old and new) is a Pacer, which is on a shorter Ford chassis.

Not only is the wheel base too short and a 4 door conversion have to be done, but the roof line is totally different on the Corsair and Citation models.

 

 

The Thunderbird that Suzanne Somers made famous was a '56.

AMT made a kit for that one.

 

 

I suppose a representation of the '61 Ford police car might be fun.

It made several appearances in the movie, including one of the most famous scenes.

You could fashion one of them from the AMT Club Coupe without too much fuss.

I think I would build this version.

 

 

Can't help you much with the others.

 

 

Steve

 

 

Thanks Steve, great info and just what I needed. Just picked up 58 & 49 kits. I had the diecast T-Bird but sold it on. Forgot about the 61 Ford cop car.

[57peppershaker]

21 hours ago, Dave Van said:

I have built a few AG cars but not as many as planned.........

Steve/Toad 58 from Revell kit.....it was going to be a die cast but Revell changed their mind.

 

Modelhaus wheels and Caddy tail lights. 

 

For a more obscure AG car how about the T bucket Milner is talking to while sitting in the parking lot???

We never see it clearly so I did a best guess version....

 

I sure wish they had of released the 58 as a diecast Dave. I know its avail in 1;18 but they are too big for my display cabinets. Is that your build ?

[randyc]

Revell also did a diecast of the T bird.  I sold mine recently.  But it is out there.  One of the Mints did an Edsel convertible in turquiose.  I doubt that can be made into anything resembling the Edsel in the movie.  

[ChrisBcritter]

21 hours ago, randyc said:

One of the Mints did an Edsel convertible in turquiose.  I doubt that can be made into anything resembling the Edsel in the movie.  

It would be a real slog, but theoretically possible. You'd need the Franklin Mint Citation convertible, the Danbury Mint '57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser for the roof (the C-pillars would still need extensive mods), and a lot of motivation to convert it to a four-door and fill in the coves after removing the Citation trim. Probably more likely to show up as a 3-D print someday.

[randyc]

44 minutes ago, ChrisBcritter said:

It would be a real slog, but theoretically possible. You'd need the Franklin Mint Citation convertible, the Danbury Mint '57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser for the roof (the C-pillars would still need extensive mods), and a lot of motivation to convert it to a four-door and fill in the coves after removing the Citation trim. Probably more likely to show up as a 3-D print someday.

3D print would seem to be the best idea.  

[Dave Van]

Years ago a resin caster did a 4 door Edsel.....but it was so bad I passed when I saw it a Toledo NNL.....

[mopargreg]

Im starting to build the Graffiti cars as well. Ive been trying to find the Revell American Graffiti figures that came in some of the 1/64 cars & 1/24 Diecast. But wow they fetch a lot of money now. Well above what I would pay for a figure. I had really hoped that someone may resin cast them but never have. Ive been looking for these figures on & off for 10 years or so. The search continues.

[ChrisBcritter]

Almost forgot I built this one about 40 years ago - just add narrow whitewalls, a decent BMF job, an antenna, a front plate and call it a day:

 

[57peppershaker]

On 1/23/2020 at 6:17 AM, mopargreg said:

Im starting to build the Graffiti cars as well. Ive been trying to find the Revell American Graffiti figures that came in some of the 1/64 cars & 1/24 Diecast. But wow they fetch a lot of money now. Well above what I would pay for a figure. I had really hoped that someone may resin cast them but never have. Ive been looking for these figures on & off for 10 years or so. The search continues.

I sure wish they would reissue them all Greg. I've now got them all except Debbie and like you looked for a very long time. The Tamiya Campus Friends is a good source for Steve & Laurie type figures and Toads Vespa. I'm looking for these too.