Why hasn't anyone kitted any Tri-Five BOP cars ?

[Greg Myers]

[Greg Myers]

[oldscool]

Very simple answer - they won't be big sellers. A lot more people and especially the younger generation are much more familiar with tri five Chevies but not these cars

[wrenchr]

Never know round 2 could tool up a new body / drive train on a tri five chevy kit but as mentioned still think would not be a huge seller.   

[Tom Geiger]

6 minutes ago, oldscool said:

Very simple answer - they won't be big sellers. A lot more people and especially the younger generation are much more familiar with tri five Chevies but not these cars

Agreed. I’ve always told people to go to Walmart or Hallmark and buy their old car calendar.. look at the cars shown..  those are what the general public is familiar with!  So that’s pretty much what will sell in quantity. 

[Ramfins59]

As a lover of all 1950's cars, I use promos and/ or diecasts to fill the "gaps" in the cars that are not kitted......  as follows...

 

[larry ray]

I love your  cars

[thatz4u]

47 minutes ago, Ramfins59 said:

As a lover of all 1950's cars, I use promos and/ or diecasts to fill the "gaps" in the cars that are not kitted......  as follows...

 

Nice selection of older rides Rich....

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, oldscool said:

Very simple answer - they won't be big sellers. A lot more people and especially the younger generation are much more familiar with tri five Chevies but not these cars

Exactly. I can't think of any of them I'd be interested in--at least not until I build all the '55-'57 Chevies I want, which will be awhile. 

[ranma]

Actually the 55/56 Pontiac's were kitted by Jo Han /Excel but those are promo type cars. I think they also did the 55-60 Oldsmobile's as well !  SMP/AMT did the 57 & 58 Pontiac's as Craftsman promo's as well. I have a '55 & 56 "promo" Pontiac's which are made not from that acetate plastic.

[Brian Austin]

Many of these were tooled up as promos.

The '50s Oldsmobiles were offered by Jo-Han into the X-El era, but those had plain chassis and no interior.  Mid '50s Pontiacs were offered by Jo-Han (promo style), and AMT offered a '57 Bonneville convertible.

I don't know much aout the AMT Bonneville, other than they turn up on eBay.

 

Also, FWIW, Banthrico offered cast metal promotional banks in around 1:25 scale.  These of course would have solid-cast windows, so no interiors, and no chassis detail, but their lineup included Lincolns and Cadillacs and others that were not done in plastic in this size.

[Mark]

I've got X-EL '56, '57, and '58 Olds repop promos.  '56 has no interior but the others do.  X-EL mentioned some of their promos did not include interiors "as originally made"...that was not true in all cases, some of the originals did have interiors where the repro did not.  The '56 Olds did not have one, ever.

I was lucky enough to score another '58 Olds awhile back, wish I were as lucky finding another '57.

[Greg Myers]

and yet these have done quite well

[1930fordpickup]

I think it all comes down to licensing anymore. Back in the 60's when kits were hot they would have sold, after all not everyone purchased a Tri 5 Chevy. Not everyone even wants one now.  The Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Buick were a better car and looked better than the cheap car line of Chevy.  

[oldscool]

3 hours ago, wrenchr said:

Never know round 2 could tool up a new body / drive train on a tri five chevy kit but as mentioned still think would not be a huge seller.   

They would have to do a new interior as well.

[wrenchr]

1 hour ago, oldscool said:

They would have to do a new interior as well.

Right, more just making a point. 

[Plowboy]

2 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

and yet these have done quite well

Must not have done too well. They're still in circulation on ebay several years after it was issued. And for about the same price as originally. Several for less.

[espo]

With the Chevrolet and Ford kits aside the domestic cars from about 1954 on are not represented. With the cost of creating a new kit from scratch and crossing your fingers that you get it right and can turn a profit I can understand why some of these have not been offered. 1955 was a dramatic styling year for every manufacture in the US. The normal 3 year styling refresh turned into every year or two. This put a lot of interesting body styles out there to choose from , but  which one does a company go with ?  Very big dice role to sell to the share holders.   

[RichCostello]

The Buicks, and Pontiacs are nice, but that 57 Olds is the best looking(in my opinion) car of the decade. That is the one that Moebius should do.

[64Comet404]

I believe a '57 Oldsmobile would do quite well in the model world. Stock, custom, drag, and stock car (the '57 was Richard Petty's first Cup ride). Some of the other cars would also be fine additions to the hobby. It just depends on how many different variations a manufacturer can offer to make the project viable.

[Casey]

Third time's the charm...? ?

 

[niteowl7710]

The simple reason is - all of the BOP Tri-Fives are different enough from each other and the existing Chevy tools that you'd have to almost create new kits for each of them other than carrying over things like frames and running gear.  They're single use tooling when you consider not only the body differences, but the interiors, and engine modification between each.  If you can get 5k of your closest friends to all put up $60 a kit, I'm sure someone would make one for you, otherwise there's no way the return on investment works out.

[keyser]

10 minutes ago, Casey said:

Third time's the charm...? ?

 

 

Only 17 mos late.
Answer hasn’t changed. Great builds though Rich

A J2 would be neat. Won’t happen. 
 

[Muncie]

pretty cars, but I agree with those that have said demand would not cover the expense of bringing these to production

They aren't as close the the 1955-57 Chevrolets as they look - so pretty much all new tools would be required for the kits and no way to combine tooling for one make to another.

Wheelbase, engine and chassis are also different

1955-57 Chevrolet wheelbase 115"

1955 Buick wheel base:  Special, Century - 122"     Super, Roadmaster - 127"

1955 Oldsmobile 88 -  122"  Oldsmobile 98 - 126" -- there may be more...

1955 Pontiac   122", there may be other wheelbases

I doubt that the 122" wheelbase chassis have many common parts between Buick Pontiac and Oldsmobile.  GM didn't work that way then.

In the end, I'd rather see something newer or something else that would have a longer life in production for the next generation of model builders.

 

[Greg Myers]

Third time, with original threads being seven and four years old, and yet there is still interest in the subject. says more about the POOR Search capabilities of the board.?