1/25 AMT 1965 Pontiac Bonneville Sport Coupe

[Exotics_Builder]

5 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Is it warped?  Every kit I've had from that series had a warped body with excessive flash on parts...

Haven't looked at it in a while.  I'll check it tomorrow and take some photos.

[Mark]

All of the Prestige Series kits I bought back then (duplicates in some cases) were good, except for the '65 Grand Prix.  Ertl sent me a replacement body for that one.

[Scott8950]

10 hours ago, the other Mike S. said:

 I don’t think anyone is going to make a “gasser” out of it.

Yea that'll be me 😁 I enjoy building gassers and awb cars that you normally don't see.

[blizzy63]

18 hours ago, Exotics_Builder said:

Not on my radar as I have this one yet to be built.

 

Built this AMT Prestige Bonneville about 20 years ago as a mid-'60s custom mixing parts with the AMT '65 Grand Prix kit. The taillights are Modelhaus '59 Bonneville units.

The tires are AMT Firestone Supremes with white-stripe whitewalls from my parts box since the Prestige kit supplied incorrect-looking, overly-skinny, generic Firestone tires.

The original AMT kit from 1965 had the original Firestone Supremes which AMT introduced new circa-1964 (see photo of original AMT '65 Bonneville kit below).

[keyser]

Tail of that is gorgeous. Front end shot available? Nice work, paint

[Motor City]

13 hours ago, Mark said:

All of the Prestige Series kits I bought back then (duplicates in some cases) were good, except for the '65 Grand Prix.  Ertl sent me a replacement body for that one.

the same thing happened to me, Mark, and Ertl replaced the GP body

[Exotics_Builder]

My Bonneville and GP bodies are in good shape

As for roof line trim on the Bonny, Here are views of both sides

 

And this is the optional tire in the Prestige kits (both Bonny and GP)

[Mark]

For some reason, the BFG tires made by MPC (and later, Ertl) are plastic eaters.  They damage any plastic they come into contact with, especially clear plastic.  They're bad in that regard, on a level with early Sixties Revell tires.  Hopefully Round 2's version will be different in that way.

[Bob Ellis]

On 9/30/2021 at 3:50 PM, 1972coronet said:

The pad printed tyres are . perhaps , the finest innovation ( invention ? ) to come along in quite some time .  I certainly don't  miss trying to paint the white wall or pinstripe on the tyres ! 

My main complaint about the presence of the Goodrich tyres is that there are other tyres in Round2's roster that would be literally and figuratively more "fitting" . That 80's garbage belongs in kits of that era , IMO , and not in a 60's custom .

The Countdown issue of this Bonneville included Firestone 500s. The worst tires ever sold. I had one explode at 70 mph.

[the other Mike S.]

55 minutes ago, Mark said:

For some reason, the BFG tires made by MPC (and later, Ertl) are plastic eaters.  They damage any plastic they come into contact with, especially clear plastic.  They're bad in that regard, on a level with early Sixties Revell tires.  Hopefully Round 2's version will be different in that way.

I’m betting they will be made of the same plastic eating rubber material.  This time, however, they’ll probably be sealed in a clear protective bag like the rest of the parts.

Edited October 2, 2021 by the other Mike S.

[Bills72sj]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

For some reason, the BFG tires made by MPC (and later, Ertl) are plastic eaters.  They damage any plastic they come into contact with, especially clear plastic.  They're bad in that regard, on a level with early Sixties Revell tires.  Hopefully Round 2's version will be different in that way.

That is disappointing to hear. I need to check my kits.

[1972coronet]

1 hour ago, Bob Ellis said:

The Countdown issue of this Bonneville included Firestone 500s. The worst tires ever sold. I had one explode at 70 mph.

I remember those disasterous tyres from me youth . IIRC , there was a parody 'commercial' on Saturday Night Live in c.1978 .

[blizzy63]

2 hours ago, Bob Ellis said:

The Countdown issue of this Bonneville included Firestone 500s. The worst tires ever sold. I had one explode at 70 mph.

Yep. A bad time for Firestone.

In August 1977, my family had a new Firestone Deluxe Champion bias-belted blow out on the I-5 in Washington State on a vacation trip home from California.

But I recall that it was their radials that were having a real bad time of it. Put a real damper on their brand.

[Dave Darby]

20 hours ago, Mark said:

For some reason, the BFG tires made by MPC (and later, Ertl) are plastic eaters.  They damage any plastic they come into contact with, especially clear plastic.  They're bad in that regard, on a level with early Sixties Revell tires.  Hopefully Round 2's version will be different in that way.

I would think the current batch would be made using the same compound as their current tires. 

[doorsovdoon]

Looking forward to getting this one. Love the mid 60's Bonneville bodies. Built a couple of these now and I always want to do another after I've finished, not many kits do that for me.

[espo]

I have not built either the Pontiac Bonneville or the Grand Prix. So my question to those who have built both of these is the kits basic bodies the same? The reason for the question is that since the 1:1 Bonny and the Grand Prix are two different wheel base bodies and chassis, The Grand Prix body and chassis is shared with the basic Catalina in 1:1. I do intend to build at least one of these but would prefer the shorter wheel base.  Any insight to the twists and turns on these would be appreciated. 

[Casey]

48 minutes ago, espo said:

I have not built either the Pontiac Bonneville or the Grand Prix. So my question to those who have built both of these is the kits basic bodies the same? The reason for the question is that since the 1:1 Bonny and the Grand Prix are two different wheel base bodies and chassis, The Grand Prix body and chassis is shared with the basic Catalina in 1:1. I do intend to build at least one of these but would prefer the shorter wheel base.  Any insight to the twists and turns on these would be appreciated. 

I think this topic served as a comparison for the various AMT full sized '65 Pontiacs-- 2+2, Grand Prix, etc.:

 

[Rob Hall]

49 minutes ago, espo said:

I have not built either the Pontiac Bonneville or the Grand Prix. So my question to those who have built both of these is the kits basic bodies the same? The reason for the question is that since the 1:1 Bonny and the Grand Prix are two different wheel base bodies and chassis, The Grand Prix body and chassis is shared with the basic Catalina in 1:1. I do intend to build at least one of these but would prefer the shorter wheel base.  Any insight to the twists and turns on these would be appreciated. 

The Grand Prix kit does have the shorter wheel base.  Different roofline and side trim than the Bonneville. 

[Bucky]

I built the Prestige Series Bonneville and Grand Prix. The Bonneville had a warped body, but I was still able to use it. The GP was fine right out of the box.

[espo]

3 hours ago, Casey said:

I think this topic served as a comparison for the various AMT full sized '65 Pontiacs-- 2+2, Grand Prix, etc.:

 

Thank you for the link, sort of confirmed my fears. 

 

3 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

The Grand Prix kit does have the shorter wheel base.  Different roofline and side trim than the Bonneville. 

Thank Rob, I guess I'll be looking for the Grand Prix kit to build the 2+2 that I have in mind. 

[Mark]

If you want to build a 2+2, look for one of the two issues of the 2+2 kit.  Ertl took the Bonneville and re-engraved the body and interior trim to 2+2 spec.  The wheelbase is wrong (too long) but it would be a better starting point.

[Rob Hall]

34 minutes ago, Mark said:

If you want to build a 2+2, look for one of the two issues of the 2+2 kit.  Ertl took the Bonneville and re-engraved the body and interior trim to 2+2 spec.  The wheelbase is wrong (too long) but it would be a better starting point.

I’ve thought of reworking a 2+2  body to fit the Grand Prix chassis, which would be the right wheelbase.  The body would require sectioning in two places—the Catalina has a shorter wheelbase than the Bonneville, and a shorter rear overhang IIRC.  

[Mark]

I've done just that, it's pictured in the thread regarding how to fix the roof drip gutter mismatch.  I also used the deck lid area from the GP body, as I don't like rescribing panel lines.

[THarrison351]

On 9/30/2021 at 6:00 PM, Exotics_Builder said:

Not on my radar as I have this one yet to be built.

 

This was a great kit to build. I did build mine when it was new thirty some odd years ago. One of the first kits I ever foiled and all the paint was pure guesswork. No access to the web until about twelve years later and probably another five or ten until good information and pictures were well established. I painted the engine black for some reason. I think the box-art and instructions were my reference. I had the 2+2 kit too until I found out it was supposed to be on the shorter Catalina chassis.

[Snake45]

33 minutes ago, THarrison351 said:

This was a great kit to build. I did build mine when it was new thirty some odd years ago.

It was new in late 1964, which is closer to 60 years ago.