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What happened to the '68 Impala molds???


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Seeing how the MPC '67 Impala became the '68 Impala kit. The '69 Impala's are a completely different body shape that includes the fenders, rear qt's and the roof design. I know the '69 became the 70 Impala kit's But If they used the '68 molds to make the '69 that would have been a major reworking of a mold wouldn't it?? I mean sure molds such as the '73 Caprice went on to be the '74-76 Caprice kit's which is easy to see why as the body changes were the front, rear  roof ,and hood, and the basic body , doors, rear qt's, trunk deck, and front fenders remained much the same. 

Edited by ranma
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I assume the ‘68 tooling was reworked to do the ‘69.  Chassis and engine likely were carried over.  I’ve never compared mine, though.

By the way, I don’t think MPC did a ‘67 Impala.  Never seen one.  I have the original AMT ‘67 ht & convertible. 

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I have an MPC '68. I don't have an MPC '69 or '70 but I do have a full run from '71 to '76. The '68 chassis and engine are carried over from the '68 up to the '76. 

No, MPC didn't do a '67.

 

BTW, I believe the '73 body did not carry over to the '74 up "colonnade" cars. Besides the obvious changes like the roof, front and rear bumpers/ grill etc, stuff that didn't need to be changed was such as windshield trim and even the shape of the wheel openings is slightly different. Even tooling marks inside the body are different. I think the '74-up was a new body

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Well, we know the chassis and running gear bits were carried over to the '76.

The odds that the '68 (or '73 or any other year) body bits survive are pretty slim.  Back then we were buying lots of GTO's, Chargers, Vettes etc;  cars like Impalas and Bonnevilles tended to sit on the shelves a little longer.

Perhaps MPC didn't see much value in keeping body/interior tooling inserts around for year-old Impalas.....and the '76 is the only remnant we've seen for the last 40 years....so I would guess the '68 parts are long gone.

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46 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

I have a VERY vague recollection of some kind of typical MPC full custom based on the '68 Impala convertible, but I might be completely wrong about that. :wacko:

MPC's '68 convertible kit included a pretty radical custom version.  Their '69 convertible was even more radical, it had a bubble top.

AMT's "for 1968" kit was called a "Chevrolet SS 427".  Basically the '67 kit with the stock bumpers, wheels, and seats deleted, and with the body detrimmed and with no rear window opening (rear glass was still included).  The chassis got reused in their '69 and '70 Impala kits, that "for 1968" body tooling probably hit the scrap heap before it had a chance to cool off...

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3 minutes ago, Mark said:

MPC's '68 convertible kit included a pretty radical custom version.  Their '69 convertible was even more radical, it had a bubble top.

 

The '68 convertible had the bubble top too; which required removing the windshield frame from the body.

I did just that back in '68 and was kicking myself years later when restoring it.

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7 minutes ago, pack rat said:

The '68 convertible had the bubble top too; which required removing the windshield frame from the body.

I did just that back in '68 and was kicking myself years later when restoring it.

Yup. not a great look. 

Picked this up at a community "yard sale" several years ago for 5 bucks.

100 0369

100 0368

100 0367

 

But stuff like that can always be fixed.

IMG 1465

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1 hour ago, Mark said:

MPC's '68 convertible kit included a pretty radical custom version. 

 

1 hour ago, pack rat said:

The '68 convertible had the bubble top too; which required removing the windshield frame from the body.

Maybe that's what I'm thinking of. Thanks! 

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I don't think the '68 became the '69 either. Pretty much nothing in common body wise.

Something that's confusing to me (maybe Mark can clear it up) is my '68 promo chassis has the separate exhaust/rearend and an engine/trans plate. My '69 promo chassis has everything molded in. Someone asked in my WIP thread if my '69 was an AMT or MPC. He stated one had the Chevrolet letters on the hood while the other one did not. I thought MPC had the promo contract with Chevrolet in '69. So, I assumed it's an MPC. Did AMT and MPC both make '69 Impala promos? 

Speaking of the bubble tops. They go back to the '65 Impala at least. Here's a great example built by Ron Savoi. 

65impala9_13_15027-vi.jpg.842702311eb79f6389f3d254ef6be6e6.jpg

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Only one company made a promo in a given year.  The contract might be split between two companies in the same year, but each company would manufacture a different promo (example: AMT '66 Barracuda, Jo-Han '66 Fury).  I haven't looked at my '69 Impala promos in a while, but I believe they are AMT.  AMT definitely did the 1970 Impala promos; their convertible (never offered as a kit) had the correct deck lid without the recessed area down the center like MPC's kit body.  Both still had incorrect upper quarter panels, basically the same as the hardtop.

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The '69 Impala promos are AMT.  Like the '70, my '69 convertible promo has the correct "no recess" deck lid.  Apparently Impala kits were still strong sellers, as both AMT and MPC each offered at least one from 1968-70 (AMT's lame "for 1968" effort included).  AMT started tapering off with convertible kits as early as 1965 (not every promo became a kit) but they hung on with full size Chevies and Fords through '67.  MPC stuck with the drop-tops a couple years longer.

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10 hours ago, Can-Con said:

But stuff like that can always be fixed.

IMG 1465

Nice work.

Mine was restored when I first got back into the hobby years ago.  With no kits available for kitbashing at the time I spliced on a windshield frame from a junk '69 Bonneville body.  Strictly a five-footer and not my best work, but it considered it a good save at the time.

DSCN5998.JPG

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2 hours ago, Mark said:

The '69 Impala promos are AMT.  Like the '70, my '69 convertible promo has the correct "no recess" deck lid.  Apparently Impala kits were still strong sellers, as both AMT and MPC each offered at least one from 1968-70 (AMT's lame "for 1968" effort included).  AMT started tapering off with convertible kits as early as 1965 (not every promo became a kit) but they hung on with full size Chevies and Fords through '67.  MPC stuck with the drop-tops a couple years longer.

So, AMT made the '69 promos and MPC made the kits? 

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1 hour ago, pack rat said:

Nice work.

Mine was restored when I first got back into the hobby years ago.  With no kits available for kitbashing at the time I spliced on a windshield frame from a junk '69 Bonneville body.  Strictly a five-footer and not my best work, but it considered it a good save at the time.

DSCN5998.JPG

That looks nice Mike! It's weird to see a convertible without the mechanism wells in the interior. Usually, it's the other way around.

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9 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

So, AMT made the '69 promos and MPC made the kits? 

Both companies made kits.  MPC made both the hardtop and convertible, AMT made only a hardtop kit despite having made the convertible as a promo.

MPC's convertible kit had the (incorrect) hardtop deck lid, with the recess in the center.  Basically a hardtop with no roof.  

Same deal for '70: AMT made hardtop and convertible promos, hardtop only kit.  MPC made HT and CV kits, the CV was the "Bat Machine" molded in glow-in-the-dark plastic, try finding one of those now!

MPC got the Impala promos for '71, AMT quit doing Impalas at that point.  '71 promos were both HT and (incorrect) CV, kit was HT only.  CV had incorrect upper quarter panels and windshield header.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Only one company made a promo in a given year.  For 1969, Impala promos were AMT only.  MPC made kits on their own dime because there was enough of a market for Impala kits for them to be profitable without the promo contract to help pay for the tooling.

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5 minutes ago, deuces wild said:

Doh!... I  should have known..🙄 I have the newer release of the '68 Mustang model kit from Revell... the chassis uses screws to attach to the body..

That's a bit different, the '68 Mustang tooling originally had pre-painted diecast body versions...'American Dreams' and 'Bullitt'... don't think they did a promo version per se...likewise for the 1/25th Challenger, was issued w/ a pre-painted diecast originally..

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