JS23U

There once were 1961 built resin kits, like the ones from Joe Wheat's Nostalgia Lane. Quite pricey of course as they were painted and assembled resin kits. Can't remember who made them, maybe All American Models. I don't think there currently is a 60 or 61 available in resin.

I found two catalogs from Mini Exotics. The newer one is from November 1992, when I ordered the mentioned two kits from him. Regardless of already mentioned kits here is the list he offered back then. The newest model had number 848. I'm pretty sure he later had some versions of the long nose 70 Torino and some mid to late Rancheros, but I don't seem to have anything written about that. 811 67 Shelby Mustang 812 GT 40 Roadster 813 68 Mustang California Special 814 69/70 Shelby Mustang Convertible 815 67 Mustang Hardtop 816 68 Mustang Hardtop 817 66 Pontiac GTO 818 Ford J Car 819 Cheetah 820 Corvette Grand Sport (5 versions) 821 67 Mustang Fastback 822 68 Mustang Fastback 823 67 Mach 1 Show Car 824 68 Shelby Convertible 825 71 Challenger 826 Mirage JW-1 827 64 Ferrari GTO Series II 828 40 Ford Sedan Delivery 829 69 Coronet R/T 830 67 Cougar 831 68 Cougar 832 68 Cougar GT-E 834 72 GMC Fleetside Short Box 835 427 Cobra Daytona Super Coupe 836 Corvette SR-2 837 69 Charger R/T 838 Ferrari 348 tb Zagato 839 69 Corvette Baldwin Motion Phase III GT 840 58 Scarab Mark 1 841 70 Cougar 842 70 Cougar Convertible 843 68 Charger R/T 844 67 Fairlane 845 McLaren Elva Mk1A 846 McLaren Elva Mk1 847 Ferrari Dino 206S Coupe or Spyder 848 67 Corvette Fastback

Tom, I would be interested in pics of the 66 and 69/70 Falcons. Somewhere I have a catalog of his offerings. If it is allowed I can scan and put it here. It was just a few pages of conversion kits plus a lot of wheels. I ordered my two kits from him in about 1992. No internet, he took no cc, payment from Germany was not easy. Getting these models was a major task

Hi Kevin, did you correct the trunk? I think the annuals have wrong (for convertibles) trunk engraving. But I'm not sure. Thanks for doing this one, the original "bat"-mobile is out of financial range for me...

After cutting open the hood one would have the problem of building a correct engine bay and chassis. There is nothing available which is anything near enough that can be used. Ford went back to separate frame for the 72 intermediates, so nothing from the years before would work.

I think Rob is right. There never was a model of the 71 GT, just the Cobra. And noone ever made a conversion from anything towards a 71 GT. Mini Exotics had a lot of the 70/71 Torinos made, but I think there was no 71 GT. They did a convertible, a Ranchero and several versions of the long nosed thingie, I forgot the name. All of them were based on the AMT kits as the Revell wasn't already available. As a side note I'd prefer the AMT kit over the Revell for better proportions. The Revell kit has too small rear wheel houses and the quarter window area looks too thick to me. But all of this could be corrected with minor effort. It is one of the better new tool kits.

79 to 82 were done by MPC as promo and kit. Even a GMC Diablo was available. The promos go for around $20 each on the bay, kits similar.

Thanks to all for the kind words. I am glad to find so many names here that I know from magazines, other forums, ebay etc. I already found a wealth of knowledge and skills here in the few articles I read, yippie! Unfortunately I haven't finished much in the last 6-10 years because of raising two kids, building a house and..... well even my two Mopars keep me busy. So what time is left is enough for collecting models, but not building them. I hope to end this period soon (i.e. the "not building period", not the "collecting" period)

I built this AMT Vette as a 454 with open Targa top. I thought I needed to build something else than what was pictured on the box so the big block from a 70 Impala was used. I think the roof of the AMT Corvette is too high at the rear. I was sure I wouldn't be able to correct this without huge efforts, so I cut out the roof parts, filed the rear part down as far as possible and added a crossmember from scratch. The exhaust tips looked too bulky so I folded some out of aluminum sheet. The steering was made functional. Tires are old AMT annual racing tires from the early 70s. 72 Chevelle SS 454 convertible. Cut an AMT Street Machine kit open. It worked better than I expected. Chassis is 69 Olds 442, engine is some mixed together 454. I constructed engine bay detail including inner fenders and such. Wheels are AMT Z/28 Camaro. The model was inspired by a car I found on the back cover of a Chevelle book. This car must be a rarity as 454 four speed convertible, especially in such a late year. The AMT Bronco is a fantastic kit. The proportions are great which leaves much time to detail the kit, although it is already nice out of the box. The steering was made functional as well as the spare tire rack. What a fun build, I love this kit! This Yenko is an AMT body/interior paired with an Olds 442 chassis and Fred Cady decals. Engine bay has additional detailing, the front grill is reworked as its engraving was too shallow. Wheels are from the Olds 442. Paint is automotive lacquer with clear coat, rubbed out.

Here are some pics of the models I built in the last years (my photographing skills are not the best...): 69 Nova made from the 72 AMT model. A huge lot of work went into it. To repair the body in all window frame areas, to get the fenders aligned, to correct the rear wheel wells and the c-pillars and so on. I lengthend a Revellogram 69 Camaro chassis and also took the engine from it. Cady decals and a self made vinyl top completed the model. After all, it is one of my favourite models! 70 1/2 Camaro SS 396. This is the late 80s version of the Z/28 AMT kit. The retooled AMT annual from 70 to 77, not the new tool kit. That wasn't available when I buit this kit. Much work was involved to get the front fender tops right, to flatten the area where snout and hood meet in the middle of the car and to get the correct square look of the headlamp pods. Chassis and engine is 69 Camaro again. 70 Challenger R/T Six Pack Inspired by a picture in an ancient Car Craft I built this one from an AMT Yankee Challenger. Filled in the hood, glued on the roof. A bit of detail on the chassis and engine bay. The wheels are JoHan Superbird, tires are too fat two piece NASCARs from JoHan. Cady decals for the stripes. I had to cut these into several pieces to get them to follow the body lines. Go Mango finish from a rattle can with clear coat, then rubbed out. I built this one in 93, would do al lot different today, though. 71 Challenger R/T Hemi Ok, I am a Mopar guy, own two Mopar muscles. This particular model is my favorite build and the hottest 71 Challenger I can imagine. Citron Yella Hemi four speed without vinyl roof and Shaker hood but with colored bumpers, a 71 only option. I took a nearly wrecked MPC annual body, grafted in the side markers and door handles from an AMT Challenger, had ti buy a resin hood as the original was completely crazed from paint and a knife. Resin side scoops, aftermarket decals. The chassis and engine bay is AMT like on my 70, engine is a parts box Hemi.

Possibly more people here got to know me through eBay as I am quite active there as a buyer. Jeff, as the A64B became available again I don't know if I ever restore "yours"...

I built a 69 Charger R/T, which was a copy of the MPC annual. This was of course before the Revell became available. Also still have a 68 GT/E-Cougar. This one had quite a bit of bubbles in the cowl vents so I needed to get an annual body first. The grill was mastered quite nicely but cast too thin. I ended up making an own one. Wasn't too difficult. So now (after 20 years) I can finally build the GT/E

Just read through these 16 pages (!!). What a wonderful project and exciting news. I thought about such a project on my own for years and always couldn't decide with which body to start. As both the MPC and AMT have a lot of issues. Swapping the JoHan greenhouse would have been a much too big task for me so I am veeeery happy someone does it for me! Can't wait till they are available. Suggestion for a future project: 71/72 GM full size two door Sport Coupe, Buick and Chevy preferred for me. Not the "Custom" formal type roof like the 71-73 Impala/Caprice kits from MPC.

I haven't looked into the box of my kit for long time. But from what I remember the inner fenders are totally wrong for a b/e-body Mopar up to and including the 72 model year. Chrysler changed them for the 73 model year, maybe this is what the kit depicts. I think the main problem on converting it to any other version than the R/T is the side gills in the doors. This is R/T only. Even for a Super Bee these have to be filled in. I still haven't decided if I glue cut-to-fit plastic strips in them or just plain fill it with putty. Anyway it might be seen after the paint is on.

Yes right, Luc. I wanted to hint on that but forgot ... Kataranga, you are probably right, didn't save that in my brain. I beg your pardon... Overall I love those articles about old kit lines. Please keep them coming! I looked through my LWB Dodge pickups several months ago. I have years 73 to 77. The side trim was the same for the kit years 72 to 76 (I think), the trim level is D100 Adventurer SE. The moldings are the ones that go over the wheel wells. This is only correct for 72 to 74 (or 75?). MPC corrected it to straight moldings for the 77 model. Additionally the "100"-script is on the cab from 72 to 76 on the kit, "Adventurer SE" on the bed. They again changed it in 77. I might have mixed it up a bit, as I didn't compare every year to original truck pics and some time has gone by since I did this research. But my conclusion was that one has to change/kitbash quite a bit to build a really accurate 75/76 truck. I think they are quite accurate for 72 and 73 and then for 77 (and probably 78) again. 74 is ok as well, possibly. Also I found they never changed much in the interior, just like the AMT Ford pickup 75-78. So here again is much work needed to get it really right. Jens

Hi guys, thanks for your welcome! I'll try to post some pics as soon as I learned how. Haven't read that section so far. For now you can find some of my builds on the Fotki-album of "littlewheeliesteam", there search for Jens. I'll provide a link as soon as I am home. Jens

Hi all, my name is Jens, I live in Germany. I build and collect everything that is named annual, and some more. My interests are muscle cars, American cars in general and a good share of trucks. I like to build them stock, or at least "day two", i.e. wheels changed for ones of the same vintage, for example. Years are mainly late fifties to late seventies. Cheers Jens

I think one thing is worth mentioning: Starting with the 76 year the truck cannot be built as a 4x2 anymore. It just had those 1/20 Can Am Racer tires with the steelies, no stock chrome full wheel covers anymore, no standard front axle. I would love to build a Power Wagon like the one shown. Someone should make decals for it On the topic of "hidden" annuals from MPC: I always thought the 1970 Camaro and Firebird kits didn't get real annual numbers because they came out in midyear 1970. The annual kit run possibly was done by the time?!

Hi, I haven't found any place for introducing me so I will do here: My name is Jens, I live in Germany. I build (well, currently I rather collect) virtually anything that can be built into a stock American car or truck. As long as it is old enough... Concerning this topic: I have the 69 MPC Fleetside annual (red plastic). I found this one as not very accurate. It rather is a 68 MPC annual with the new for 69 hood and a bit of changes around the side markers, IIRC. At least MPC did nothing to update the side trim which changed for 69. My opinion is that the AMT 69 kit is by far the better one. Don't have any 1970 kit, so I don't know if these are better. As someone already said the 69 AMT kit was available in another box (T330) with spectacular box art. It is shown in front of an open garage. The contents of the box are the same as the annual kit, even decals and instructions are the same. Also I have a 72 GMC Jimmy (T428), the orange car with the Honda bike. I have an issue with the box bottom of the 1973 25th anniversary, as someone already told. Decals date from "73". My version differs from another one I found on the net as it has clear windows, the other one's are black tinted. My kit has the deep dish steelies on the chrome tree, the other one doesn't have them. Also one of the stock full wheel covers is in another place on the tree! 71 and 72 GMC Sierra Grande: The last one the original poster showed is the 1971 kit. The orange one with the stock cab. The red one is the 72 annual in two versions of the box. I believe the one without the "72" is made and sold after the 1972 model year was over. Maybe they kind of made an additional run of boxes for leftover parts ?! I have seen a lot of kits from MPC and AMT with either the year shown or "NEW" or even nothing on it, like on this one. Also I have some boxes of 1970 annuals and the Motor City Stockers where the price suffix after the kit number is either not printed at all or it is blacked out. For me this is a hint that they sold these kits still after 1970, maybe at slightly higher prices.