Motor City

thanks for the correction, Tim; I don't recall ever seeing one past '72 and made a bad assumption; I just looked at my '73 brochure and it came standard with all-vinyl bucket seats, wheel covers, 318 with single exhaust, and three-speed, column-mounted shifter; the brochure is dated Dec. 1, 1972 and still lists the 340 instead of the 360, which must have been introduced later in the 73 model year?

The literature posted above showing the optional and standard wheels, wheelcovers, hubcaps, and steering wheels mentions what was available for each model. One of the models mentioned is the Satellite Sebring Plus, a model only available in 1971 and 1972. Either the literature wasn't updated for the '73 model year or what was posted earlier is for '71 or '72. The Judge was originally intended to be a stripper model like the Road Runner. I think Delorean changed the marketing for it just before he went to Chevrolet as its general manager. The early Trans Am also came without trim rings. My El Camino has trim rings, but I'd rather not have them since the wheel paint gets scratched up whenever they have to be removed/replaced. My Regal had Buick's chrome-plated rallye wheels, which I thought were much better looking.

I'd rather see the standard wheelcovers than hubcaps on the '65 or '68. At least around the Detroit area, I don't recall seeing hubcaps on anything other than a stripped Tempest. You would occasionally see the wire wheelcovers, but most drove down to a tire store and bought aftermarket wheels such as Cragar S/S, Appliance or (rarely) Hurst. Poverty caps are all the rage on Mopars. Back in the day, those were usually seen only on taxicabs or Valiants. Like the GTO, no one around here drove a GTX, Coronet R/T or 500, Super Bee, Road Runner, Charger, Challenger or Barracuda with those. I had a teacher with a Sport Satellite that had the standard wheelcovers, and they looked okay. I think it's a generational thing. Those who weren't alive or too young to remember how the cars were back then tend to be the ones who prefer hubcaps.

I think it looks pretty good, Snake. Back then, if you didn't have access to a brochure, how would you know better unless a real one "lived" in your area. I did a '69 Grand Prix and painted it all black. The paint job came out poorly for my 14 yo standards and ended up being sold at a model car show.

yes, '65 442 and GS, clone the '66 GS from a promo or original kit to restore that, then do a '67 GS.

That was the first 1/25th kit I bought back in the day. I still have the body and hood and sold off the rest in the 1970s since the chrome was shot. I eventually picked up an unbuilt second issue, then a busted radio version, a built kit, a promo, and a nice radio version. Maybe Round2 will clone it or a Jetstar 1 (same rear end) or Starfire. The custom version is really nice.

The seat and door panel patterns are different, but what you are suggesting is probably along the lines of what they will end up doing. The chassis, glass, engine and a new interior tub could be shared. Separate interior side panels and seats would differentiate each year in addition to the exterior differences.

Steve, These will both be successful. I hope you can justify the expense of creating the proper taillight treatment on the '65 since it was never correct, and also offer the exposed-headlights grille for the '68 so it can be built either way.

I had a '76 Regal coupe in Continental Blue (the color I posted earlier and below). The Century versions were sportier looking: The '77 Can Am, '73 GTO and Grand Am, '75 and '76 Century Indy Pace Cars, and many others would be of interest to model builders. The cost to do any of them would be astronomical, so you would probably have to take a poll, do one and see how well it sells.

My thought was to reverse engineer whatever is correct on the promo, then create 3D files so you could use the latest injection molding technology. Scanning a real car would be even better.

1973 442 and 1976 Regal S/R:

Steve, Maybe Round2 can make an offer to buy the assets and name of Johan/Jo-Han Models since Okey Spaulding hasn't done a lot with it. They made the '73-'75 Cutlass coupe, though only the '73 was an accurate model. You'd have the chassis, interior, and could make the '73 442 body, hood, and then a Cutlass Supreme coupe body as a starting point.

nice work, Emmanuel!

How about a stock '74 Laguna S-3, Steve?

The old Jo-Han flat boxes had their own issues with no give room if a box happened to get slightly crushed. The AMT Prestige kit boxes were oversized, so there was plenty of room to pack everything in there and not get all squished together. Maybe retailers complained about the flat and oversized boxes since it alters the shelf efficiency in the stores. Shipping multiple sizes of cases from the manufacturers is less efficient, too.

With the packaging technology we have today, what James mentioned should never happen.

I thought it was the '68 GTO snap kit.

No, there are still MANY cars and trucks with internal combustion engines to do first.?

I went a few days ago and saw the label for the '71 442 and figured they only got a few and were already sold out. Who knows what's going on.

might as well release it a 2023 model at this point

What is OBS and what the heck could have happened to the promo tooling that Steve Goldman referred to?

Those 1970s car kits were nothing to write home about, and some were closer to 1/43 scale than 1/32. The subjects are interesting, though!

I think most of us couldn't care less at this point since plenty of models are introduced every month.

I was hoping for an all-new kit like the '71 442. My buddy and I went to his younger brother's house a few days ago and saw his '70 Road Runner, which I hadn't seen in over twenty years. After 3 blown engines, he's almost ready to put the latest and greatest engine in it. ?

When I was a student in the 1970s, it was $24.00 for season tickets (6 football games) in the student section. We had a lot of good times.