Motor City

When you consider how few recent domestic cars are available as a coupe or convertible, how many of us want a kit of a new 4-door sedan? They're pretty boring for the most part. It makes sense to repair old tooling for those who crave nostalgia, and will hopefully draw younger buyers into buying something that was long gone by the time they were born.

To set the record straight, this kit was originally issued as a 1/24th scale 1978 El Camino. The Black Knight, exclusive to the 1978 model year, was only available in black with a gold decal package. It was an option package only if you ordered the SS. The Royal Knight replaced the Black Knight for the 1979 model year. That decal package was available in several colors, and for several model years. So this kit has the correct decal package.

Hopefully Adam will do a review of this kit as part of his malaise series. When I think of iconic 1980s cars, it's Corvette, Z-28 and IROC-Z, Trans Am and GTA, Mustang GT, Grand National, and my El Camino. The GTI wouldn't win any beauty contest, but it's supposed to be a fun car to thrash around.

I have the 300 and Catalina. Both were made in China, and the copyright date on both boxes is 2001. The 300's front license plate decal is upside down! Other than that, lots of nice detail and good models to display.

thanks for the info, Tim!

I agree; it was so lame of AMT to come out with that VW kit back then when they could have done a Mark V, Magnum, Cougar, Ranchero GT, Thunderbird or other domestics, but I guess the Big 3 weren't interested in model cars by that time

Tim, That's a nice model! Are all of those 1/24th scale? Who made/makes the green L-88, the 2019 & 2020?

I have the '63 Nova promo and it has good detail. Hopefully all of those whining about the lack of chassis detail will at least give this kit a try, and we can maybe get more of these. Remember, body detail is more important than chassis detail, and AMT did a great job on bodies on almost all of their 1960s kits. After all, do you display your models right-side up or upside down?

I attended the Cadillac LaSalle Club's Grand National Meet in Dearborn in 2002 with my 1977 Biarritz. That was Cadillac's Centennial year. As I recall, there were four 1953 Eldorado's there. They were impressive to look at and that's a nice looking model car!

There has been a lot of criticism over the lack of chassis detail and shallow interiors on some of the old 1960s kits from AMT and Jo-Han. I would rather have a dead-on body than a super detailed chassis, and both companies did a great job on body design for the most part. The tooling should still be done in the U.S. to avoid some of the accuracy issues on newer models. We can debate whether or not kit production should occur in a communist country. I don't think a case can be made to move production back to the U.S. since so many complain about the price of new kits.

It wouldn't take much effort for Round2 and Revell to include a questionnaire in each kit asking what type of cars & trucks we'd like to see. I'm sure most of us would be happy to return it whether it was postpaid or not.

yes, I have a digital camera and laptop, so maybe I will post it next week when I have more time to do so

“Easily the best looking American car of the decade.” We don’t all have to agree with that statement since it’s rather subjective. I forgot about the Studebaker Starliner since that wasn’t a real popular make around the Detroit area when I was growing up. The Starliner name was used on the hardtops for ’53 and ’54. I thought Richard was referring to the Ford Starliner for some strange reason when he then referred to a Nomad as a potato. Compared to the Nomad, the ’60 and ‘61 Starliner had very sleek styling, similar to the ’61 Thunderbird, at least with the side profile. There is no doubt that the 1953 Studebaker styling was unlike anything Detroit had at the time - or since - and is noted as being a milestone in American styling. It’s nice to have a kit instead of just the warped promos. I would still take a Nomad over a Studebaker Starliner!

the Starliner doesn't scream 1950s because it's a 1960-1961 model ?

yes, but I don't have a smart phone ?

except for the '55 Nomad, '56 Corvette, Chrysler 300, ...

Steve, Thanks for the information! That is an awesome build. I went to the Jo-Han factory a couple of times in 1974. That year, Detroit set a new record for murders, and it was not in a good neighborhood to be in if you had any car trouble. Anyway, the older kits and promos were $3.00 each. The nice lady thought the '68 442 kit was missing a few pieces. I took a chance and bought it anyway. Nothing was wrong with it except it came in one of those flat boxes. I built it in the same color combination as our family's '68 Vista Cruiser, Jade Gold (a dark green with gold metal flake) with a Willow Gold (mint green) interior. The paint job came out excellent.

Steve, Is that the Jo-Han '68 442 kit? Who made the aftermarket parts for it? Thanks!

I'd like to see a 5th generation with the glass roof option in addition to the '71 Boss.

I was hinting at having Tim approach his publisher with the idea of separate books on the histories of AMT, Jo-Han and MPC. I'm not at all interested in the drag racing book, but the subject matter is a great idea. I'm sure the book will do well, as would comprehensive histories of these three companies.

I have the AMT 1/25th 4-door hardtop Roadmaster promo without an interior. Modelhaus made replacement portholes for it. These Revell kits had pretty good detail for their time.

Mark, Thanks for the tips on the books by Graham. I didn't expect anything regarding original records of the companies, but first-hand accounts from some of the people who worked at Jo-Han, MPC and AMT would be interesting (Marketing, Assembly, Sales, Prototyping). Tom, I agree that we are fortunate as to how much tooling still survives. People like to complain about another reissue of (fill in the blank). I have gotten many kits that I never would have been able to afford when I was a kid.

It would be nice to see a book on the early history of AMT, Revell, Jo-Han and MPC. I wonder how many employees of those companies are alive to even interview? To go back even further, it would be interesting to interview anyone from National Products, Master Caster and Banthrico for the early promotional model car history. All three of those companies were in Chicago.

I don't have to agonize over the bumper fit, side marker lamp, wheels and trim rings. I'm going to build my '69 El Camino SS396 kit, which I always thought was better looking anyway! Let the wailing begin! ?

no metallic red paint was available on the '57 Chevy unless someone special ordered it