Motor City

that's true: Note the Cutlass has the optional wheels used on the '65 Dynamic 88 kit. Both the '64 Wildcat and '64 Cutlass were GM concept cars.

Here in the U.S., it was a big deal to get lighting laws changed, just as it was to go from 2 headlights to 4 in the 1957-1958 time period. My comment should have mentioned that it pertained to the U.S., but everyone seemed to know that was what I was referring to. So it looks like the early 1970s rectangular lights started in Europe. I wonder when it started in Japan? I also forgot about the '75 Monza 2+2, Sunbird, Firenza and Skyhawk, which were new and had rectangular headlights.

thanks for posting that, Chris; it's pretty cool!

The 1974 calendar year (1975 model year) was the first use of rectangular headlights. They were standard on the full-size Cadillacs and Eldorado, Electra and Riviera, 98, Grand Ville and Bonneville. They were eventually used on the 1980 Chevy and GMC trucks, but were only single units at that time.

Danno, No, they actually all look quite presentable and yes, they are acetate. The ''54 and '55 convertibles are quite straight. The '54 has a slight distortion where the front fenders warped upward slightly. The '56 Roadmaster has a slightly "dented" roof, and is the worst of the bunch (except for my '60 Invicta hardtop). The '57 is another convertible and is quite straight. My '58 hardtop has a slight buckle in the cowl area, while other '58s tend to buckle between the rear window and trunk lid. What AMT made prior to the '58 were: '54 Skylark, Roadmaster 4-door '55 Century convertible, Roadmaster 4-door '56 Century convertible, Roadmaster 4-door hardtop '57 Roadmaster convertible, 2-door hardtop

AMT did make a '54-57 Buick promos. It's too bad most (or all) of their tooling from the 1950s was probably recycled decades ago.

no, a '57! ?

d'oh! A few blocks over from me is a purple and white '56 Sport Sedan, the first year Chevy offered a 4-door hardtop. I wouldn't mind having it.

kind of expensive though ... https://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Chevrolet-Cheyenne-Fleetside-Pickup-Truck-Promo-in-Medium-Blue-MIB/324300931945?hash=item4b81d78369:g:TysAAOSwbp9fVVmf https://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Chevrolet-Fleetside-Pu-Promo-graded-9-10-out-of-10-28047/174460580483?hash=item289ea93283:g:g0oAAOSwOqhfdnPO

just buy the truck promo and you won't have to agonize over the small details ...?

"I'm not fond of the '56 car's looks. Chevy never should have "Improved" the '55, IMHO." I like the '55 better overall than the '56, but think the radiused quarter panel wheelhouse opening on the '56 & '57 looks way better than the ones on the '55, though it was done right on the Nomad. My folks had a '57 Bel Air hardtop, so that's my favorite Tri-Five since I remember it well.

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 ?