Motor City

It's kind of a shame that the last desirable AMT 1/25th Lincoln model was the '65 convertible. All of the rest after that were the four-door sedan only. Is anyone aware of a resin hardtop body and interior for these? Thanks.

I've read numerous times that Enzo Ferrari considered it the most beautiful car ever made. It was very cool, but the taillights looked like an afterthought (just like with the '36-'37 Cord). It looks like it is going to be a great kit.

I thought the topic became more interesting with the addition of 4-door hardtops. In any case, not everyone wants to see 2-door hardtop and convertible models (except in 1:1)! I recently picked up a milk truck from what had been a local dairy in the Detroit area. AMT used to make a Divco milk truck (the Divco factory was in Detroit). I don't know who made this:

This topic started as 4-door SEDANS and wagons and then people started adding 4-door HARDTOPS. Jo-Han made the 98 4-door hardtops from '56-'59, the '60 98 2-door hardtop, followed by the '61-'62 Super 88 4-door hardtop, and ended with the '63 Starfire hardtop and convertible.

Rex and Spike, I wasn't a fan of the front and rear ends on the '71 when it came out, but I didn't like the '70's front end either. They have really grown on me. Both of your cars are really sharp. I grew up in Dearborn and saw my first Mustang in December of '63 driving in my subdivision - which was four months before it was unveiled at the 1964 World's Fair. My favorite is the '69 Mach 1 and Boss 429, followed by the '65 and '66 2+2 fastback. My biology teacher was a part-time salesman at a local Ford dealer for a while, dating the owner's daughter. He had a yellow '70 Torino GT, then got a lime '71 Mach 1!

Rex, All I can say is, Wow! That's a lot of variations. That's the only Mustang generation I don't have. My brother-in-law bought a new '71 or '72 Sportsroof in Ford blue. Cool car, but you couldn't see out of the back. The neighbor next to my grandparents bought a new '71 Mach 1 in Grabber Green. My aunt and uncle had an avocado '73 Grande.

Rex, Just out of curiosity, why do you plan to build so many variations?

correction ... Olds Super 88

I'm Intrigued! I thought it was only made in black, which is what I have.

Was that actually someone's car? It reminds me of that awful Denny McLain car/truck thing. * WARNING * I'm just expressing my opinion here. I always thought such things were a waste of tooling and plastic, when so many real cars were never made in 1/25th scale. I'm elated for anyone here is happy to see this coming back.

thanks for the info, David

Did you use an original issue of the '74 or '75 kit?

David, That's a sharp model of a rare car!

Beautiful job! I wish I had bought one. My aunt and uncle had one like this, but it was blue, when the got married in 1960. He was working at a Chrysler plant. I remember the car and the wedding, and I was just a little kid.

David, What a strange coincidence that is to have accidentally found the original owner of your car. At least the guy you bought it from didn't swap the carb and manifold! Tom, I've read they were good kits. Those models look great! It's nice to have the '56 that Harry built. I'm going to paint the '57 to match the medium tan and dark brown my aunt and uncle bought new. We had a '57 Bel Air hardtop at the same time.

David, I figured I would wait for the next reissue of those kits. The '57 has opening doors. The '56 would be kind of unusual to do as a Crown Vic on one side, and a regular hardtop on the other, but I'll probably buy 2 just to do both versions. By the way, the AMT promos for '56 were the convertible and a four-door hardtop. For '57, they did Fairlane hardtop and convertible and Custom 300 2-door sedan. The 300 is less common and goes for the most money.

Thanks for posting that information, Mark. I was going to get rid of the kit since I have the convertible promo, but I guess I'll eventually build it. I've got every year of the big Ford from '48 -'70 except the '56 and '57. All are AMT except for the Revell '59 Skyliner and PMC '59 Ranchero. I have to get the '56 and '57. The '48 - '52 AMT are all 4-door sedan promos.

Mark, People have complained on this forum about the missing letters. The squareback hardtop and convertible promos had the letters, so I just figured the fastback kit originally had the lettering, too.

It looks like the Galaxie kit includes a lot of decals (for example: front fender emblems, trunk letters). I wonder if the engraved trunk letters have been restored?

Yes, great news that Round 2 is making improvements to some of their kits.

Snake, "It's either a Torino or a Cobra, but it's not a Torino Cobra. Both are variants of the Fairlane." Yes and no. I have a mailer sent to my Dad from 1969. It's a colorful bi-fold with a snakeskin pattern printed on the outside. When you open it up, a Cobra head pops up! Part of the text reads, "In 1968, Torino Cobra scored the Grand Slam - stock car racing's triple crown - the championships in all three major racing circuits: NASCAR, USAC and ARCA." When introduced for 1968, it was considered a sub-series of the Fairlane. Calling it just Cobra in conversation was causing confusion with the Ace-based Cobra sold by Shelby. Obviously if someone were to see the cars side-by-side, there would be no confusion. I think it's now usually referred to as a Torino Cobra to differentiate it from the Shelby Cobra. Shelby sued Ford over Ford's use of the Cobra name without his permission. I don't recall what the outcome of that was. In any case, it would be nice to see the hardtop/convertible kit reissued.

I'm waiting for a reissue of the '68 Torino GT convertible Indy Pace Car, but I'm afraid that might be a long wait.

Maybe since a '66 Impala SS promo was made, and the '65 Impala SS kits and promos sold well, the interior tooling changes could be justified. If the '65 Wildcat kits and promos didn't sell very well, AMT and/or Buick decided to just make exterior changes for the '66 kit. A '66 promo was planned and then dropped. My Dad had a mail-in form to order a '66 Wildcat promo. I wish I had kept that!

This has been frequently discussed under Round2 (AMT/MPC) monthly kit reviews.

nice!