Motor City

Hallmark All-American Trucks annuals: 1995 '56 Ford F-100 1996 '55 Cameo 1997 '53 GMC 1998 '37 Ford 1999 '57 D100 Sweptside 2000 '78 Li'l Red Express 2001 '59 El Camino 2002 '57 Ranchero 2003 '72 Cheyenne 2004 '00 F-150 2005 '03 Silverado SS crew cab 2006 '48 Ford F-1 2007 '47 Chevrolet 2008 '60 F-100 2009 '04 SSR 2010 '40 Ford 2011 '70 El Camino SS 2012 '66 F-100 2013 '36 GMC 2014 '68 Ranchero GT 2015 '57 Chevy 3100 2016 '70 Bronco 2017 '76 Chevy C-10 Sport Truck 2018 '54 Mercury M-100 2019 '82 Jeep CJ-8

I just compiled a list of the Hallmark Classic American Cars annuals over the weekend. Special editions aren't included (Batmobile, KI.T.T., Ford GT, etc.). 1991 '57 Corvette 1992 '66 Mustang conv. 1993 '56 Thunderbird 1994 '57 Bel Air conv. 1995 '69 Camaro 1996 '59 deVille 1997 '69 Hurst/Olds 1998 '70 Hemicuda 1999 '55 Nomad 2000 '69 Judge 2001 '53 Skylark 2002 '70 Mach 1 2003 '63 Corvette 2004 '66 Toronado 2005 '68 Firebird conv. 2006 '61 Impala conv. 2007 '57 Fairlane 500 conv. 2008 '70 Chevelle SS 2009 '63 Thunderbird Sports Roadster 2010 '64 GTO 2011 '68 Mustang fastback 2012 '77 Trans Am Special Edition 2013 '55 Crown Victoria Skyliner 2014 '70 GSX 2015 '70 Cougar Eliminator 2016 '70 Z-28 2017 '69 Mustang Boss 429 2018 '68 Nova SS 2019 '70 Torino Cobra Vintage Roadsters: 1998 '31 Model A 1999 '32 Chevy 2000 '35 Auburn Speedster 2001 '30 Cadillac

Our '63 LeSabre was the first car Dad, my brother and I ever used bondo on. It looked good for a first attempt, but we should have gotten touch-up paint mixed from an automotive paint supply so it would have matched better than the similar Duplicolor shades. Neither of them ever used it again, but I used it on some hand-me-down cars.

I've occasionally wondered how much money they could have possibly saved by retooling promos/kits into the Craftsman series and other reissues by having rear bumpers now integrating the taillights instead of separate red taillights ('65 Riviera), and chrome taillights instead of red ones ('60 Bonneville). It's not as if these changes did not take some planning, test runs, and revisions. What they did with many of the '70 models by issuing unassembled promos as kits seemed to make more sense.

sadly, yes

Yes, it is a beautiful kit of a nice looking car. I've wondered why it has never been reissued like the '62 has. My Dad bought one to build in the same color combination as our '63 LeSabre 2-door hardtop, but never got around to it. It's a somewhat formal kit that an adult back then would have typically built with the optional bucket seats, which were also available on the convertible and 4-door hardtop! A Wildcat would also have been a good choice for that year.

I agree, Adam, they need to come back. I'll be looking forward to your reviews. Those white "flames" really accentuate the body lines and complement the black top and interior! ?

One of the worst is the mold lines on either side of the roof where the top and quarter panel meet. Jo-Han was notorious for not smoothing that area out before painting the '68-'71 442 promos, and I've also seen it on finished kits! The MPC '68-'72 GTO promos and kits are also afflicted with this, but it's less noticeable.

I just checked the '72 El Camino. Both front fenders have deep sink marks just behind the parking lights. It also has a '73 El Camino rear bumper with the built-in taillights! The tires and wheels are way larger than they should be, but the body proportions are pretty good. The wheelbase is about 2 25/32", length 5", width 1 7/8". The real dimensions are: 116" wheelbase, length 206.8", width 75.4". I was shocked at how small it is. The scale is roughly 1/41.

The Lindberg models were of better quality than Palmer models, but not nearly as good as the AMT and Revell kits of the same scale. They did some interesting cars, and it's a shame they weren't done by AMT and MPC at that time.

'62 & '63 Grand Prix '61 Starfire, '64-'66 Starfire '63 Wildcat '75-'76 Eldorado convertible '71-'72 Riviera GS '76 Regal S/R & Indy Pace Car '65 442 '65 & '67 GS any '68-'73 Ranchero GT '66 Coronet 500 '66 Satellite '70 & '71 Sport Fury GT '69-'71 300 '56-'58 Fury '56-'59 Adventurer

Isn't it correct that they do not have conventional dealerships? By that I mean with a service department. My understanding is they have storefronts in malls, but repairs are serviced by Ford trucks that will come to your home or business.

I just finished reading (laughing) through all of these great comments. I was thinking how cool it would be to park my El Camino at a Tesla dealer next to one of these beasts to see how many crazy offers I would get to buy it. Then I remembered that Tesla doesn't have any dealers! ?

my thoughts exactly; buy some sheets of plywood ...

Try not to drool, but I have the MPC '75 Monza 2+2!

Did ANY of the stock parts survive with this such as the chassis, engine, and exhaust manifolds?

A fairly recent Round 2 video showed its library of original kits in a couple of photos. With computer technology being what it now is, there is no reason CAD files can't be made from these unbuilt kits. For new subjects, the same would apply for taking critical dimensions from actual cars. I think a major problem is the tooling is being done in China. When the design and manufacturing is done overseas, and an actual car is not available for reference during the drawing and tooling phases, guesses are made. We had a similar situation at work where programmers in another country were flown up for several weeks to learn how to program plant floor applications that were used in the manufacture of engines. They could do basic coding, but didn't really know how the coding was to be applied in the actual production environment. The U.S. programmers then lost their jobs. Since the new programmers were in another country, they were unable to help out when a programming issue came up. The same applies when a tooling error is discovered. There is a potential language barrier, and no point of reference for the people doing the actual tooling when attempting to clarify and correct the discrepancy. Regarding resin kits, that industry would be more successful if the as-came-from-the factory kits came complete with plated chrome parts, tires, wheels, interior, etc. The business model that Modelhaus used was good in that you could buy a complete kit or be willing to pay less and use an existing kit for some of the components if that's what you were willing to do. Others can learn from that. Bill and James hit the nail on the head with two issues. Why pay $30 for a new kit with obvious flaws that should have been fixed during the prototype phase. The old kits from Round 2 are good enough for most people, the 90% of kit buyers. I would like to see them correct known issues with some of the older kits, but I would have no idea how much it would cost to correct even one flaw in any kit. If people would quit buying the mediocre kits, that would get the attention of the model companies. Instead, people buy them at a substantial discount to use parts for other projects. The problem then becomes that retailers such as Hobby Lobby will decide that they don't sell many kits without a substantial discount and will eventually quit carrying them altogether.

Once the car companies decided to stop using promotional model cars as a marketing tool, AMT and MPC were suddenly in trouble. Aside from the GM B-body convertibles and hardtops from '71-75, the '70 XL, and '69-'71 300 and Sport Fury, there haven't been many large cars made for modelers to potentially get excited about. We don't help matters when someone wants an oddball like, say, an early to mid '70s police car - something with a limited appeal - and others here agree that would be a good choice. Something like that is more suitable to the resin manufacturers. What needs to happen is people need to go to the model car shows and talk to the model car reps, ask for realistic choices, and see what happens. There is a business case for Round 2 to continue churning out the reissues as there are always some people just getting into modeling or returning to the hobby. If you don't like new box art, pad-printed tires, etc., tell them or email them on their website to let them know why you aren't buying the kits. This hobby was in its prime from 1958-1970, and has been dying a slow death ever since. How many people on this forum would be willing to pay $45-$50 for a '62 or '63 Grand Prix, '70 XL, '70 or '71 Sport Fury GT? I'm guessing most of us wouldn't be willing to pay a higher price to pay for the tooling. Yet, some like me would pay $75-$100 for a resin version if it was a complete kit with plated parts.

There is no doubt that the Impala has been favored over the Galaxie, the Chevelle over the Fairlane & Torino, the El Camino over the Ranchero, and Camaro over the Mustang. Hopefully the model companies will start offering cars other than the endless variations of '69 Camaros and the like. Ebay has many damaged '63 XL promos with scratched paint, bent windshield posts, broken bumpers. Why not buy one of them to get the correct hardtop interior to combine with the otherwise decent '63 kit?

I looked at my '64-'66 kit tires: '64 & '65 Firestone Supreme '66 Goodyear Speedway

Has anyone tried making a correct interior for the Wildcat using the thin-shell buckets from the Revell '66 Impala SS?

I remember a '69 in my cousin's neighborhood in Detroit as late as 20 years ago. The owner parked it in the street! For those who don't know, the only way to get an Impala SS in '69 was with a 427 engine. There were no distinguishing features like the '68 had with the appearance package (domed hood, 3 louvers on the front fender). I knew a guy who had one, but it was rather plain. It was a white hardtop with black vinyl top and white interior. The AMT kit was of the custom coupe version. The front suspension had a plastic post for each wheel that allowed you to turn the wheels one way (or splayed) if you desired, but it didn't sit straight. I ended up selling it and bought the MPC convertible version with the conventional front axle. Anyone have a windshield for a '68 convertible kit they would like to unload? Mine has a brown defect in it that should have been rejected at MPC when it was made. My buddy's Dad built the custom version with the clear canopy, but threw the other parts out!

"I don't believe that the '55 Plymouth 4 door sedan promo was ever re-popped." Steven: That is correct. I find it interesting that the '55 DeSoto and Plymouth promos have minimal to no warp, while the original '56 versions warped quite a bit. "One project I've had in mind but I don't know if I'd ever get around to it is to make models of cars my Dad owned during the '60's. That '55 would have been the first of them, followed by a '57 Plymouth Belvedere, '60 Valiant and then at the end of the decade Dad had a '65 Dodge Dart GT convertible with the 273 and three on the column. I'd LOVE to do a model of that one especially!" Bill: I'd like to do all of my folks' cars, but the only ones that were made are the '57 Bel Air and '73 Caprice, so I'm mostly out of luck. I did a '68 442 in the same color combo of our '68 Vista Cruiser. For my own cars, I can do the '87 El Camino out of '82 and '86 El Camino kits, as well as the '68 and '71 Eldorados, and '91 Beretta.

Bill, I forgot to mention that the chassis has no detail. I believe the tires are metal with straight axles like the old AMT kits. It's still a cool car to build!

Bill, You can get the Banthrico slush metal '55 Savoy on ebay for around $100. It will be unfinished. The one above has been dolled up with whitewalls. I have one and it has good detail even though there is no interior or opening hood.