Motor City

The real 1971-1972 Eldorados have the stainless steel strip running from just behind the front wheel to the rear of the door where it fades into a point. The bodies in question are 1972, but one is missing the molding. The only one I had ever seen before was the post from last year that I commented on at that time. It's definitely not common. Now for a bit of trivia on the real 1971 Eldorado trunk louvers. The early ones had substantially more louvers than the later ones. As I recall, there were complaints about water getting in the trunk or else exhaust fumes. I can't verify the specific reason, but GM went to a flow-through ventilation system on the "B" (Impala, Caprice, Bonneville, Catalina, Grand Ville, 88, LeSabre, Centurion), "C" (98, Electra, Cadillac), and "E" (Toronado, Riviera, Eldorado), and Vega for 1971.

Both models shown are versions of the 1972 Eldorado. None of the 1971-1972 Eldorado kits or promos have vinyl tops. The 1971 has vents on the trunk lid, ELDORADO in block letters on the trunk, ELDORADO and 8.2 Litre emblems on the front fenders between the doors and front wheels. The 1972 Eldorado has no vents in the trunk lid, has Eldorado in script on the trunk lid and front fenders above the cornering lights, and an 8.2 Litre emblem between the doors and front wheels. All of the real 1971 and 1972 Eldorados have the gills on the quarter panels. The 1971 promos have single exhaust (correct) and dual exhaust (incorrect). I'm not sure about the 1972 promos and kits, but single exhaust is correct. Box art is notorious for being inaccurate. The box art depicts the 1971 Eldorado. The grilles are also different, and the real 1972 has chrome eyebrows on the hood over the headlight bezels. Front bumper guards had rubber tips on the 1971 Eldorado. The 1972 Eldorado had rub strips on both bumpers. A 50-50 seat became an option on the 1972 Eldorado, and a landau top was introduced mid-year. Any Jo-Han Eldorado kit with a dual-snorkel air cleaner is inaccurate as that was only used on the first few years of the Olds Toronado. My first car was a 1971 Eldorado. I currently have 1968 and 1977 Eldorados, and know a lot about both generations of these.

I own more 1:1 cars than I can realistically drive on a regular basis, but the scale models are low maintenance (occasional dusting), and take up less room. I would spend a lifetime trying to buy 1:1 versions in the right color combinations. Also, I could never afford to buy and store all of the cars I'd like to own.

I can see in the future as people have more time to devote to a hobby, there will be a demand for scale models of computers and phones. Think about it, most people today are into both of these. The first cell phone was introduced in 1973 and was quite large. It would make an interesting display to have 1:1 models of phones over the years. With computers, you would obviously want a smaller scale. I've worked in IT for decades, so it would be cool for me to have a display of high-speed IBM and Xerox laser printers, and IBM mainframe computers. Whether such a market will exist for such models remains to be seen.

Yes, it is a beautiful car. Olds styling went in the dumpster with the downsized Cutlass, 88 and 98. Banthrico made 1/25th slush metal promos of the '53 Super 88 4-door, '54 Super 88 2-door hardtop, '55 98 2-door hardtop, and '56 98 convertible.

My philosophy has been to build kits to resemble the appearance of promos, without Bare Foil, black wash, etc. I want the engine to be the correct color, the chassis to be the correct color (body color or black - depending on the real car). I don't Bare Foil the trim because on many models, the moldings and emblems aren't to scale or Bare Foil looks too thick. I've seen many awesome builds on this forum, and some with horrible paint jobs. Not everyone has the talent or is willing to spend the time to duplicate every detail such as ignition wiring, painting the individual caps on the battery, or other small details. I'll save the minute detail to the models of real cars I've owned.

Snake, As with most promos, it's the condition, rarity and color. The early Cadillacs were made by Banthrico ('52, '54, '55 60 Special 4-door, '56 Eldorado hardtop). These are slush aluminum and have coin slots on the bottom. Clean ones without dents and having most paint sell for $100 or more. If the paint is pristine, value depends on the color. Since the paint tends to get scraped up or fall off on these aluminum models, a pristine example could be anywhere from $125 and up. A bidding war ensues on ebay for many pristine Banthricos, and it doesn't matter what the model is. A '49 Nash just sold this week for something like $645! For the 1/25th plastic promos, AMT made the Coupe deVille in '55 and '56. I've never seen a good '55 since the plastic warped terribly. Most '55s sell for under $50. A nice '56 will sell for $75-$125 depending on condition and color. Jo-Han made the '58-'62 Fleetwood 4-door hardtop. The '58 and '59 were reissued by X-El and Seville Enterprises, which typically sell for $50-$100. The original issues warped badly, with the '60 probably being the worst. Most of the originals sell for less than $100. One with slight warp may sell for up to $200. Jo-Han issues the Coupe deVille from '63-'70, and again from '77-'79. The '63 warped, but the later ones don't. Good ones sell for $100-$200 for the early years, and probably $50-$75 for the '77-'79. The deVille (convertible) was produced from '63-'68. Those are worth more since the windshield often was damaged, so those that are undamaged will sell for more. Jo-Han produced the Eldorado promo from '67-'76. The first generation ('67-'70) tend to sell for more. I would say $100-150 for those, while the later ones sell for $50-$125.

"They will have a table at the last Toledo toy show" Tom, Do you mean the last Toledo show ever or the last one for this year? I used to go to Toledo for the spring and fall shows for years, but it was pretty much the same promos every time, so I quit going several years ago.

I know some have been critical of Round 2 for not coming out with much in the way of all-new 1/25th kits, but I am impressed with the effort they have made in restoring old kits. A good example of this is the '63 Impala SS. It was mentioned that the missing firewall is now included as a new part, along with a couple of other parts under the hood. Hopefully these kits sell in large quantities and enables them to continue doing what they're doing.

I went to the local one on Saturday. I've never seen kits marked down at this store. The only model I was interested in was the '34 Ford truck, so I used my coupon. Lots of slots were empty or had the ID tag on the side of the cubby crossed out in black magic marker. Some incorrect kits were put in multiple slots to make it look like they had more models than they really had.

There have been a lot of comments I've heard or read about over the years. One was the Cruver '49 Olds 98 sedan, one of which I saw at Toledo years ago. Another was the SMP '11 Chevrolet Prototype. Then there are cars that were reportedly molded in colors in small quantities such as black '57 Thunderbird and '67 Eldorado. Since Ebay came along, people no longer had to resort to seeing the same cars at the same shows for years on end. Now people can find rare models and colors on the Internet from other cities, states and countries. A couple of years ago, someone out of Chicago was selling 2 or 3 prototype National Products '51 Buick sedans on Ebay. The Buy-It-Now price was $180.00 each. It was very crude looking compared to their '49 and '50 model cars. A paperweight version of the '51 was made. I wonder how rare that is?

Tom, It looks like the back window is flatter on the real car and doesn't have all of the moldings that show up on the promo.

A lot of the MTU engines are formerly Detroit Diesel off-highway engines (marine, generator, mining, etc.). When Daimler bought Detroit Diesel in 2000, they eventually decided to sell the off-highway business and just keep the on-highway engines. These multi-cylinder engines are really impressive to see up close. Some for yacht usage had lots of chrome plating. The largest I saw at Detroit Diesel was 20 or 24 cylinders.

It's nice to have a resin kit available of so many different cars, but without chrome plated bumpers and wheelcovers or hubcaps, I'm not interested in buying. I think a lot more resin kits would be sold if you could buy a complete kit without resorting to taking parts out of another kit to get something almost correct. Oh, well.

I have the '53 convertible and 4-door promos, and the detail is pretty good. I'd like to see a '54 with the plexiglass roof:

Back in the early to mid 1990s, someone my grandmother knew from church had visitors come up from North Carolina. They all decided to come over to my folks' house to visit. I happened to come over later that day and saw their vehicle. It was a '71 or '72 Vega GT in that nice green color shown above. I complimented them on their car. It was in nice condition, and was driven from the south all the way to Michigan. For someone to drive such an old car seemed kind of gutsy to me. I was tempted to make an offer for it, but I kept my mouth shut.

Guys, The Vega promo is dirt cheap (under $50.00). Okay, let me rephrase that for those who complain about $50.00 being a lot of money. You could probably buy two for that price if you are patient. Aside from not being able to open the hood, it makes a great model. I have the ugly Mesa Sand '71 (an orangy tan) and a dark green '73. There are many out there with scratched paint or molded plastic, broken bumpers, scratched glass. You can do a lot with these for little money. It's the same situation with the Monza, Cavalier and Beretta.

I wonder what happened to the '71 Impala convertible promo tooling? It includes the fragile sun visors.

M Mark, This was made in Hong Kong and Japan, was sold by Radio Shack, and is often listed as 1/18th scale (according to a few Ebay listings).

thanks for the information, Chris!

I would place it on a piece of wax paper right side up on a thick piece of sheet Styrofoam. It looks like it's die cast, so JB Weld might be the best way to repair it. Just make sure that is listed on the JB Weld tube. Apply with a rounded toothpick (much sturdier than a flat toothpick). Be careful not to slop too much adhesive on the pieces or it will be more difficult to remove it from where you don't want it. If you can, try practicing on something else first. When you are satisfied with the repair, since it looks like one or more studs is missing, you might consider mounting it on a piece of wood painted the color of your uncle's car. Good luck! By the way, I had a crimped sheet metal fitting securing the antenna to the bottom side of my El Camino's fender. I couldn't believe something so crappy was used. I wasn't sure how to fix it, so I used JB Weld and it is fine today. It has never vibrated loose.

There have been previous comments on this topic, but they usually went in other directions (I'm guilty of this). Anyway, do we have any experts? I am aware of two models, the NT-11 and P-22. The GM model cars I have seen don't mention Philco on the chassis. Here are the cars I am aware of: 1964-1968 Thunderbird (multiple colors) radio NT-11 1966 Mustang 2+2 (Antique Bronze, Signal Flare Red) radio P-22 1965 Dynamic 88 (Target Red) radio model unknown 1966 Impala SS (Aztec Bronze) radio model unknown 1966 Riviera (Shell Beige) radio model unknown Chrysler Turbine Car (Turbine Bronze) radio model unknown I haven't seen the Impala SS in this color as a regular promo. Is it correct that Aztec Bronze was only used on the radio version? Did I miss any models or colors? Does anyone have knowledge of who repairs these? Thanks, Jim Thunderbird: Mustang: Impala SS:

Adam, I hope you keep buying up all of these loser cars and corner the market! They are much more affordable than the muscle cars, pony cars, and full-size cars. You can add the ugly duckling early Valiant and Lancer to your collection if you haven't already done so. I want to add an early Comet and Rambler American to my collection of early compacts (1st generation Falcons, Lark convertible, '65 American, Nova convertible) .

right you are, Bucky! thanks for the correction; the small Charger was based on the Omni/Horizon

A woman at work had a gold Fire Arrow. It looked just ok from the sides, and looked like a typical Japanese car from the front and rear. Who can forget the Mitsubishi-built "Dodge" Charger? I think all of the Tercels were ugly. Regarding someone's comment on the Vauxhall, I don't recall ever seeing one in the states as Opel was GM's captive import for the U.S. market, first with the Rekord, then the Kadett and Manta.