Motor City

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.

Adam, My older sister had a Pinto, followed by a Nova, then a Thunderbird, and then … a new 1984 Alliance! The Tinmont (my buddy's name for his new 1978 Fairmont 2-door sedan) was actually a pretty rugged car. He attended a party in Downtown Detroit one night and didn't quite make the turn from one freeway through the sharp turn onto the next, bouncing off the retaining wall. He kept driving for about ten miles or so and called me from a pay phone around 3 in the morning after the radiator gave out! I picked him up and drove him home. The car was towed to a collision shop near my house. The front passenger tire and suspension were bent up several inches off the ground! Yes, he had driven on 3 tires for over ten miles. That's one heck of a car! The Stallion Maverick is another rarity that I saw once, maybe twice. Hopefully someone makes a decal set and you pick up the Jo-Han kit or promo to at least partially fulfill your fantasy. You are now contemplating what foreign losers I will come up with. Let's try the Toyota Echo, Renault Fuego (my cousin had 2 of these), Renault Le Car, Honda Insight, Toyota Tercel, Yugo, Datsun B-210, Fiat X/19, Chevrolet LUV, and Kia Soul.

Adam's Top Ten Fantasy List from the domestic manufacturers: Buick Rendezvous Pontiac Aztek Pontiac T-1000 Cadillac Cimarron Vega Notchback Ford Fairmont Dodge Aries Plymouth Reliant Mercury Lynx Mercury Bobcat How about it, Adam?

Bill, I agree 100% with you. The car is claustrophobic and the blind spots make it hazardous to drive, so I refuse to buy one to replace my rusted out Monte Carlo SS. GM choked big time on this and the previous generation. Sure, they have powerful engines and great handling, but if you can't safely see out of it, how can you enjoy owning one? Pretty much the whole industry has terrible designers now. They create huge blind spots and then want to sell you expensive side and rear blind zone alert packages. Unless you get the leather interior, the upholstery is mediocre, too. They make bland, mostly off-black interiors. GM also refuses to make SUVs without massive blind spots. I'll continue to drive my old cars that are fun and I feel safe driving.

sand down the wheel arches, skip the decals, and call it a day!

I don't work in the model car industry and would never pass myself off as an expert. With the availability of 3D computer technology, digital photography, and actual cars to measure, you have to wonder how so many inaccuracies keep occurring. The body looks passable for a "Cuda except for the wheel arches. The decals look to be way off and no amount of work will make them look right. As stated earlier, you have to question the accuracy of the body creases, too. It's another kit that had a lot of potential that I will not buy. As a designer said many years ago, "it takes as much effort to design a pretty car as it does to make an ugly one" - or something like that. If the body dimensions and decals were scanned properly in the first place, we seemingly wouldn't have these issues to complain about. It probably comes down to an attitude of "good enough" for the mass market these are intended for, children not yet old enough to drive.

It has 20,000 miles, astroroof, Cerulean Blue Firemist (a light blue). I bought it off of the original owners' son, and it turned over 7000 miles as I backed it out of the driveway. It could use a paint job, and the fender extensions are now crumbling. The box art on the Camaro kit is pretty good. Was the price a steal? I think I saw the real thing at a Camaro show. It must be pretty rare. So you're talking about a fantasy AHC Monza? I have the MPC '75 Monza 2+2 kit that I bought when it came out. I was going to paint it orange with a saddle interior, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I had the AMT '74 Camaro kit, but sold it since it wasn't a Z-28! I'm not as picky now.

Adam, That's quite a haul! I used to have the Eldorado, but gave it to a co-worker who used to have the real car. Too bad they didn't make a '77 Biarritz model since I've owned the real thing for 21 years. I still have the Coupe deVille and built it like a promo. Bad news for your brother. As you predicted, the Camaro AHC-100 is terrible. The plastic is so thin behind the door handles that there was a slight opening (horizontal slit) behind each one! You'd have to add sheet plastic on the back side and paint the body (to fill the opening) to make it look decent. It wasn't worth the work so I sold it. Unless I'm hallucinating, I saw the real thing at a Detroit-area car show a number of years ago.

Snake, This one was a scratched up mess, but since it was molded red plastic, I was able to polish it so it looks new. The rear bumper has a slight twist to it, but the chrome is otherwise decent. I carefully polished the glass so it looks awesome. There are plenty of rough promos out there that can be repainted. The only disadvantage is not being able to open the hood, but how often does anyone open the hood? A black GTO sounds like it would be a real nice choice!

I quit using Testors not too long after ruining a '66 GTO convertible and '67 Corvette coupe way back then. Too much sputtering even back then.

thank you, Tom!

So many on this forum dogged the various versions of this kit that I forced myself to buy a red promo of it. Thanks a lot, guys!

While we're on this topic, does anyone have a rumble seat handle for an AMT '32 Ford that they don't need, or know where I can get one without buying a whole kit? I have my late Dad's roadster, but the handle is missing. Thanks!

My brother and I thought those were cool. A neighbor down the street got one, so we looked at it. Dad wasn't too impressed. He said these were ball busters because the banana seats didn't have springs in them. So we went down to Sears and bought banana seats to put on our bikes. Those seats had coil springs to absorb shocks.