Motor City

The Jo-Han '63 Fury kit is quite easy to find online and less than $100.00. Also, it isn't warped like the promo.

The original MPC '71 Charger model had hidden headlights, so try to find the grille online.

If I recall correctly, the Eldorado Rancher was originally a 1974 kit. The '71 and '72 box art have a ski motif, and I think the '73 also does. I don't think there was a '75 kit. I believe the '76 was also in the Rancher box. A Snap Kit of the '76 was issued later on. I had one molded in an ugly blue. I have listed the basic differences between years below. '71: louvered trunk, block ELDORADO letting on trunk, 8.2 litre emblem on front fenders below block ELDORADO emblem, vertical taillights surrounded by chrome bezels '72: script Eldorado emblems on front fenders in front of wheels, script emblem on trunk, 8.2 liter emblem on front fender, same taillights as '71, revised grille, chrome eyebrows on hood above headlights '73: eggcrate grille, wraparound front parking lights, retractable bumpers, new taillights above bumper, round rear side markers, full vinyl top '74: revised grille, vertical taillights integrated into rear bumper, landau vinyl top '75: eggcrate grille with large squares, sunroof, no fender skirts, rectangular headlights '76: eggcrate grille with small squares, slight changes to panel below trunk, slight revisions to front fender ends I know quite a bit about Eldorados as I own a '68 and '77 Biarritz, and my first car was a '71 Eldorado.

Hopefully the '48 Ford sells decently and Revell comes out with some other '40s cars. I haven't seen the IMC version in decades, and I don't remember if it's good or bad as I never built one. I have the wagon kit and the promos are pretty cool, too.

Hopefully the H/O will sell well and result in more '70s and '80s cars. I'd like to see a few Rancheros, Indy Pace Cars, mid-'70s GM intermediates, Mirada and Magnum, Cyclone and Montego GT. I wonder if the '48 Ford coupe is an updated IMC kit. Promos were made of the tudor sedan (Master Caster) and fordor sedan (AMT). For kits, I think IMC had a convertible, and Revell has the woodie. It has been a topic well covered. Why can't we get some other '40s cars like the '40 LaSalle, '41 Buick and Cadillac, and late '40s Pontiac and Olds fastbacks?

1995-1999 Buick Riviera

thanks for the suggestion, Mike; I'll do that

It looks like a '52. How easy would it be to convert the Lindberg kit into a '52? There is a resin '52 hardtop kit I've seen on Ebay, but the body has an obviously incorrect slope to it. I was thinking of taking a typically warped AMT '52 Ford promo for the front grille. Does anyone make the correct '52 side trim? Thanks, Jim

the '65 GTO had ram air as an option, but not many were produced; it became more popular in '66

thanks, Mike; I'll have to order the 88 set

That's a great suggestion, Mike. However, how much effort does it take to mold separate 442 and H/O emblems instead of using decals? It's another $20.00 to spend to make the kit the way it should have been in the first place. Revell did the same with the '50 Olds 88. When I checked a while back, I couldn't get Model Car Garage emblems for that kit. I AM glad to have some of these kits that I never expected to ever see - even with these minor faults.

If Moebius gets these, then maybe we will see the corrected '75 Cutlass grille, and maybe the botched '74 442 that became a Cutlass, and a reissue of the '73 Cutlass as a 442!

Another thing I didn't like was the decal emblems instead of molded-in emblems. Hopefully that was corrected with the revised kit.

Art, So was he able to buy the missing wheel and restore the car? The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn has had one in their collection for decades. It has the wire wheels and is proclaimed to be the actual Pace Car. According to this link, 2000 replicas were built, making this probably the first Indy Pace Car replica offered to the public. http://collections.thehenryford.org/Collection.aspx?keywords=1953+Ford

that one isn't even a woodie

There was a thread on this recently. It has good detail for the era in which it was originally released. According to some, the doors are incorrect for the roadster. My Dad built the original as a roadster, and it looks nice . I plan to build it as a 3-window coupe. It's a nice kit.

I wonder why the AMT '64 Bonneville and Grand Prix kits have never been reissued.

That's correct, the re-issue used bucket seats in the pattern of the '67 Cadillac. The original promos from '63-'70 all had a bench seat. It's still a great model and the '67-'68 Cadillacs have great styling.

The '69 and '70 have the same rear end. The '68 is the one with a pair of dual round taillights. I bought the '70 promo in '74 for a whopping $4.00.

I started using Elmer's white glue in 1965 (yikes!) for assembly. It dries clear and parts can be easily taken apart by soaking in water. For repairs to cracked plastic, I use a super glue.

How come the July issue is arriving in late September? Usually with magazines, the issues are mailed a few months prior to the date listed on the cover.

The Grand Am wasn't available until the 1973 model year.

Fender skirts were optional on the full-size Pontiacs that didn't have them standard. Why anyone would put them on a 2+2 is beyond me. I've seen a '66 2+2 at Greenfield Village in Dearborn with skirts. Regarding the '65 Bonneville kit being converted into a 2+2, I thought they would have been better off to correct the driver's side roofline than spent all that tooling expense trying to convert it to the shorter wheelbase 2+2. I don't know why they don't re-issue the '65 Bonneville convertible kit.

A good test of market demand for the pace cars would be AMT's '64 Mustang. I think the '69 Camaro SS kit did well. I know the '68 Torino GT kit goes for a high price when listed on Ebay. The Camaro pace car promos of '67 and '69 go for high prices in excellent condition. Regarding the Skylark, AMT could re-issue the '54. I have a nice die cast '53 Skylark in probably 1/28th scale. I think it's the same scale as the '53 Eldorado I have. A '53 Skylark would be a great Moebius kit in 1/25th, along with the Olds Fiesta and '53-'56 Packard Caribbeans, '57 Bonneville, and '56-'57 Fury and Desoto Adventurer. Going back further, why isn't any '41 Buick or Cadillac, '40 LaSalle, or Chrysler Town & Country being done?

If the rumor regarding the '59 Dodge is true, then Moebius could work with Okey Spalding to bring back some of the other Jo-Han models. From reading the Forum, it appears that many like modified vehicles, trucks, drag cars, cartoonish vehicles, as well as the 3-in-1 kits. Moebius would do well to continue producing cars and trucks that were never done before. Niche vehicles such as a '67 Marlin or '64 Starfire would be great, but the market demand is probably small. The '66-'79 Ranchero is something that wasn't done: the '66-'71 could yield a few variations, the '72-'76 look pretty much the same except for the grille and bumpers, and the '77-'79 look alike. Car and truck enthusiasts would buy these. It's the same for the '70-'72 El Camino, '71-'72 GMC Sprint, and '73-'77 El Camino. A series of Indy 500 Pace Car models representing the '50s through '70s would do well. A lot of these models could be made into low riders, lead sleds, Donks, and also be built stock.