Motor City

I remember with some 1960s kits the hood not closing properly due to the height of the carburetor and/or intake manifold. In some cases, it was so bad that you had to leave the carb out and just glue the air cleaner to the intake manifold. These kits also had the straight axle going through the engine compartment.

Hi Luc, I think I am wrong. I bought the '82 promo when it came out and saw no need to also buy the kit. After I had my El Camino, I eventually bought the '82 kit you pictured. My plan was to build my '87 in miniature by combining the wheels and interior from the '86 El Camino SS with the '82 kit. I could have sworn I saw an '82 El Camino kit that could be built stock at a toy store back then and apologize for the confusion. Here's what I know: '79-'82 El Camino promo '79 El Camino Royal Knight kit '80 GMC Caballero El Diablo kit '81 El Camino Night Moves kit '81 El Camino Branding Iron kit '82 El Camino Red Light Bandit kit '82 El Camino Monster Truck kit The '86 El Camino SS came out decades later. Did I miss any of the MPC kits?

Luc, MPC made annual kits of the '79-'82 El Camino and '80 GMC Caballero. All of these could be built stock. MPC’s ’78-’87 El Camino Kits — The Sprue Here is the '87 I ordered new and still own.

I was thinking the '79 El Camino, which could be reissued as the original kit, a Royal Knight. It could also be made as an SS or base model, include both buckets and bench seat, and different wheel options. Create the '78 grille and do the Black Knight, SS, or base model. The '80 Caballero Diablo was also kitted by MPC. The Caballero Amarillo and El Camino Conquista would be more challenging to do since these combined two colors with heavy body moldings separating the colors. How about it, @SteveG

14 Shelby Europa Mustangs - The European Connection (motortrend.com) Bob Ford was actually in Dearborn - not Detroit. It was eventually called Fairlane Ford and is now called Mission Ford. I'm not aware of any mission in the area, but there are many churches and mosques. The article mentions a Shelby Europa GT250, a converted '71 Comet. That's another potential model car.

The Porter is kind of interesting. Thanks, James!

As explained numerous times on this forum, a lot of steps are involved in bringing any kit to market. My point was the current owner doesn't have the financial resources to resurrect Jo-Han or it would have already happened. Jo-Han did many subjects that would only be cost effective to do by scanning originals kits and promos as a start of the process of developing a new kit.

The only hope for Jo-Han/Johan is if someone else with money buys the rights to the name and scans unbuilt kits and the non-warping promos from 1964-1979.

This topic could have been posted under Model Building Questions and Answers but probably wouldn't have been seen by most forum members. Maybe a category could be added to review new products?

A 12-ounce can is $139.00: Easy Chrome - The World's Most Exotic Finishes (alsacorp.com)

It's too bad he suffered for so long with health issues. He was quite knowledgeable and will be sorely missed. Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

minor correction: '64-'67 and '68-'72 Vista Cruiser

The McCullough supercharger was an option on the big Ford and Thunderbird for '57. Restoring a Single-Family-Owner ’57 Ford Custom with a Supercharged Phase 1 V-8 | Hemmings

'71 Ford Mustang Boss - The Lost Boss (motortrend.com)

As mentioned in the article, seeing out of the back of the sportsroof required a lot of hope (that no vehicle was in the blind spots).

The standard engine in the '69 XL was the 240 SIX CYLINDER and 3-speed trans. I wonder how many ordered that! Optional engines were the 302 and 390 with a two-barrel carb, and the 429 with two-barrel and four-barrel carb. The 302 and 390 ran on Regular fuel, and the 429s ran on Premium.

My buddy's parents ordered a '70 XL Sportsroof in two-tone green with the high-back, comfort weave bucket seats, sport mirrors and optional wheel covers. It only had a 390 and wasn't a GT, but it was really sharp. I'll have to get some pictures of it from him since the car is long gone.

Hi Steve, Hopefully the decal sheet will include stripes for the optional XL GT (black, white, red, gold, and maybe other colors that I'm not aware of).

Because, as you already know, most people here are too cheap to pay $40 dollars or more for any kit.

I stand by what I said earlier. According to the '70 brochure: "Black all-vinyl bucket seats are available at no extra cost on the Wildcat Custom Sport Coupe" and "All-vinyl notch-back seats ... standard on the Wildcat Custom Convertible in Pearl White or Black"

Most people building kits want something that is relatively easy and goes together well. It is mostly hard-core builders on this board who are concerned with the minute details such as an accurate engine, trans and differential. Whether or not an axle goes through the engine block is of little to no concern for the average model car builder. After all, once it’s completed, it sits on a shelf with the hood usually closed. There are a lot of people like me who have promos and kits and care more about body and interior accuracy than the rest of the details. There’s nothing wrong with either viewpoint, but the target audience for highly detailed kits is not the same as that for a kid or adult just wanting to buy a kit for the subject matter or just to have something fun to do. Since we don’t know the cost of developing an all-new tool versus making minor improvements or corrections to multiple existing tools, Round2 will see how well sales pan out to justify their investment in this strategy. I think it is working out well for them and consumers. Many kits have come back on the market that we thought would never come back. Round2 will cover both markets with improved old kits and new ones like the Charger and Bronco. If someone doesn’t like this, they are able to buy kits from other model companies.

They can recreate any tool if the parts aren't warped. A styrene kit can be scanned using computer technology. Older promotional models molded in acetate (warping) plastic would be a bigger challenge, though some adjustments could be made to the CAD files. Jo-Han models could also be done this way but would require licensing from the current owner as well as from the auto manufacturers.

The '69 Wildcat had a 430 engine and the '70 had a 455. I drove a '68 Wildcat in high school and college. The engines are of the same family, though I'm not sure of any differences regarding pulleys and belts, ac compressor location, etc. I would use the engine out of the '69 Riviera kit. After '66, Wildcat bucket seats were only available in black (unless possibly a special order was available for a color change, but I've never seen one).