John Goschke

Heck, I just want one of those magical selective nostalgia time machines so I can go back and get a half dozen '61 Ford pickup kits, a half dozen '61 Buick hardtop kits, and a dozen '61 Dodge and Plymouth kits for "point-forty-nine cents" each!

Retail price on AMT annual kits, when they first came out in 1958, was $1.39. Stayed there through 1960 except for the '60 T-bird, Corvette, and Buick which had engines, and were priced at $1.49. The pickup trucks were more expensive I think, perhaps $1.98 or $2.00. Starting in '61 most annuals had engines and were priced at $1.49. Compact without engines were $1.39. Styline and later "Advanced Customizing" kits were $2.00. When Johan annuals came out for the first time 1959 they were priced at $1.49. In general those prices held till sometime in the mid-late '60s when they started to rise. No annual kit was ever offered at a retail price of $.49. Even at half price they wouldn't have been 49 cents (or, as you say, .49 cents, which is actually less than half a penny!), unless some store was offering a serious close-out sale!

Beautiful job!

Thanks for posting those boxes, Greg! I've always thought that Corvette looked like a miniature of the 1/25 SMP (AMT) kit, down to the tiny headlights and other inaccuracies. OT, but here's the Air Power set I built about 1977. Sold on eBay a few years ago with the original box and booklet. This piece was one of the coolest things Monogram ever produced! Never been reissued.

The 49er Dragster was part of an earlier (1962 or so) series of kits that sold for 49¢. The Willys, Fiat, and '34 Ford were included in a later 75¢ series. Other cars in the 49er series were a '59 or '60 Corvette, MGA sports car, Bugeye Sprite, Ford T pickup rod (almost like a mini-Black Widow), and a channeled Deuce hot rod (shown in the photo at the start of the thread), all in 1/32nd scale, I think. Also included in the 49ers series were three "box-scale" airplanes, an F-101 Voodoo, Curtiss P-40N Warhawk, and Russian TU-16 "Badger" bomber. Rarest kits in the series were three sets of airplanes taken from Monogram's impressive 1/240 Air Power display set, including a set of five Century series fighters (F-100, 101, 102, 104 & 105) on a flight stand, a set of three bombers (B-58, B-57, B-66) on a flight stand, and the "Mid-Air Refueling" set on a flight stand featuring a KC-135 Stratotanker and a B-47 Stratojet. By 1965, when the 32nd scale Willys, Fiat, '34 Ford drag cars first appeared, offered for sale at 75¢, the kits in the 49ers series, were increased in price to 50¢ and the 1/240th airplane sets were dropped from the catalog. Two other 75¢ 1/32 cars were introduced at that time, a Ferrari GP car, and a Lotus GP car. This info comes from the small catalog leaflets Monogram included in all their kits.

In addition to the B pillar, the roof on the two-door sedan is longer and higher than that on the two-door hardtop. Both body styles were available in the 210 and BelAir line (though 210 two-door hardtops were introduced late in the model year and are quite rare as a result.) BelAir two-door sedan... BelAir two-door hardtop. Notice the relationship of the C pillar to the dip in the beltline on each car to see the significant difference in roof length...

While AMT's kit is a BelAir and is the only '55 two-door sedan available in kit form, it's a relatively easy conversion to the 210. Just sand off the "BelAir" name on the quarter panel and don't foil the trim around the windows and on the front fender and door. If you want to get more detailed remove and replace the molding on the quarter (AMT's is too low anyway!) with a narrow piece made from styrene strip and invest in a set of photoetched emblems for the "Chevrolet" nameplate. You may also want to sand down the front fender molding so that it doesn't run into the door (on the 210 it's just a raised line on the fender only.) Hope that helps. Good luck with your project and post up a build thread when you get going!

Outstanding!

Came out great!

Great build, Darryl, as always! While nominally a "truck," the Orange Hauler is really a custom show car, and should not have been moved to the Truck section of the forum.

So much for my hope that the windshield frame would be molded with the body rather than a separate plated piece. Judging by the photo it does appear to fit somewhat better and not be out of scale like the horrid piece in the '55 convertible kit.

The story takes place in the 1920s. All the main cars are 1930s.

Thank you, Moebius! I love you guys...

Very interesting project! Nice detail work. Hope you can get the fit issues resolved!

I must be old 'cause those look like nearly-new kits to me...

Stunningly clean build! Just proves how great these old kits can look when done well.

Very impressive!

Beautiful build! Nicely photographed as well.

Impressive work on this ultra-kit-bash/scratchbuild!

Really crisp build! Great color, too. Nice detail painting in the interior; looks very authentic.

Cool! Almost makes me want to put on a mint green polyester leisure suit!

Good job on a troublesome kit!

Knowing some dimensions, at the very least, the wheelbase would help in your quest. In any case, it'll take a fair amount of slicing and dicing from various sources along with a lot of basic scratchbuilding. The big challenge is that beautifully shaped roof and windshield; scratching and vac or smash forming is the only way to get that really looking right. Definitely one of the best looking Motorama show cars! Good luck with the project!

Heck it should be really easy to build the "Cobra" Merc from the Revell kit! They've both got the same funky chop! There's a much better Merc than that one, or the AG Merc, in Terence Malick's great film, Badlands, with Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Gotta admit the grill's not so wonderful... looks like it might have come from a Pinto!

Oh boy is this thing fantastic! Very tasteful color combo and the realism of the scale details in the interior is mind-blowing. Craftsmanship of the highest order!