vamach1

Model sales in general have probably gone from I’m guessing 25% of “kids” (mostly boys) building and buying several a year in the 60’s and 70’s to maybe under 5% in the 2000’s. Video games, Lego, and a lot of boring new cars That all look the same are all responsible as is the demise of ToysRus and Walmart selling kits and Hobby shops disappearing every day. If there is any hope of reaching the younger market they need to find a way to reach them or you may see mostly re-issues and diecast cars to keep them in business for the next 20 years which by then all our old unbuilt kits will end up on Ebay all at once and drive prices down.

That would be awesome. Insert Matt Foley Motivational Speaker picture here. I am buy no means an engineer or know much about 3D printing but I would assume a car that was disassembled would be a great resource to scan some individual parts versus trying to make a model from a restored car that is intact, Somehow Danbury Mint seemed to get the Boss and Mach1 Diecast in 1/24 that were right on the money so it can be done - I just do not know they did it from “scratch” about 15 years ago since no other company had ever made a respectable and accurate 71-73 Mustang Diecast ever.

Well there’s one thing - you can finish this one and compare it two the Revell one which at this point no one has mentioned a possible release date - maybe for the Boss 351 anniversary in 2021? I would have no problem with a Revell version in “diecast” like the 70 Torino or 67GT500 as long as it is correct.

Yeah - I’m going to insist on that. ?

If anyone is a glutton for punishment to build one before the Revell kit comes out here is a build from the early 90’s by Geoff McDonnell. It was in the Mustang Issue of Plastic Fanatic in 1993 and also appeared in a 1997 issue of Scale Modeler. I will not rehash the SM eight pages describing every detail he modified or added but needless to say when someone says MPC made a 71 Boss already it’s like saying straight six Mustang Fastback become a GT350 because of some decals and a box art drawing. So naturally this one has those hubcaps that seem to just not go away and I will point out a few more things. The honey comb panel and chrome trim should have been cut out from the taillights and the “aftermarket” lovers came in the kit probably because someone at MPC assumed Ford would offer them for the 71 (which they didn’t). Of course the kit did not have the standard chrome bumper on the 71 Boss so the builder used the 71/72 Mach1 front bumper In the 71 annual “Mach1” kit. It’s funny how many Real 71/72 Mach1’s I see with the chrome bumper which is because NOBODY makes a reproduction the OEM “rubber” ones. He used a NASCAR T-bird engine but states the 70 Boss 302 contains a nice Cleveland engine. That isn’t really true because the real Boss 302 only used the 4v Cleveland heads from the 70 Mach1. By 1970 the 351 Windsor was being phased out and there wasn’t a Boss version of that engine. Geoff did a heck of a lot of scratch building under the hood and I commend him on getting all those details added. One glaring omission in the AMT and MPC kit is the lack of the shock tower braces that connect to the firewall. It just looks goofy without any so he either got them from another kit os scratch built them like he did to replicate the Ram-Air plenum. He mentions using the 70 Boss 429 air cleaner housing which is pretty close to the 71 Boss assembly that fits flush with the round opening in the plenum that is bolted to the hood. Seeing as how this build was almost 30 years ago I would say he did very well given what he had to work with and his building skills are very good. Does anyone one if he is still around - I think he is from Canada but that’s just a guess. He did not mention how long this build took but I am thinking at least 40-60 hours and perhaps and double that counting all the research and writing the article and photo session.

I guess big is all relative as the Mustang of course got a lot smaller and by 2006 was the same size as the 1971-73’s. Glad to see you are not using those weird kit decals. What was someone at MPC thinking? Fill in the hood vents and at least the build will actually resemble a 73 Mach1. I built a Sportsroof (Brown color) just to see how the kit goes together from an older MPC kit and one thing that annoys me is the body sort of floats on the chassis. Please excuse the Teddy Bear wheel covers but if painted correctly they are not that ugly. It makes you wonder if the Japanese can get the body pretty spot on 50 years ago (Otaki kit) then surely by now the ALL NEW Revell tool should be pretty nice. The yellow Otaki kit represents my 72 Mach1 but since it’s a Japanese kit there is not engine at all and it’s probably closer to 1/23 scale. I used a set of those Magnum 500’s everyone has extras of instead of the kit wheels but otherwise the build is stock and I noticed I need to redo the argent/silver 351 Ram Air Decal on the hood on one side. Also, those Ram Air hood decals were either black or silver - never white. The interior close up shows the non-stock steering wheel that’s on my real car but I have since added a rear spoiler that was not originally on my car so I need to add one to the model. Since it is battery operated (for the lights) I need to get those batteries out of there asap as I see green corrosion growing in the interior. For comparison I tossed some in pictures of the Testors Boss/Mach 71-73 thing with the ultra high rear spoiler and that vented hood so that Boss 429??? Engine that came in the kit can breath.? My apologies to the forum viewers Via their phones- I hope the pictures do not slow down you opening up the post to a crawl. As always Cobraman keep building how you want and ask any questions you have. I hope to build more starting in January when I officially retire from paid work. I forgot to mention one thing about the decals. The kit has the Mustang script on the front fenders which is correct. However, you should remove them if the decal has the script in chrome on the decal itself. Otherwise the decal will cover the molded in script. If you do not have a Mustang script they can be found on many of Keith Marks 71-73 Mustang decal sets and there’s a seller on Ebay that makes a very nice and inexpensive set of Mustang scripts and emblems for many different Mustang years all on one sheet.

As nice as this build And the grabber lime is AWESOME is it does show some of the inherent issues with the older molds which although they can be corrected - it’s a lot of work. The front reflector is too far forward. The builder added the Missing link grille and chrome bumper which of course are not in the kit. The stipe is too wide and should taper towards the back of the car. Not sure if these are Candy or MPC decals or neither. The kit does have the twist hood “locks.” The door panels are basically flat although they are supposed to represent the molded deluxe ones. The honeycomb rear panel was not present on the Boss 351’s. The kit rear spoiler brackets are too high which is really noticeable on the Testors versions which of course none of which have anything resembling a 351C and ditto for the AMT and MPC kits that have a chassis dating back to around 1968. The Boss 351 also had the standard gas cap and not the 1971 only Mach1 “pop-off” gas cap. The builder has added the under hood ram air plenum that is NOT in the kit. I could list more things but I think we get the point that to make an accurate Boss or Mach1 you have to replace and rework a lot of parts if the builder cares about these things. I have never built historic military planes or tanks but I can bet those builders scrutinize every last detail to represent an accurate model. I have even missed some of the “flaws” in the AMT and MPC versions but I decide on a model by model basis whether it is worth my time to correct everything to my liking. The less things I would have to “fix” the more likely I would buy several of the new kit.

The short answer is yes for the engine except for the intake, carb, valve covers and air cleaner. Here’s the long answer from another site which points out the other differences which are mostly internal. It will make a great base engine for a Detomaso Pantera if ANYONE ever makes a kit with one with an engine.

I would love to see some marketing stats of the ages of todays model kit buyers overall and not just people in model car clubs. Despite what you may think if you put this new kit next to a plain jane four door Chevy in the Hobby Lobby’s and big box stores I’m willing to bet which kit would sell more. We all put out own personal bias on what we like but I think they would not invest in this kit unless it was going to sell well.

I like the Ford blue for 69 as painting the red white and black color scheme would be tough. The blue one is a modified AMT 1/43 kit.

Even better in person.

I would not refuse to test drive one that’s for sure. ? I wonder if anyone will do a model kit. ? The diecast is pretty but $$$.

I guess you guys are right. I see 74 Mach’s with their high output V6 with 102 hp ?sell at auctions all the time for big bucks because they look cool. To each his own. ?

Ouch. ? I know I give these kits a lot of grief but when they tried to pass of the MPC one as a Boss 351 that sort of put me over the edge. It looks like now Revell will save me a whole lot of time piecing parts together from various sources. People will still pay crazy money on Ebay for the older kits no matter how incorrect they are if they were never reissued in that form. One Palmer kit was all I needed to see in person to realize we have come a long way from having to paint a car multiple colors to hide all the flaws. ? The 71 Palmer kit is even more hideous.

The drag pack was the SCJ which was the 429 in 1971. The Boss 351 was supposed to replace the Boss 302 and there was actually one 71 prototype with the 302 Windsor block and the 351C heads more commonly known as a Boss 302 engine. Ford even did a run of decals for a 71 Boss 302 that ended up being the only one made. http://www.mustangandfords.com/featured-vehicles/1803-prototype-1971-boss-302

No. The ones you see are aftermarket ones on any 71-73 Mustang. I bought a set in the 1990’s from a speed shop. They did keep the car cooler but it sure did not improve the limited visibility. ?

Seven races with the top driver winning five of them. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ Reminds me of the Gordon and Johnson reign in NASCAR for a long time. The Indy 500 had little drama as well with the no spectators Allowed postponed version. Just my 2 cents.

I should have been one of the first to know. ? Thanks to Ed Sexton for not giving up on this one.

Come on Snake - get on the bandwagon like Cobraman will. ? I will say the Boss 351 was short lived but it was one of the best factory engines that was not a big-block to come out in the 70’s. With the Z28 and TransAm’s and AMX’s and Challenger TA’s roaming the streets it was an era not seen again for decades. Non Ford diehardS may not know the Boss 351 name was dropped in 1972 but the engine was renamed the 351HO (or High Output) but with lower compression and was an option in any Mustang body style in 1972 but not many were built as buyers may have just opted for the standard 351C 4v that year which was available with a C6 automatic. I guess Ford realized buyers were buying more Mach1’s (most of which had the 351 with a 500 cfm 2 barrel carb and a FMX automatic) and most people were not interested in car that would do zero to 100 in 14 seconds for fear maybe those hubcaps would fall off. ?

Jim Morrison would like it too. Very nice Shelby. It is odd AMT did not make a GT500 version As maybe they figured Revell beat them to the punch with the diecast kit version. I’d love to see a new mold for a 68 GT500 plus a 68 GT350 but with the old AMT kit going on over 50 years of countless reissues that is very doubtful even though it would not require any radial changes to the 67 GT350 molds. Morrison drove a 67 GT500 and the car is presumed gone forever under mysterious circumstances but I would not bet against Craig Jackson miraculously finding the car someday. ?

That is very true. There are some decent resin copies of the Ford trim ring and hub caps that can be used. I just hope they get the engine compartment and engine and ram air plenum right.

Not sure when the Revell NEW release Of a 71 BOSS 351 will be out but I am going to put on hold many of those MPC and AMT 71-73 Mustang kits I started unless I am almost done. Needless to say I am looking forward to the new tooling and I may just leave the hoods glued shut on the MPC and AMT kits as I cannot stand the promo type chassis that is not realistic especially compared to what the fenders and shock towers look like in Ford’s of that era.

There’s literally only one person on the planet (Kevin Marti) that would know who would know how many came with that hubcap becuase he has all of the original Ford records. I suppose if someone liked them the could install them themselves of course but I have cars that are restored to almost perfect and original but just have a few things that are just make you wonder why. If they came on the car put the nice set in the trunk when you sell it and go with the wheels that everyone expect to see otherwise you just create doubt in peoples minds. There are always one off factory goof ups too but I’d go with whatever is one the “window” sticker on the car unless someone has a receipt from a Ford Dealer showing they were “changed” before the car was deliver to the customer. Marti’s book Mustang by the numbers (67-73) does not breakout every option but does note that of the over 40K Mustang sportsroof (including the Boss and Mach1) that only a little over 4K came with Magnum 500 wheels. My guess wold be that most of those 4K found their way on the 1,806 Bosses and over 36K Mach1’s in 1971.

Yes - they ended up on that Kit in name and decal only MPC version that was not a Boss 351 by any stretch of the imagination. Those “Sport” hubcaps looks okay on a plain fastback or coupe but NOT a 71 Boss or Mach1.

Oh my. Dreams may come true. The hubcaps in this picture are no big deal as most Boss 351’s that have been restored have either the trim ring and hub cap or the chrome and black Magnum 500’s with Goodyear or Firestone F60-15 tires. I am pretty excited if this kit comes out in the next year or so as is will probably lead to a Mach1 version which would be only slightly different (front bumper and hood paint name a few things). Here are specs I found on line. Hopefully the model will not have the standard steering wheel and standard interior which you expect to see in a striped down 6 cylinder coupe. The decor Group or “deluxe” interior and the optional rim-blow steering wheels are much nicer looking. I have never seen the argent painted Magnum 500’s on a 1971 Boss 351 but I could not say for sure if none came with them. Also, the rear spoiler was not standard and the fold down rear seat was an option but all of them came with the space saver spare tire. I am pretty sure all 1,806 built had the rear fold down seat. The book Boss Mustangs but Donald Farr only spent a page and a half on the Boss 351 and the rest of the 170 plus pages on the 69-70 Bosses and 2012-2013 models. Everyone knows I am biased when it comes to 71-73 Mustangs but the 351 was faster in the 1/4 mile than the 69 or 70 Boss 302 and was ignored because Ford pulled out of the TramsAm racing series and Bunkie was out and Iacocca was more interested in developing and selling the much smaller Mustang II In 1974 that did not even have a V8 engine as an option. As for the T/A Boss 302’s, they were race cars and only resembled their street namesakes to sell cars.