Robberbaron

Oh yeah, my reckless spec-uh-lation for Round 2: '64 Comet Craftsman, right about the time the Moebius '65 is also hitting the shelves. Haven't seen the '34 Ford 5-window in a while. What with all this hot rod fever going around, my gut tells me we'll see that one again within about a year. If they'd include both the stock and street rod parts, they could even do retro style Trophy Series box art. I recently picked up the original issue "stock" version from the '90s, and was pleasantly surprised to see that they also included some basic speed parts for the flatty (heads and intake), which wasn't indicated on the box. We know the MPC '73 Cougar tooling is good, bet that gets reissued with some kind of retro box. The Beverly Hillbillies truck in proper retro MPC box art. Seems like the "malaise-era" kits (mid '70s through early '80s) must be selling well for them, I'm hoping to see the "Bear Bait" MPC Chevette come back. I know I'd be in for a couple - good drag car material there.

I had similar thoughts on the '65 GTO. Finally ordered the Modelhaus repop of the correct original bumper/headlight assembly, so figured someone will finally release a new tool '65. Same goes for the MPC '67 GTO: ordered the correct seats and steering wheel from Modelhaus, so now is the time for Revell to announce a new '67 based on their '66 tooling.

Man, that is nice!

Interesting news on several of these. Very cool to see the '68 El Camino with the soap box derby car. Only problem is I already have several of the original 90s issue factory stock version. Don't know if the soap box car is cool enough for me to drop that kind of coin on another one. Now if they can manage to also include the street machine parts to make it a 2 in 1 kit, I'd probably bite the bullet (I only recently learned about some of the features of that version, including the mini tubs). Kind of curious about that AMT Monza, too. Was really hoping for the MPC to be reissued, but will need to wait and see to find out more about this one. Don't think anyone's pointed out yet that the classic '57 Ford Fairlane is on this list. Kind of curious to see what the contents of that one will be. That's popped up a couple times the last few years on release lists (maybe not official), but never seemed to happen. So wondering if some of the original custom parts have been restored? That tool made it through the mid 90s pretty much unmolested, then AMT/Ertl eliminated pretty much all the vintage custom/racing parts and replaced them with "modern" parts, that ironically are now totally out of date. Not sure if the original stuff was left intact/gated off, or destroyed or lost. I suspect the latter, which may be why a couple of the retro releases weren't able to happen when announced a few years ago...

Nothing earthshaking for me in this announcement. Glad to see the black widow '57 back, since I missed it originally when it was first released. Think I'll also get one of those Caddy kits. I also would love to see a factory stock version, but this is honestly another one of those where I'm just happy that a kit exists of the subject, period. I have zero interest in the Bronco, but glad to see it being released, since I've been seeing a LOT of interest in this as a kit subject the last couple years. Kind of like the Moebius Ford trucks, the 1:1s are so far off my radar I never would have guessed there was so much demand for a kit subject.

Stopped by my LHS & picked up the MPC '75 Vette, mainly for the bare rally wheels. Toughest choice I've had to make in a while: also had the Revell '30 Model A coupe, stock '48 Ford coupe, MPC Pinto wagon, and GMC "Deserter", which are all on my "to buy" list.

Great build, and once again proves just how good this kit can look with careful detailing. (I also owned a 1:1 '77 Monte, so I am biased) Regarding the ride height, this kit was originally designed as a lowrider with adjustable height front and rear suspension. Each axle assembly pivots, and there are three (I think) detents for setting it at low (slammed), medium (stock-ish height), or high (jacked up). Due to the way the axle assemblies are "hinged", the wheels also change positions fore/aft in the wheel wells depending on the suspension height. The most recent Revell release finally provided stock style rally wheels (actually very nicely done, with open slots), but the goofy adjustable height chassis remains. That is the biggest demerit for this kit IMHO. But then again, if we're being honest, this kit never would have been produced if not for the lowrider craze of the mid to late '90s. I for one am glad it got designed and produced before the great model apocalypse happened. There's close to zero chance of a subject like this getting kitted today.

Inspiring story Steve. I feel like I'm on a similar trajectory, though not nearly as far along. My keeper is my first "nice" car, a 1977 Malibu Classic coupe, 350/TH350, low mileage honest-to-goodness "Grandma" car, bought when I was 20 in my hometown where I grew up. Even with the low miles, it had some bondo in the quarters with paintwork that didn't match. After I graduated college, I had the funds to get the body repaired correctly and repainted. After that I moved on to disassembling the engine/underhood to degrease, repaint, install an intake, headers, etc. Right after I started that process, I met my future wife. Love leads to marriage leads to kids, so the Malibu has been sitting in the garage waiting patiently ever since. Sometimes it feel like I'll never get to it again. Nice to read a story like yours as a reminder that it is possible to acheive those goals, as long as we keep our priorities straight.

Man there are some great factory stock builds getting posted here right now. Really looks great with the Magnums 500s and the gold paint, nice job!

Great job - perfect color for one of these. The streets were swarming with Dusters that looked just like this when I was a kid.

Really, REALLY like this build. Great color combo, attention to detail, and just super clean. I particularly like the well executed blue tint on the top of the windshield, and the white stripe tires. We don't see those too often on muscle cars nowadays, so it's easy to forget how many of them originally came with white stripe tires.

Thanks Ben, that's definitely a better description than what I used. Your pics show exactly what I'm talking about. Depending on the wheel manufacturer, the 5-bolt pattern could either be aligned with the middle of the slots, or the middle of the spokes, but that's really the only 2 possibilities in the 1:1 wheel universe when you're dealing with 5-lug wheels. Somehow Revell managed to get the bolt pattern misaligned on 2 of the 4 wheels, one of those things that just isn't going to exist in the real world. Maybe that's rivet counting on my part, but it's one of those silly mistakes that makes you wonder how they managed to do it (especially because it's wrong on ONLY 2 of the wheels)

Not only do the S&H Torino rims not have the orrectly staggered depths, one pair of them has the lug nuts "indexed" incorrectly - not sure of a good way to describe it, but if you see it you understand.

Thanks, Mike.

Anyone know if those Torque Thrusts are from a previous (maybe drag?) version, or are they newly tooled? I know there was a Don Nicholson version, but I thought that just had steelies. If the mags are new, I wonder if they're adding any other speed equipment. Anyone got the inside scoop?

Great build. Love to see these old Chevys built as low option trucks with the painted bumpers.

Even though it's a 7 year old thread, I'm glad this one got dredged up: cool build I hadn't seen before.

Very cool...

Great Caesar's Ghost! That is outstanding! The ability to bash all those different components together so seamlessly is a testament to your skills...

Perfect! I've also got one of these T's (unbuilt) that a friend gave me when we were kids. Never knew what to do with it till the new Revell '29 Roadster came out. Hope I can get it to turn out half as nice as yours...

Good, clean build. Nice call on putting a cowl hood on it instead of using the kit supplied bug catcher scoop (which was already out of style when this kit was first released). Did you fab the hood or was it a resin item?

Gorgeous! GM really was at the top of their game in the '60s as far as styling, IMHO.

Sure looks like the real thing, and that's the point, isn't it? Stellar job on the preservation, too. Would never guess that's a 25 year old build!

Super clean, traditional looking build. Awesome tip on the toothpaste caps, as well!

Awesome work on that raw metal finish. Not many people could pull that off convincingly, which it is...