Mark

MPC's '68 convertible kit included a pretty radical custom version. Their '69 convertible was even more radical, it had a bubble top. AMT's "for 1968" kit was called a "Chevrolet SS 427". Basically the '67 kit with the stock bumpers, wheels, and seats deleted, and with the body detrimmed and with no rear window opening (rear glass was still included). The chassis got reused in their '69 and '70 Impala kits, that "for 1968" body tooling probably hit the scrap heap before it had a chance to cool off...

I'm surprised it hasn't been brought up yet...but with this issue still including all of the "other" parts, it will be possible to build other Bonneville versions including other classes of cars with front fenders and/or the six cylinder engine.

Even the Prestige Series issue is nearly 35 years old...

I've done just that, it's pictured in the thread regarding how to fix the roof drip gutter mismatch. I also used the deck lid area from the GP body, as I don't like rescribing panel lines.

If you want to build a 2+2, look for one of the two issues of the 2+2 kit. Ertl took the Bonneville and re-engraved the body and interior trim to 2+2 spec. The wheelbase is wrong (too long) but it would be a better starting point.

The Corvette kit was modified quite a bit for the Greenwood GT IMSA issue: some new engine parts, new hard top, different wheels.

That might be the Lotus kit I was thinking of. Anyway, my bet would be on the AMT kit, which was quite good by 1963 standards and would still be pretty decent today.

Only the Minilite wheels were added (replacing the original mag wheels). But the Minilites were in the next couple of issues also. The original issue of the Chevy (and the Salty Dog issue Studebaker) included only the parts needed to build the version shown on the box. The new issue Chevy will have all of the stock/custom/drag parts, but you'll have to download the earlier issue instruction sheet to use those.

'68 Corvette was reissued, twice! Once as the AC spark plug promo kit "ACcellerator", and again around 1973 as the John Greenwood GT racer.

Those are the same kit. Ertl was boxing AMT kits as MPC, and vice versa. I believe MPC also did a Lotus kit but it was a simplified one, and was never reissued.

The Lotus is in all probability the one AMT first issued in 1963, alongside their Parnelli Jones Watson roadster kit. The Lotus has been reissued several times over the years, with different decal schemes. Tires have changed too; originals were solid vinyl with tread detail but blank sidewalls, later issues have two-piece tires with no tread detail but Firestone lettering.

No, that one was the Turbosonic Dragster. Copperhead shares chassis and engine with the reissued AMT wedge body dragsters, and the Tommy Ivo mid-engine dragsters.

The MPC dirt track cars (those with full bodies) all used that through-the-car exhaust setup. The chassis is set up for multiple wheelbases ala their Seventies NASCAR kits. I'm pretty certain there were two different rear suspension setups. Not sure what was in each one, or if the reissues are identical to the originals in that respect. The Model King reissues lacked the left front "floater" or "pony" tire, and I don't think the Round 2 versions issued so far have it either.

Wonder what his prices are on office furniture...

If it still exists (all three Monte Carlos still do), Round 2 will get to it. So far, two of the Montes (stock '70, and AMT Allison NASCAR) have been reissued, that leaves the MPC dirt track car.

For some reason, the BFG tires made by MPC (and later, Ertl) are plastic eaters. They damage any plastic they come into contact with, especially clear plastic. They're bad in that regard, on a level with early Sixties Revell tires. Hopefully Round 2's version will be different in that way.

All of the Wildcat and Riviera kits had the big engines. The AMT '66 Skylark GS had a 401 nailhead.

I can't recall any kit having a Buick 350 engine. The newest Buick V8 is probably the 455 in the Monogram (Revell) '70 GSX. It's 1/24 scale. The newest 1/25 scale engine would be in the AMT '69 Riviera. Their '69 Wildcat had one too, but you are unlikely to trip over one of those any time soon. The '70 Wildcat kit is curbside, no engine in that one. The GSX has an automaric, the Riviera a four-speed. All the modern V6 engines are turbos. The newest non-turbo Buick V6 is in the MPC Jeepster kit.

All of the Prestige Series kits I bought back then (duplicates in some cases) were good, except for the '65 Grand Prix. Ertl sent me a replacement body for that one.

In most cases I'll start with an unbuilt, or in Fred Sterns' terminology, "slightly started" one. Often one can be found with only the engine assembled, and maybe the body painted. A poor paint job often stalls the effort and it goes back in the box. Often any damaged engine or chassis parts can be replaced with identical ones from a later year or reissue kit. The damaged or glue bomb kits are useful when you want to cut the thing up, or build an out-of-box custom or drag version which most people wouldn't do with an older kit. Example: the AMT '63 Mercury kit had a lot of neat custom parts, enough for two radical custom versions. I found two started ones that were messed up to the point where they couldn't be assembled stock any more. Everyone else passed on them because of that, but I wanted the custom versions. Bonuses include being able to find replacement custom parts (few people used them), and for this particular car a lot of other replacement parts can be found in the (relatively) easy to find reissue '64 hardtop. No easily restorable kits get hacked into customs, leaving those for the guys who want a stock one. Win-win.

Finding a restorable built model car is no different from searching out a restorable 1:1 car...buy the best, most complete one you can afford. The cheapest one seldom turns out to be the least expensive one over the long haul. But there are certain ones that you don't trip over at every swap meet, and seldom turn up on eBay. If you really want one and nothing else will do, sometimes you have to take whatever comes along, and just deal with it.

Then the Jo-Han intake will be a perfect fit. A couple of years ago, I went to an AMC gathering where the SC was the featured car. I think there were about thirty of them there, one or two did have cross ram intakes.

Some of the Jo-Han AMC kits had them. Offhand, the Shirley Shahan AMX (and "pro street" reboxed versions from Jo-Han and Testors), '70 Javelin and Rebel Machine, and '71-'74 Javelin/AMX kits had one. If you are fitting to an AMT engine, you'll need to tweak the intake as the Jo-Han kits all use the 1966 Marlin engine block. Jo-Han never tooled a '66-'79 style block. The SC/Rambler kit does not include a cross-ram intake.

Backdating will largely center around drilling out the headlights (they were filled in for the '77) and cleaning up the forward part of the front fenders. The fenders were messed with to meet the '77 front end piece.

Back when retail price on car kits was $2, K-Mart sold them for $1.44. $2.25 retail translated to $1.66 as I recall. But there were other places that carried model car kits, like the auction house (ex-theater) that had them as cheap as half a buck. The choices usually included some of the previous couple of years' annual kits (mostly MPC; seldom AMT, never Jo-Han), and a few odd Trophy Series and some of AMT's (often) poor-selling TV items like the Hero Imperial and My Mother the Car. The annual kits that wound up there weren't always what you'd think. I picked up a '71 Racer's Wedge Chevy after the '72 kits came out, I think I had to lay out a buck and a quarter for it, still sealed. There were a few places like that. They were getting slow sellers and returns from the local wholesaler. They'd have weekend sales on Saturdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. I picked stuff up even cheaper there. The wholesaler gradually lost the area department stores as they folded one by one. They didn't have K-Mart (they bought their own stuff) and Wal-Mart was unknown here until around 1990. They became a retail store, stopped selling returns because they no longer had any, and themselves closed up about four years ago.