Mark

I once looked at that AMT Vega wagon body with the thought of piecing the wagon roof into an MPC hatchback body. After pondering the possibilities for a few minutes, I decided that mowing the lawn might be more productive...

The Buick wagon probably got scrapped after the last bunch of kits were run. The trailer and display engine from it were reused in the Nova wagon. Engine parts are rearranged, some not plated in the Buick kits (long block) are on the plated tree in the original Nova. Nobody is saying that the Buick body and chassis were altered into the Nova, just that some of its extras were reused in the Nova wagon. The Buick's mold base may have been reused for the Nova also. No parts are shared between the Nova wagon and the hardtop/convertible, except it looks like the six-cylinder engine moved over to the wagon for '63. If the Buick wagon still existed, we'd have seen it later as a Craftsman or Flower series kit. I'd bet a paycheck that it is long gone.

Not sure, I do know both engines have manual transmissions and they are not the same. And I don't recall seeing a floor shifter in the kit.

AMT '60 Starliner. Get one of the Round 2 reissues (there were two) as those have two building versions and two complete engines. You can take the stock version 352 for your '57 project, and still build the '60.

The '75 Nova was a clever facelift on the '68-'74 generation...looked all new, and consolidated chassis design with the Camaro/Firebird. That's back when GM worked smart more often than not. Then they got stupid, and replaced it with the designed-on-the-cheap X-cars...

All of the AMT Toronados ('67, '68, '70) were re-boxed Jo-Hans. Produced by Jo-Han in their plant, put into AMT boxes with AMT instruction sheets and decals. (AMT kits had bagged unplated parts starting with '69 annuals.) MPC had the promo contract for '67 only. But they issued a '68 kit in addition to the '67. For '67 and '68, whoever did the promo did the more accurate kit. Jo-Han made kits every year '66 through '72, but did not sell a '67 or '68 in its own packaging. Right now I'm not sure if they sold a '70 annual kit alongside the AMT boxing of same. Both companies did sell '70 4-4-2 annual kits.

As misshapen as that Vega wagon body is, I'd look for something close enough (coil spring front and rear) and let it go at that.

Correct.

One other thing: for the chassis detail, you want an AMT Monza, not MPC. The MPC underbody detail is pretty much equal to their Vega kits. On the other hand, if you want a Monza body, MPC's is the way to go.

AMT made four Monza kits: '75 (called just "Monza 2+2" on the box), '76, '77, and a custom only "Monza SS". The Round 2 reissue is a '77 but the box art is copied from the 1975 issue kit. All have stock underbody and suspension detail. Jenkins' Toys IX ('72) and X ('73) were built with stock front suspension but with R&P steering. X was later converted to a strut front end and '74 exterior trim. There were no subframe connectors on those two cars, the front ends were stock. The rear suspension and roll cage were tied in to the rocker panels. Toy XI ('74 Vega) had a full tube chassis and strut front end as built. The Monza kits would work for the engine compartment and floor detail. For XI (and the revised X) you'll need to start from scratch. I would build the "new" chassis onto the interior. A separate chassis looks cool while it's in the works, but pulling everything together into a complete package will be a pain. I'm looking forward to getting one of these things standing on four wheels, on a shelf.

"Everybody was Kung Fu painting..."

Box says "7.5 liter"; that would be a 460. Even if it is, it's a more modern setup, and 1/24 scale, way different from a stock early Seventies engine.

Give them a break...it's gotta be tough coming up with space ship designs, planet names, weapons, and species names not already taken by Star Trek and Star Wars...

They might, but those are 1/24 scale, newer version with fuel injection. For an early Seventies Mustang or Cougar, the Torino mill will be way closer in terms of equipment and an easier fit.

What does he have now? A good start...

AMT did produce a few 1/32 scale slot cars. I know the Avanti was among them (reissue includes the separate lower front pan from the slot car). With the Mustang being so popular at that time, it's very likely it too was issued as a slot car.

Back then I wanted a Firebird like James Garner drove in the Rockford Files. Then the sleek '77-'78 was restyled into that hideous '79. Garner agreed with me, he didn't like the '79 either. I think he drove a GMC Caballero in the last handful of episodes.

The '69 was altered into the '70. Both could be built as hardtop or convertible.

The Revell '68 Hemi Dart kit has a good one. You can still build the Dart as the stock version, as it also includes an 8-3/4" axle. The Jo-Han Sox & Martin 'Cuda unit (also included in their SC/Rambler kit) isn't quite as good, as it includes the removable "chunk" (gear carrier) from their 8-3/4" axle as included in the Chrysler Turbine Car and their early Logghe chassis funny car kits. The Jo-Han inspection cover and the rest of the axle do look good however.

Yes, it was.

That's one of the two, the one Farrah had. Supposedly, she only drove it a few times. Barris built two, the other made the rounds at car shows. Probably got reworked into something else by a later owner. I don't recall seeing it at the ISCA show in my area, but I do remember seeing the Travolta Firebird. I can picture it now, he wants to just get away from it all, so he hops into his Firebird with "Travolta Fever" plastered across the hood...

I'm pretty sure Eckler sold the Monza taillight rear bumper cap as used on the Foxy Vette. They definitely sold all of the flares, and the hatch conversion, as used on the Eckler version. If you swap front and rear bumper caps, the Eckler hatch 'Vette can be built without the flares (would look pretty good too). The flares fit other 'Vette bodies too: I've got an MPC '75 convertible in the works with those, didn't take much to get them to fit. It's surprising how close some of those 'Vette bodies are, despite having been designed years apart by different companies.

And that will work for me...

The kit is based on AMT's '69-'77 Corvette annual kits ('68 was a different one). So this kit (and the Eckler 'Vette) were designed together, and came out after the '77 kit. Actually neither kit is 100% correct. The Eckler car is pictured on and in a few of their catalogs (I have one of them). The wheels on the 1:1 car are Corvette knockoff wheels, or maybe the '67 bolt-on version of same. The interior is stock, AMT put their efforts into the body alterations. Unfortunately the rear hatch is a separate piece. AMT was doing that at the time (their Mustang II and Pinto kits also have it). Best to attach it to the body, closed, to keep everything straight. Barris was doing these deals where he'd "give" the celebrity a "free" car. The paperwork the person signed for the "free car" included them signing over the rights to let Barris put another, identical car on the show circuit, and gave him the marketing rights for the kit. He roped John Travolta in around the same time, Revell did a kit of "his" Firebird. I've seen stories about other celebrities that turned down the "free car".

I'm in on these (the truck and trailer, not the diecast bucket truck). It's too bad Revell did the Roth cars, otherwise maybe Round 2 would have issued the Haulaway trailer as a companion piece, instead of an enclosed trailer...