Mark

I didn't know Varney did any kits. They made model railroad stuff mostly, like everyone else they dabbled in slot racing in the early Sixties. The cars were slow and the track design was weird, so they made a hasty retreat to railroading.

A lot of the parts in the MPC GTO kits were recycled from 1966 straight through to '72. Chassis, engine, parts of the plated tree. The bucket seats got re-engraved with the new upholstery pattern every year...'72 seat is a lot bulkier than an original '66 annual kit seat! When the wheelbase changes, they just moved the axle holes...that's why the recent kits have multiple sets of holes, or they are in the wrong place.

Publishers "combine" titles so they can keep subscription money already received, and send the "combined" title to fill the remainder of the subscription. I'm not going to bother with FSM...if we're lucky they might include a token car article per issue.

Around here, Mavericks rusted quickly (like nearly everything else!). In 1986, I bought a '74 coupe with 27,000 miles and lots of structural rust and rot. The interior was like new. The engine and transmission live on, in my '62 Fairlane. The powertrain now has more miles on it in the Fairlane than it racked up in the Maverick.

I believe the '70 GTO was converted back to '72 spec. The Ertl '70 was itself backdated from the red '72 that was issued around 1980. The original annual '70 had the Endura front bumper molded as part of the body, the Ertl '70 had it as a separate part. There were two '70 GTO tools in 1969-70. Parts like glass and rear bumpers from 1970 production items are marked #1 or #2 on the back sides. Parts interchange between them. I did check a Fast Pack kit and a funny car body, but haven't taken apart a promo and don't have an annual kit. Between promos, red "contest promos", Fast Pack snap together kits, annual kits, and funny car kits, MPC likely needed two tools. One most likely got updated to produce 1971 promos and kits, the other body eventually got butchered into the dirt track car body. The interior from that one wound up in the Ertl '70. Ertl put a lot of thought into some of those modified reissues that they did.

"Justice", or "just us"?

Very short production run. Probably done after the stock/funny car Maverick kit (the first kit in the Maverick/Comet group) but before the Comet funny car "annual" and definitely before the Pro Stock variations. The Comet kit had Maverick wheel covers. The Comet promo model did have correct wheel covers.

But the guy playing the game never said: "You sank my battleship..."

Maybe now they can offer a complete one...

The idea behind the service bed is to sell more truck kits! It's too bad it isn't included as an option, but that would add to an already crammed box, and raise the price.

I too bought the tacky glue thinking it might be better than Elmer's. And I too was disappointed, and switched back.

What's to know? Probably the same service bed that is in the '65 or '66 that is out now, included in the later truck kit, with new '67 trim parts as needed...

You may have bought from a beginner. Or perhaps someone who starts everything at a low initial bid taking a gamble, and lost this time around. Think of it this way: the seller held up his/her end and packed the item without trying to cut corners or offset the loss. The seller might do enough business to take the occasional loss in stride.

Who was it that said..."the only thing worse than being talked about, is NOT being talked about"?

Most of the pro street kits (except those that are variations of all-out drag cars already issued) have front suspension that is shared with the stock version of the kit. Another reason that many drag cars use rack and pinion steering is space utilization. In most applications it frees up space in the right places for header design.

I do it after painting the body and after foiling the window trim, drip rails, etc.

Jo-Han, like AMT and MPC, did the bulk of their business in promotional models, then made many of them available as kits. While AMT and MPC fought over the big money promo contracts like Chevrolet, Ford, and Pontiac, Jo-Han ended up with the minor players like AMC, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile. They did have Plymouth (but not exclusively) through 1970 and Dodge through 1964. The items they did weren't always appreciated when they were new, but Jo-Han was the only game in town for a lot of items that will never be done by anyone else. Their interiors, chassis, and engines weren't always the greatest, but body shapes and engraved details were always among the best. Their classic cars and Chrysler Turbine Car kits would be considered among the best car kits even if they were brought out today.

Jim Lytle built a model of it, before building the 1:1 car. A Rod & Custom article on the car includes a photo of Lytle holding the model.

Lincoln automatic transmission, from a Revell Ford Thunderbolt kit. Not a C-6, those came a couple of years later.

Based on the test shots I saw at the final "Toledo" show last year, the kits will include two hoods. The one from the original kit, and a new one with a snorkel scoop. There will be an add-on piece for the back of the original hood's molded-in scoop also, if I remember right. With the 1:1 cars, the early body style could work with either style scoop. The slanted nose '74-up cars had to have the snorkel style, as the slanted nose would push air over the top of the opening on the earlier scoop.

It was a great selling kit in its day, so there are a lot of them around. As popular as the Kart was, based on the parts boxes I have sifted through over the years, the '29 roadster was the more popular of the two cars in the kit.

These two, plus the original (not the Round 2 copy) gold, fenderless Mod Rod pictured early in the thread, all have the Ala Kart version intact. There is also a Collectors' Series issue '29 roadster that was issued in '67 or '68, but I don't think that one had the Ala Kart included at all. It's not like you're going to trip over that one at a show or on eBay anyway. If one of your originals isn't in absolutely mint condition, I'd go ahead and build it. If I ever get to one, I'd start with the original kit but maybe use some parts from the newer tool kit. The original kit's main faults IMO are the wheels and tires, and the "flow" (or lack thereof) between the hood side panels and headlamp pods.

Unless you plan on running it, the engine being locked probably doesn't matter. A lot of slot car collectors don't even have a working track, and most of the guys collecting gas powered cars, boats, and planes don't ever run any of them.

The engines didn't do that well, so the motorcycles that were to follow weren't released. The engines are great, but being early Sixties items limits what can be done with them. A lot of the original parts packs like the bumpers and interior parts didn't do that well back in the day. Those could be found new and unused at swap meets or even at old hobby shops well into the Eighties. If the old Revell double kits could be pieced back together, now those might find buyers. That might be problematic because some of the parts from those were later used in the Miss Deal Studebaker kit. Atlantis may or may not have the tires, as other newer kits use them also.

Try eBay for the wrench. Cox probably included a wrench with every car or plane sold with that engine.