Mark

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

All of the Sixties issues of the '29 double kit had the complete Ala Kart included. There was the original issue, a second issue with different box art, from around 1965 (when the 1:1 car was restored following a fire), and two Mod Rod issues including one that Round 2 copied the box art from for their reissue. All Sixties issues (but not the Round 2 issue) have all of the Ala Kart parts and decals, though the last couple of Sixties issues had a smaller decal sheet. The smaller sheet lacks the scallops for the underside of the fenders. The later issues de-emphasized the Kart on the box art in favor of other versions that used the optional parts. Optional parts included a Deuce grille and shell, a fuel tank, and a dual quad intake setup. Between using those parts and possibly leaving the fenders off, you could make it look quite different from the Kart. The black Street Rods series version from 1973 is the one where the wheels and headlights got changed and many of the Kart parts were left out. AMT no longer owned the 1:1 Kart (they sold it around 1970) so they probably felt free to change the kit. The Street Rods issue was the last one with enough parts for two complete cars until the Round 2 issue. Interim issues used some of the Kart parts as optional parts for the stock '29 roadster.

Someone could make a few bucks offering alternate bodies for these kits, particularly closed bodies like a sedan or coupe. Back when these were tooled, it was all about open body styles, with the sedans and coupes looked upon as no more than parts cars. Attitudes have since changed. The Chrysler is one of the better looking early Thirties cars.

Uh...USPS issued a series of automotive stamps a while back, with beautiful artwork by Art Fitzpatrick, who collaborated with Van Kaufman to create the memorable, and collectible, illustrations for Pontiac brochures from the mid-Fifties through about 1972. One stamp featured the '53 Studebaker. Using that artwork would make the USPS connection credible.

We'll know if the stock parts are included when the new box art turns up...deleting the pickup bed will necessitate changing the wording on the new box. I'm betting that, other than the truck itself being the revised one, parts content will be pretty much the same as the original kit.

With diecast in particular, the scale printed on the box isn't necessarily the scale of the item in said box...

How many of the offending pieces are manufactured items? That would indicate that someone thought there should be more of these, which is a disturbing thought...

Who pays retail for anything, except maybe to toss a bone to the LHS every so often?

I have seen exactly one SN Impala kit between the two HL locations in my area, and it left the store in my hands. The shelf space was labeled "TV and movie assortment", so that space may have an Impala until it sells, then maybe a 007 issue Ford Galaxie cop car or something else.

The chassis in the Moebius Ford pickups is heavily cribbed from the AMT '75-'78 unit. The only improvement would be the cab floor that Moebius added to their kits.

Sears is still "around", though they have way fewer stores now. As of January of this year, there are none in my area. I couldn't tell you where the nearest one to me is. As for the warranty, since Sears has sold the Craftsman brand to Stanley, you'd have to check with them to see if they are still honoring any of the old warranties. Even before the sale, I've heard about Sears cheaping out and giving out cheap "rebuild kits" for things like ratchet wrenches instead of exchanging the item as they used to do.

This built one is a combination of the MPC wedge hauler parts and an AMT pickup kit. The MPC pickup had single exhaust molded to the chassis.

That custom front end dips at the front. I've got a set of those parts, they are a decent fit on the newer Bel Air body and would look good with that roofline.

The second rear axle is there mainly to stabilize the assembled truck with a car on the back. Someone on eBay was selling cast side panels with only the forward wheel opening...probably didn't realize the truck was going to do a permanent wheelstand once he put a car on it. MPC probably got the idea for the hauler from an article in a car magazine. A guy named Artie Wheeler (now deceased I believe, he used to display models at NNL East) built curbside ramp trucks out of pickup kits. He just cut the chassis and stretched it with a couple of swizzle sticks, and made the ramp bodies out of cigarette cartons. He worked in a restaurant at the time, he'd get cartons from the guy who loaded the vending machines. The article appeared in one of the East Coast car magazines in the late Sixties.

The loading ramps do NOT fit side by side in that center section, as illustrated.

Rear overhang is a tad longer on wagons, nothing that can't be handled though.

The Falcon body also has the between-the-taillights area altered, with a recess for a drag 'chute. The headlight areas in the grille have been re-engraved to resemble headlamp covers. 100% stock would take some doing, but Pro Street would be attainable. Fill the 'chute recess, drill out the headlamp covers, rework the rear wheel openings, then fit it to a '66 Nova pro street chassis.

I'd suspect the MPC body is at least somewhat accurate to the Rupp/Steffey car, since that was the first version issued. The chassis was shared with other kits, but was issued in different lengths for each. The MPC body has the front wheel openings in stock location and the rears stretched to the rear as you observed. What gets me is how close to stock the MPC body is. If I didn't already have three '67-'68 Cougars, I'd be tempted to try converting one to stock just for giggles.

Fix that '63 hardtop! The altered wheelbase '65 is based on the '62-'63 hardtop, same roof and windows. Find a started or incomplete '65, then stub that roof into the '63 body. Shouldn't be hard...

Or just compare with an AMT body. I've got a couple of those, but after a half day at work, riding a bicycle 23 miles, then mowing the lawn and throwing the laundry into the washer, I'm sitting down with an ice cold hard lemonade...

Now watch eBay for an avalanche of Nova wagon builtups and "projects" over the coming weeks, as the Great Unloading commences...

I would suspect that the front wheel openings were moved forward on the Cougar body.

Chassis and engine are unchanged between the two versions.

There was an actual stock car similar to the kit. The number on the car was different though.

Not positive as I haven't got the Round 2 Cougar, but I think they may have tooled a couple of new parts like fuel tanks. I have a Model King Cougar set aside to drop a '66 body on...as I remember the wheelbase matched up pretty well between the two.