Mark

The Jo-Han boxed Donohue Javelin was a '70. The '71 version ("Coke-bottle" body, two long rectangular taillights) was boxed by AMT. I've seen mail-order ads for that kit. Jo-Han re-boxed it again as the George Follmer/Roy Woods Racing version. (Woods took the program over from Roger Penske when Penske moved AMC into NASCAR in '72.) Some of the earliest Jo-Han Follmer kits may have been '72s (single wide taillight with "egg-crate" trim) but I've never seen one. The one I have is a '73-'74 (body color taillight panel, smooth roof). I don't think the 1:1 Trans-Am cars were ever updated to '73-'74 trim as depicted in most (if not all) Jo-Han Follmer kits. I'm pretty certain Fred Cady made decals for the Donohue '71, and possibly the '70 as well.

There was also a pilot episode for a TV show. None of the bigger stars from the movie were in that, though it did have several of the minor players. The pilot pretty much summarized the movie and had many of the best moments of the movie in it. I seem to remember reading somewhere (old MCCA Journal?) that AMT had a deal lined up to issue three or four car kits with a "Used Cars" tie-in. I'll have to dig through those to see if I can find that...

The box has a 1980 copyright date on it. A number of these have popped up on eBay over the years; some had Trans-Am Firebirds in the box, others Z-28 Camaros, and I saw one with a Dodge Warlock pickup.

But, if somehow Round 2 were to reissue the long-lost ones with this box art, who would buy them? Or, who would buy them with other box art but pass them over simply because of this artwork?

But these were $1.50 apiece, "one run and done" kits. They were originally to be $1.00 kits (that's why the optional parts were taken out), AMT couldn't hold the line on pricing. Quick/cheap box art = maximum ROI...

Sears and K-Mart joining forces was like two drunks trying to help one another cross the street. Sears needed to decide on being either a tool store, a clothing store, or whatever. K-Mart lost their way trying to go "upscale", leaving Wal-Mart to take their customers. The couple of Radio Shack stores around here (both since closed) had little, if any, actual electronics stuff the last few years. I couldn't even get the "wire wrap" wire that I tend to use for plug wires on models. They'd tell me they could order it. But then again, I could do that via eBay without leaving the house. Towards the end, they were 99% cell phones, and they got knocked out of that box by the carriers who were selling phones in addition to offering services. One-stop shopping. I even stopped buying my mom's hearing aid batteries there when the hearing aid store started selling them cheaper. And they always had them in stock.

The difference is often more pronounced because Monogram's kits usually measure out to 1/24, while many "1/25 scale" kits are actually smaller. For example, the IMC/Lindberg Dodge A-100 (Little Red Wagon) measures out to about 1/25.7 scale. The AMT, SMP, and Jo-Han kits of larger cars (Imperial, Continental, Cadillac) are often undersize as well. On the other hand, Jo-Han AMC promotional models and kits from 1961 on are actually 1/24 scale, and Jo-Han's '62 Studebaker Larks are about 1/23.

Correct: the first-issue Revell '57 Chevy did not include the raised front end. That was added around 1968, along with the blower setup. The blower derives from the Parts Pack engine, which replaced the original one for whatever reason. If you have a post-'68 issue, look at the parts tree with the majority of the unplated engine parts...you can plainly see the Parts Pack tree. Revell changed the hinges for the hood, doors, and trunk lid too. Ironically, they took the roll bar out. But they kept the same Tom Daniel box art (the only kit he did for Revell back then), they just revised the side panels to show the parts that were in the box. The '56 Ford kit hasn't changed much over the years. The first issue had that drag version in the box art, though with the custom front end and a roll bar that was never in the kit. The early issue AMT '57 Ford kits don't have the incorrect injector setup, wide rear wheels, or headers that the Flashback issue has. AMT put the drag version in when they took out the Stylizing parts. The AMT '40 Fords had drag versions included from day one. The headers and wheels got changed in both kits over the years however.

What engine is in it? I bought a thoroughly rusted-out '74 two-door in 1986; its then-27,000 mile 250 six and C-4 transmission now rest under the hood of my '62 Fairlane. The interior in that Maverick was absolutely pristine, however the bucket seats were so downright ugly that I didn't want them, nor did anyone I know want them.

The pickup engines have three twos even for the stock version, but the intake/cylinder heads/distributor/coil are all molded as a single piece, and the area under the carbs is just a flat, long rectangular slab. On the other hand, the engraving on the valve covers is absolutely superb, though I'm pretty certain the raised "FORD" lettering on the kit parts would actually be a decal on the 1:1 truck valve covers. The AMT '57 T-Bird engine's intake has an undersize blob meant to represent a carburetor molded as part of the intake. Still, it might not be a terrible choice as a starting point. As suggested by others already, get another intake and alter it by adding the carburetor mounting areas.

If anyone is wondering, the boxes in this series do react to black light. AMT called these the "Wild Flower" series, I always referred to them as the "head shop" series. I've got all six of them. I think I've got a spare decal sheet or two; one of those "someday" projects is to grab one of the easily-found reissues like the Galaxie, '62 Buick, or '66 Mustang (called a '65 in the series, but it's a '66) and stick it together as shown on the box...

I remember reading somewhere, that the Lamborghini Countach is the subject of more model kits than any other car. The Japanese in particular were obsessed with it, and kits were made of concept and pre-production versions as well as numerous production variations. Throw in the many scales they tend to manufacture kits in, motorized and non-motorized variations, also that there are numerous companies there producing kits that aren't known outside their home market, that few of us see or know about. And then add in the European manufacturers. It's not as farfetched as you'd think. Other possibilities might include the VW Beetle or military Jeep (though where do you separate one version from another with the Jeep). The '57 Chevy is iconic in some parts of the world, unknown in others...

It's a great kit, the only issue with it is that Revell chose to do the Z-16. Only 201 of those were built, most of them were red as pictured on the first-issue box. If they'd done a regular Malibu, it would have had more possibilities for alternate issues like a convertible.

The '73 Cougar (originally an MPC kit) has a 428 Cobra Jet and a Boss 429. No 351.

Pretty sure the '57 has them too...the only '56 Nomad I have is the first issue, the one with the grossly overhanging front bumper (though I have the parts to fix that). I got those wheels from something, definitely not a '56 Nomad kit...

People who collect Coca-Cola related items (some of them, at least) will buy these kits, mainly because of the packaging. Few will be opened, even fewer built.

One of the Chevy kits (I'm 99% certain it's the one pictured) does have the large-diameter steelies with "baby Moon" caps (molded as a unit with the wheels). I used them to "de-Fooseify" an FD-100 I built last year.

And as a bonus, you got the big letdown once you opened it...

Is that hood for the newer El Camino kit, or the AMT Chevelle kits? Unfortunately the two differ in width just a bit, I believe a hood made for one will not fit the other...

Monogram and Revell are brand names, both owned by the same company.

I'm not the most observant person, and the recent book about George Montgomery isn't the greatest. But I spotted at least three different styles of cam covers among the photos in that book.

Some of the original kits may have had that sheet, but most of the sedan kits had one that matched up with the box art. The sheet pictured was included in some of the AMT Gasser series kits that had the cartoon-style box art that didn't show any decals ('36 Ford, '57 Chevy, etc.)...

That's not even getting into the asymmetry...rear window is off-center, and some of the side "trim" jogs up and down. I wanted to combine one of the coupe bodies with the Early Iron issue of the roadster to create a "phantom" Early Iron coupe, but that hot mess of a coupe body won't hold my interest for any length of time...

The "mutt" kits were produced by Seville towards the end of their tenure. Apparently they thought the bumper change alone would backdate the kit, but they didn't know about the roof panel change, nor the fact that the taillight panel on the later cars was bigger, not to mention that putting in the earlier bumper resulted in a gap around the taillight gridwork. The front bumper had guards added to it too. I've got a Hot Wheels Javelin-AMX that was obviously mastered off of the "mutt" kit...earlier taillights, smooth roof, front bumper guards. I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard that Revell took Jo-Han to court in the mid-Seventies, to stop them from selling the Mickey Thompson and Gene Snow funny car kits because Revell had both men under contract by then. From what I heard, at first it was a case of "we're just using up the decals and boxes", but that went on for another year or so before they went to court again. The eBay seller who got the Jo-Han "archives" might still be selling new leftover decal sheets for those three kits, which would (sort of) back up this story...

The original Jo-Han company had things like boxes and decal sheets printed in huge numbers, then drew from the stockpile when the kit was next run. The Javelin-AMX kits from '72 to the end all came in that one box that had the illustration of the '72 on it, even though most of them actually have the '73-'74 inside (with the smoothed roof panel and different taillights). Decals were a crapshoot, though. I've had a bunch of those Javelin-AMX kits, and I don't think a single one ever had the stock hood stripe decal. And, I've never seen a "Rapid Randy" Mercury Comet sheet either; I'm thinking there never was one that matched the box art for that kit.