Mark

Those 1/32 scale kits never included any clear parts. Nor did the 1/25 scale '57 Ford Ranch Wagon that Revell made back then.

Based on the several partial kits I have bought over the years, that seems to have been what most model builders were thinking back in the day.

I'm glad I bought mine years ago, when you could pick them up and look at them. (I haven't got a '69 Coronet convertible promo, though I do have a hardtop promo.) I wouldn't buy a promo without looking at it first...too much doctored-up stuff out there (undisclosed repairs, replacement parts, scuffs covered with Future, and so on).

No, and I can't say I've seen any kind of "run" on them locally. Last week I bought the new-issue Thunderbolt kit for $13 (didn't have one with the small hubcaps; this issue has two sets of tires and four sets of wheels). At an IPMS show last month, I picked up three NASCAR kits for a buck apiece. Two were sealed. One was a notchback Monte Carlo SS (needed the body to replace a damaged one in another kit), another was a Cartoon Network car (I'll buy those for cheap if I don't already have them), and the third is an early Eighties "brick" Thunderbird (I was looking for one; for a buck I'll grab it). When Hobby Lobby was blowing out the '57 Ford gasser wagons, I did snag one of those as I did want another one. I don't "need" any more Bronco or '76 Torino kits, and other than the '69 Boss 302, can't think of any upcoming stuff that I'll want.

The MPC (last boxed as AMT) Woody/roadster pickup kit would probably be the best one. The Flintstone body is based on the AMT '28 sedan (which was created and manufactured by MPC). MPC replaced the sedan body with the Woody and roadster pickup because they did not want to reissue the kit in the same version as AMT had sold earlier. The fender unit has not been changed very much. An original MPC sedan body still fits the fenders. The AMT/Ertl issue of this kit should not be too tough to find. The fender unit in these kits do have the frame molded as a unit with the fenders. Second choice would be the AMT '29 roadster. The sedan body should fit these fenders but the rear part of the floor (between the fenders) will probably need to be reworked. This kit has the fender unit and frame molded as separate parts. The Revell pickup unit will need even more work, as it has support pieces for the pickup bed molded as part of the unit. It also has truck running board detail. The AMT/Ertl Woody/roadster pickup kit still has passenger car running board detail (rubber mat on top side of board) which was never changed from the MPC '28 sedan kit.

The doors on these were never separate from the body. The box for the original (1969 issue) delivery reads: "one-piece body with opening hood, and optional opening doors and rear door". I had an original issue sedan (1970) back in the day, and have another unbuilt one now. Doors and trunk lid are molded in place as they always have been, instructions tell how to get opening doors during body assembly. Trimming open the molded-in doors doesn't give you any door jamb or inner trunk lid detail though. The hinges are sloppy in these kits just like the '55-'57 kits. First thing you do is toss the kit hinges and replace them. Better hinges can be fabbed from wire or even paperclips.

The doors on these were never molded as separate parts, they were always attached to the body. The bodies were paper-thin in the panel line areas, so trimming the panels open wasn't tough. Getting the slop out of the hinges is another matter, though...

The square headlamp bezels were an option for '64. A few '64 Avantis were built with the round trim pieces.

Avantis were never built in Canada, nor were GT Hawks or trucks. When Studebaker ended production in South Bend, the Avanti, GT Hawk, and all trucks were dropped from the line.

The round headlamp bezels are Studebaker truck units, installed at a different angle from when they were used on trucks. Most Loewy Associates sketches and mockups for the Avanti used quad headlamps, but Studebaker had a bunch of those truck pieces left over so that's what got used...

That Ford/Merc perimeter frame goes back to '65, so the '65 Galaxie chassis could be a good starting point. Steerable front wheels, separate rear axle and suspension (though the exhaust detail is molded as part of the chassis.

The kit was first issued in 1965. Auto World carried every current AMT kit back then, and the Avanti first appeared in the 1965-1/2 catalog. The Avanti was never an annual kit, it was a Trophy Series kit. As for the year of the car represented by the kit, it is most accurate as a '63. It has the long/narrow battery which was changed during '63 to a more conventional one. The square headlamp bezels were an option for '64, not all '64 cars had them. No '64 Avantis had the long/narrow battery so, to make a correct '64, some rework will be needed.

Don't forget the snow tires...

The Chevy engine probably migrated to the next-generation Camaro kit. But MPC's '67-'69 Firebirds and '68-'69 Camaros were joined at the hip. The '69 annuals both had the turbine engine option that was cribbed from the Jo-Han Chrysler kit. The '69 Camaro body was through the mill: '69 annual, Dickie Harrell funny car, Jeg's dirt track car (with wheel openings whacked open like the AMT Modified Stockers) then restored back to stock, though with the RS hidden-headlamp grille (the annual had exposed headlamps). The (awful) coupe body in the Fast & Furious kit was newly tooled, not related to the earlier one which is was altered into a convertible. I've got one of those black '69 coupe reissues, want to see if I can get it looking halfway decent as I had planned to do before the Revell kit came out.

Yes, the reissue MPC Camaro had the Firebird interior bucket and seats. But so did the MPC annual '69 Camaro kit.

If you haven't gotten the Dean Jeffries book, get it. It's split into different areas: pinstriping and painting (Jeffries was the "hot" paint/lettering guy at Indy for much of the Sixties), his cars, and his movie work including performing stunts as well as building vehicles. Each part could be a book all by itself.

The earliest kits had no cowl vents, windshield wipers, or other trim. They also had the gutted interior from the (first) NASCAR Daytona kit. Most ERTL issue kits have the trim added because they were done after the stock Daytona and 500 issues. All use the same body. Only the Round 2 issue has the corrected rear window. RC2 tooled that for the Fast & Furious version, but didn't think to include it in the Dukes kits they ran after that. Both Rc2 and Round 2 have issued different kits with the regular rear window and the 500/Daytona flush window, so apparently the tool can be changed back and forth. The Round 2 snap kit is unrelated, and has only the regular back window.

MPC '69-'73 Mercury Cougar kits have a 428 CJ, also the AMT/Ertl '69 Cougar. This is a different kit from the MPC '69 but the engine in it is the one from the MPC kit.

I'd test the clear pearl over a similar solid color, to see if it gives the desired effect. The "gold tint" on the original promos might just be yellowing of the original clearcoat. If you have absolutely all of the orange off, maybe just polish the solid color plastic and leave it at that? I did just that with a '62 Tempest convertible friction that was discolored, probably from being in a "smoking area" for a long time. Looks decent, probably not worth much but then again I've got a negative investment in it after selling the other three cars I got along with it...

I'd just repaint it in whatever color you want it. Its value is diminished to a promo collector, a repaint won't affect that very much.

The sort-of-Pontiac parts are from an old Aurora kit called the Fireball Pontiac. Aurora was trying to imitate an AMT kit but they did it in their own "style": the body was molded in sections that had to be assembled. The proportions were way off, it looked stubby among other problems. The decal sheet looked like a copy of an AMT '59 decal sheet. The large engine parts are from a Monogram 1/8 scale Chevy engine. Before they did the big scale car kits, Monogram did a Chevy engine by itself, but with numerous choices of headers and intakes. I believe at least some parts could be snapped in place and switched for other parts when desired. I had one of those, I remember one or two of the forward cylinders being molded in clear plastic so the internal parts were visible. There are a few 1/25 scale parts in that group too: those Ford script round things are end pieces for a custom gas tank (that tubular piece at the upper left goes between them), also there are a pair of custom taillights at the lower right.

One local hobby shop here (that was a wholesaler prior to opening their own store) used to get Canadian MPC kits every so often. They were probably leftovers, as this store would also have Academy kits with boxes and instructions entirely in Korean ("gray market imports"), things like that. The MPC kits were heavy on French/English printing (gotta take care of Quebec!). A couple of years ago, I had one of the '69 Firebird convertible kits from the early Eighties that was a Canadian-market kit.

WT Grant was closing out around here in that time frame. I honestly can't remember ever seeing any of the Nabisco-era Aurora products in any of the stores around here, and even prior to that I never saw very much Aurora stuff.

I had two of the 392 engines mint in box a long time ago, sold both of them. I've got another one that has been started; it's on the 1/16 scale pile, destination undetermined as of now. The Aurora stuff is better all around than the Revell kits, but in their time they were way too costly for most kids (or parents buying them as gifts). Revell having the "big name" cars was probably the tipping point back then. Today, with vintage kits, the "name" cars usually beat the generic/fictional ones value-wise even if they aren't accurate to the 1:1 car (which is often the case). There are exceptions, but not many.

If you blinked, you missed the Aurora series! Very few places carried them. Aurora didn't have the greatest reputation when it came to car kits. Having to buy multiple packs made building a complete car very expensive, especially compared to the Revell 1/16 scale drag cars which came out around the same time. Revell's kits built well-known cars while Aurora's only had generic decals. Aurora did offer complete car kits later on, but too late. Word is that production numbers on the individual packs were extremely low, well under 10,000 of each. The complete car kits are even tougher to find.