Mark

It can be produced as either. The original annual GT fastback kit became the Stocker. That kit had the Cobra grille/bumper from the one-shot coupe/convertible kit. AMT (the original company) took some shortcuts with that kit compared to other Modified Stockers. They removed the molded-in exhaust from the chassis, wiped the door panel detail from the interior bucket, but didn't remove the windshield wiper detail or other emblems from the body. All they did was whack the wheel openings out. Ertl did some remedial work including new body side "slides" for the tool, which put the wheel openings back to stock. They also scratched some door panel detail back into the interior, and created separate pieces to put a stock exhaust system back in the kit. Someone had the Modified Stocker produced as a one-shot deal about fifteen years ago, and RC2 (not Round 2) ran the stock version again after that, so apparently it can be produced as either version. There aren't as many differences between the two as you'd think: the main one would be the wheel openings on the body.

If the original issue of the kit is correct, ZR-1 didn't have a radio or the shielded ignition setup either.

American Satco. Someone did a decent vacuform one some years back...I bought one on eBay. It may have been the last one that guy had.

In the thread about big-block Chevy engines, the Impala came up as (probably) the first kit that had one. I mentioned too, the Impala engine was transplanted into the AMT '61 Ranchero kit later on. If you have a first issue V8 Ranchero kit (from 1977) or see one on eBay, check the box art. The side panel shows the engine with these manifolds (though the V8 Ranchero kits always used the stock ones from the Impala).

eBay keeps giving away free listings to pump up the numbers of available items, and these clowns throw the clearance stuff out there trolling for buyers. Maybe they catch a few sales to people who don't have the closeout stores in their area, in which case they make a few bucks. Years ago, I did the same thing with the prepainted AMT kits at Wal-Mart. I'd pick up those red/white '58 Plymouths for $9 apiece, they'd sell for between $25 and $30 without exception. That worked with a couple other kits, but not with all of them. Around here, I see the clearance store stuff at the automotive swap meets...apparently these guys think nobody else goes to those stores like they do...

AMT '66 Impala

The '66 Impala engine is the big-block Chevy that was put into the AMT '61 Ranchero kit around 1977. Why a BBC, especially when in the real world that engine doesn't come close to fitting an early Falcon? The best guess might be that AMT wanted to issue the Rancho with an engine, and had their engineering people comb the tool bank for an engine rather than tool one up. The Modified Stocker Ford kits' engines have axle holes that would put the engine further forward than the Chevy, probably not fitting too well. The Chevy was probably the easiest one to fit...

The Merc wagon has flat glass all around. You can make templates of the openings (adding a bit to overlap the body on the inside), then either cut down the kit pieces or make new ones from thinner material.

The AMT '66 kits (Impalas and 'Vette) were probably first, in late '65. The MPC '66 'Vette (they only made a coupe) included an undersize pair of "big block" cylinder heads, but otherwise it kept the small-block (still with the stock FI setup too). The AMT altered-wheelbase funny cars didn't come out until '67, or maybe late '66 at the earliest. Those engines are on the small side too. Monogram didn't do any until a few years later, in one or two of the Tom Daniel cars. I can't even think of what the first Revell BBC was...

Yes, it has two engines/transmissions as the previous Round 2 issue did.

Watch out...might be a goober behind the wheel...

The turbo parts were only in this issue of the kit, and NOT in the annual for either '71 or '72.

They must be changing the way they clear out discontinued items. Around here, the kits being cleared went to 40% off with no coupon (couldn't use the coupon to get an additional discount), and anything that didn't sell then went down to the $10 range after a few weeks. I've never seen anything drop into the $6-7 range, ever. Doing it this way will get them out sooner, will clear space for the incoming items faster, and they won't be paying people to move unsold stuff around the store. The '57 Ford wagons were gone here, but I did pick up a '50 Ford, '58 Impala, and '64 Impala. I passed on the '69 Barracuda, '75 Corvette, and a few others.

Those are from the Olds engine in the Revell Anglia and Thames panel kits. There were some short chrome plated stacks in the kit also. For the Y-block, just cut the paired units apart and clock them 90 degrees.

Probably got scrapped after production ended. The trailer and display engine got recycled into the '63 Nova wagon kit. Had the Buick wagon existed in the mid-Sixties, AMT would probably have reworked it into a Craftsman series kit, or issued it in the "flower" series...

Ertl eliminated the bezels and tooled new, slightly larger red lenses when they reissued the kit. The new lenses are too large for the original bezels, but are a sloppy fit in the holes. Maybe add some Evergreen strip stock around the perimeter of the lenses as trim, then foil them.

Our three-point economic plan: taxes, fees, and surcharges...

I compared the actual parts. They're different. In the mid-Seventies, AMT went on some cost-cutting mission. Part of it included eliminating clear red taillights and cutting down clear parts trees in a number of kits. They didn't just eliminate parts, they made the associated trees smaller, probably so more of them could be mounted to a base and run at one time. Probably to eliminate a couple of positions in the production area and save money. The Corvair lost its side glass, as well as a number of very nicely done custom headlamp and fog light lenses. The clear shroud was among those parts, and it was probably more work to relocate the original shroud than to just tool a new one and connect it to the window unit on a smaller tree. Other kits reissued in the mid-Seventies also lost side glass and custom lenses. The '65 Grand Prix is another example: it lost all of the headlamp lenses (stock ones were tooled into the bumper/grille), lost the custom rear window, lost the side glass, lost the clear fuel container for the road test version (which wasn't in the reissue anyway). The red taillight lenses were lost too; there were never any stock ones, but the custom ones were engraved into the parts to which they would have been attached.

Same slicks, and, yes, they are marked "10.00 x 15" on the sidewall. The Monogram slicks (Hairy Olds, Boot Hill Express, Li'l Coffin) are exactly the same width (at the tread area) as the Revell slicks, and only marginally taller (1/16", maybe). Some of the Monogram slicks have "9.00 x 15" markings on the molded plastic sidewall insert. Others have no markings. Not sure which kits have what. I've got a pair of the Monogram slicks with the lettered sidewalls set aside for my '57 Ford wagon "street freak gasser". A set of resin, widened Mickey Thompson mag wheels I found at a toy show fit perfectly with those whitewall inserts, and I suspect that many old-school Revell mag wheels designed around the Revell slicks will likewise fit them.

But the clear part in the current issue of the kit (and all issues since the mid-Seventies) is NOT the same part that was in early issues. It was retooled, and the newer part doesn't fit as well as the original.

For the Suburban, the Foose FD-100 chassis might be the best idea, providing you swap the whole frame. For suspension parts only, the Revell '37 Ford coupe has a tubular-arm Mustang II setup in front. I'm pretty certain everything needed goes with the crossmember. The rear suspension in that kit is a C3 Corvette unit. Other possibilities would include a NASCAR kit (tubular A-arm front, Ford axle/"truck arm" rear) and the AMT Wagonrod.

Some mid-Sixties Jo-Han promos were Cycolac, very tough plastic, hard to cut and seems like no cement sticks to it. I'm certain that the Mavericks are styrene though.

That clear shroud isn't the original one for the kit. At some point, the kit was reworked for a "budget" series. A number of clear parts (headlight lenses, side glass) were eliminated, and the shroud was retooled to put it on a smaller clear shot with just the main window unit. Apparently the other parts don't exist, otherwise they would have been put back in later.

The Foose Cadillac chassis is built around the Cadillac's stock frame. Swapping the suspension is a possibility, but you wouldn't want to swap the whole chassis under a later car.

There's only the one issue of the Rambler wagon as a kit. It wasn't offered as a '59 annual kit, and the original Jo-Han didn't offer it in the USA Oldies series (probably for lack of engine/chassis detail). Their X-EL division did sell assembled reproduction promo models. but those don't even have an interior. Some of the leftover X-EL items were sold in unassembled form, but like the assembled version those didn't have interiors. The one issue of the kit was done post-SeVille, by Okey Spaulding's Johan. Accessories like this are usually done as inserts. As I understand it, most of Jo-Han's kit tooling consisted of a small number of mold bases, and a number of inserts had to be assembled upon one of them in order to produce a particular kit. John Haenle was probably the only person who knew how it all worked; with him gone, subsequent owners of the Jo-Han tools were probably wandering around in the desert trying to figure any of it out. SeVille didn't really do anything "new" during their tenure, all they did was repackage stuff that was intact from the end of the Haenle era. Not that there was much left at the end anyway. Okey only had two kits molded: the Rambler wagon, and the snap-together Chrysler Turbine car. The surfboards probably first appeared in the hearse kit in the Seventies (replacing the casket in the first issue), so they would have been an insert.