Mark

And, don't use super glue on windshields in the future...

I don't see two-doors specifically excluded, and Nomads have been mentioned. So, I'll throw in the Revell '49 Mercury and '57 Ford. For four-door wagons, Jimmy Flintstone offers a couple of Fords ('57 and '59). He's also got an Edsel two-door wagon body that fits the Revell '57 Ford kit and uses other parts from the AMT Edsel kit.

I didn't mention the one-piece window unit because I was comparing the two most recent versions (Cobra fastback and Modified Stocker). Only the annual kit (which was a GT) had the one-piece unit. The Modified Stocker series kits had only a windshield, sometimes half a windshield. Did dirt track racers really cut windshields in half? The '69 annual kit didn't have a wire axle in front. AMT tried something new for '69: aluminum "stub axles" that went through the chassis on each side, from the inside out, into the inner wheels. Looks like they were trying to eliminate the hole through the engine block. The stubs didn't work, they left the front wheels flopping around. The Modified Stocker went back to the wire axle in front. The annual GT kit had a "rear grille" just above the rear bumper, in the area between the taillights. The Modified Stocker used the part as-is. Ertl wiped the "rear grille" detail for the Cobra issue, leaving that flat panel that had to be painted. The '68 annual kit didn't have that: the taillight trim and bumper were one piece, the gas cap and the panel between the taillights was molded as part of the body, right down to the bumper.

Too much reliance on spellcheck, particularly in publishing. If you pore over a copy of Rodder's Journal for example, you can find one of those "wrong word that sounds like the correct one" errors...

The far left one looks larger than the next one over; Monogram '58 T-Bird, maybe? Second one might be AMT '64 Galaxie, possibly '64 LeMans convertible. Might be in the '64 GTO hardtop too, but I can't remember tripping over one of those recently. Third one over is definitely Jo-Han. It was in the reissue '63 Plymouth (annual used something else). But, Jo-Han re-used nearly everything. I believe that wheel came in a couple of Sixties AMC Ambassador annual kits back in the day. The one on the right might be Revell or Monogram...looks bigger than an AMT wheel.

Those kits must have really bombed back in the day, else they would have been reissued. The billet, fenderless tub would likely stink up the joint sales-wise if reissued, but if either body style could be brought back in the coupe's full-fendered configuration, they might have something here...

Some "traditional" suspension (and engine) bits can be sourced from the Lindberg 1/16 scale T-bucket kits ("Bull Horn", etc) which are essentially scaled-down from the Monogram 1/8 scale Big T. The Lindberg tires aren't so hot, but then again AMT had some decent ones in their 1/16 scale kits...

#1 and #2 are custom wheels from AMT kits. I'm not positive, but #1 is probably from an Imperial, or maybe a '63 or '64 Riviera. For #2, I'm leaning towards '67 or '68 Thunderbird. #3, I'm thinking Monogram snap '82 Corvette. #4 looks like Aurora Jag XK-E. #5 is Jo-Han; those came in a cornucopia of kits, most recently the '68 Chrysler reissue (they were in the '68 annual too). #5 is probably Revell. No AMT kit I'm aware of had those. #6 is AMT Chevelle: not the snap hardtop which was an SS, but rather the wagon or El Camino. #7 is Jo-Han Cadillac, they did promos and snap kits '77-'79. I'm not aware of any changes in the wheels year to year, but maybe I'm not paying attention. #8 is a custom wheel from an AMT Barracuda kit. '65 definitely, maybe '66 also. #9 is a custom wheel from an MPC '57/'60 Corvette. Those shared the knockoff center with the stock wheel covers.

The Tamiya engine is 1/24 scale while the Revell pickup is 1/25, so count on having to do a stretch job. The inline engine accentuates the length ahead of the cab anyway, so might as well make the most of it. I wanted to dump a Viper engine into a Plymouth Duster underbody awhile back. There's a guy who has been bringing a Viper mill to one of the local swap meets the last few years...sitting on a stand, it really didn't look that much longer than a V8. Should be a piece of cake...not! If I get back around to that one, I'll probably hack the firewall a bit and cheat the radiator forward as much as I can. The whole thing was to go under an early Barracuda body...

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.