Mark

MPC. AMT didn't make a '68 Impala kit; they made a "for 1968" "Chevrolet SS 427" which was a custom-only modification of their original '67 kit. The body was detrimmed (and had no rear window opening!), interior was custom only, and no stock bumpers were included. MPC made the Chevrolet promotional models for '68, and AMT couldn't get advance information on the cars MPC was doing as promos. AMT's Camaro and Firebird kits were "for 1968" also, meaning they weren't replicas of 1968 cars, but rather "something we're throwing out there for the 1968 model year".

The first issue box calls the sedan a 1940, and mentions "optional 1939 parts". It's splitting hairs, but they weren't necessarily saying that a correct '39 could be built.

While you are there, check the automotive and paint areas. They've got 3M wet-or-dry sandpaper in various grits from 220 to 2000. Made in USA or Canada, 3M brand, not some no-name Chinesium junk that falls apart when you dip it in the water (even though that stuff usually says "wet or dry" on the back)...

Around here, they've still got those (except the police cars) from a couple of months ago.

The Keystone wheels were probably made the same way that Cragar made their S/S mags. The center would be die cast aluminum, the outer rim steel. When Cragar cast the aluminum centers, they first put pieces of steel in the casting die and then poured the aluminum. When the center was pulled from the die, it would have steel inserts cast into it, but the ends of the inserts stuck out at the perimeter of the casting. They then welded those steel prongs to the steel rim. I don't know if the center and rim were plated separately and then welded together, or if the wheel was chromed as a unit.

Non-acetone nail polish remover.

Chevrolet sponsored the Derby back then. I remember them pulling out of it a few years later, after the winner was caught cheating. If Chevrolet is still not connected with it, Round 2 probably couldn't get permission to copy the original box more closely.

There were two issues of the '49 Ford with the "Gas Man" drag version. One was called "49'er" and the other was the Tijuana Border Police. Those didn't have the spinner caps ('61 Dodge units if I remember right), they were replaced with Appliance Plating slotted wheels. The slots radiated outwards from the center. The Monogram Paddy Wagon kit had a similar wheel, but in two different sizes (the Ford had four wheels in one size). This reissue should have those wheels and the Gas Man decals, and will likely have whitewall tires too.

If you look at brochure or PR pictures of stock muscle cars, the tires will usually look small. With the '68 Roadrunner for example, the 383 car would have had 14" wheels and tires with the 15" units reserved for the Hemi cars. I don't think anything came with 60 series tires stock until 1970, and even then not everything would have had them.

It might be a Strombecker or Hawk kit. I'm pretty certain one or both of those companies made go-kart kits at the height of their popularity in the early Sixties.

In the original Graveyard Ghoul Duo kit, the dragster was called the "Overtaker", the Koach was the "Body Snatcher". I don't think the parts were changed from the Munsters versions in any way, but the decals were different.

One of my ex-bosses had the bright idea to put in a soda machine, in the shop area (of a roofing company). Cheapness phase one was to buy one of those cheap mechanical machines that sits on a table, instead of a real machine like you see everywhere else. Cheapness phase two was to go to Pennsylvania to buy the soda, because it was cheaper there and they didn't have a deposit on the cans. I think he was figuring on turning in the discarded cans anyway, and collecting the deposit. You could get away with it back then, but now it's illegal. The recycling machines are more sophisticated now too, they can tell which containers are deposit and which aren't. Cheapness phase three was to charge 75 cents a can, then put in a change machine that only gave 75 cents change when you put in a dollar bill. One of the (many) dirtbag employees figured out how to reach up into the machine and get a free soda. The other monkeys watch, learn, and imitate. Boss wonders why he's coming up short every week. Someone (probably sniffing the boss up for a loan) rats out the soda thieves, and another employee (a kid who was as honest as the day is long) shows the boss how it's done. The kid could do it because he had skinny arms and could reach into the machine. Boss doesn't confront the dirtbags, but instead chews out the kid who showed him what was being done! No good deed goes unpunished. The machine got pulled out that afternoon. He gave away the leftover soda. I cracked one open, it was flat.

The other day, I ordered a couple of Model Car Garage photoetch sets. While I was at it, I threw in the one that I mentioned above. Though the MCG packaging shows the earlier Mako Shark (the one Ertl did the snap kit and retro promo of), the set is actually for the old MPC kit we're talking about here. The set includes "MARK IV 427" and "ZL-1" emblems, door handles, and Mako Shark and Corvette scripts. There aren't any big, fiddly pieces like grilles included, so the set is small which keeps the price down. I only paid $7.50 for it, it's definitely worth getting if you are planning on building one of these kits. Now, anyone have any information on the correct exterior colors?

Those are ex-Palmer kits. They're being called 1/25 scale now (not sure what Palmer called them). The Coronado supposedly measures out at around 1/27 or 1/28 scale, but should look okay with a 1/25 scale car. I'd bet there's not much difference in the true, measured scale between either of those boats, and a '59-'60 annual Cadillac, Lincoln, or Imperial kit. The original Palmer kits didn't include trailers, from what I have heard/seen. Scratching or modifying something to work shouldn't be too tough.

No reference to the TV show. Those kits were sold in a box like that for most of the Seventies (a staple item on K-Mart shelves, along with the '57 Chevy and the Red Alert Chevelle!). No reference to the Munsters because the show wasn't in reruns everywhere. The original box gave both cars different names: the dragster was the Overtaker, I forget what the Munster Koach was called even though this came up in a conversation a couple of weeks ago.

Same tires, but I don't think there are eight of them in the Mustang. You'd have to look at the parts breakdown on the underside of the box. The parts pack tires are printed on both sides; one side with the size designation, the other without. The Mustang's tires will be printed with the size designation on one side, blank on the other side. The Roadrunner tires are the larger of the two sizes, printed red stripe on one side, blank on the other side.

Oops...got those confused. I think the "ultra bright" stuff came out, then they brought out the "new improved chrome" afterwards, after getting some complaints about the "ultra bright" foil. The "ultra bright" foil is the one to steer clear of. Now that I'm thinking of it, isn't all of the regular foil labeled "new improved chrome" now? Actually, I didn't think the "new improved" stuff was any better...I never had any issues with the original.

The "matte aluminum" definitely has a different look as opposed to the "chrome" varieties. I'd compare them to looking at a piece of regular kitchen aluminum foil; the "chrome" would look like the front side, the "matte aluminum" would look like the back side. I used the matte finish on the "washboard" side trim of a '57 Chevy, with the regular chrome foil on the rest of the exterior trim. There's a definite contrast. The "new improved chrome" foil is difficult to use in my opinion, more brittle and less flexible than the regular chrome. I've stuck with the regular chrome since trying the "improved" stuff.

I looked at the parts breakdown on the box bottom...there are what look like separate inserts for the tires. I'm not getting this kit though, so maybe someone who did buy it will read this thread and chime in on this.

The old Corvair annual kits and the Get Smart Sunbeam used the old AMT compact car tire. The tire used in some recent AMT kits like the Ohio George Ranchero and Piranha Spy Car are similar, but not the same. The old kit tire had a slight ridge on the center hole. The Ranchero uses the old promo/Craftsman series tire which has a channel around the center hole, plus a filler piece on the back side. For the Ranchero, the filler piece is trimmed out and a whitewall printed on. The very slight difference between the two tires is why the newer tire is sometimes a sloppy fit on older kit wheels.

Jo-Han '68 Cadillac.

I wouldn't bet on seeing the street machine version parts included. The mag wheels shown aren't the ones included in that kit. The street machine has a bunch of parts that are different from the stock version; I doubt both versions plus the derby car could fit into a regular size box.

Model Car Garage offers a small photoetch set for a Mako Shark. It's probably intended for the AMT/Ertl snap kit of the earlier Shark, but from the looks of it several items could be used on this one. It's under ten bucks (no grille or other large items) so it's worth looking into if you intend to jump into one of these kits. I've got a couple of originals, the Street Shark, and probably a couple of the more recent ones...should check them all against one another and see exactly what revisions were made to which parts. Some of the chassis and engine parts in these kits were also used in the Carl Casper Turbo Shark ('63-'67 custom) kit, later reissued (only once) as the Demon 'Vette.

Quick fix if you want a 100% STOCK MPC '75-'77 Corvette: swap in the engine/chassis from a '78-'82 annual kit. They're out there, if you pound the ground you should be able to turn one up for less than the price of a current kit. The '78 kit was retooled (not based on earlier kits) but the chassis is very similar to the '68-'77 parts. Stock smogger small-block and automatic transmission, stock single cat-con exhaust with dual mufflers so that you see smoke coming out of two tailpipes while it's warming up on a cold morning.

AMT was doing a lot of TV/movie car kits in the mid/late Sixties. After the two Munsters car kits which were wildly successful, they had a few misses. My Mother the Car: show lasted a full season but the kit doesn't seem to have set the world on fire. Those could be had in unassembled form at around "current kit price" into the Nineties. The Hero Imperial: show lasted six episodes, kit probably dead on arrival, hit the shelves after the show was cancelled. T.H.E. Cat Corvette: don't know how long the show lasted but again, kit doesn't seem to have set any sales records. I doubt the Get Smart Sunbeam did too much sales-wise back then either. The only surprise would have been that it was tooled from scratch. All the other car kits (except the Munsters and Man from U.N.C.L.E.) were modified from existing kits. The Sunbeam was issued only four times: Get Smart, yellow Lesney issue Tiger, Ertl Blueprinter issue, and the current Round 2 issue.