Mark

The Merc engine has its place in the scheme of things, but not as a stock engine. The oil pan is different from stock to fit the Merc chassis, and it has an early Ford transmission adapted to it. One of the newer tool engines would be a better choice. You'll still probably have to mess with things like exhaust manifolds to get the right combination of parts for the Chrysler. Then, it's on to the underbody...

Is there even a need for a reissue of the complete Ala Kart? Most of us old fogeys who want one probably already have enough parts to build three or four of them. There was only one real one, and it didn't change much so it's not like we'd have a need to build every variation. AMT bought the real one back in the day, partly to get out of paying royalties on it, partly so it wouldn't be updated (if it were, they'd then have to change the kit to keep it current). The current issue jumps out at me because they are highlighting that fenderless version in yellow. I've had the original box with that one on it, never paid attention to it but now it looks interesting.

I haven't had the problems with Moebius kits that some have had, and in the couple of instances where there was a problem they handled it quickly and to my satisfaction. I'd politely disagree with anyone who doesn't think they'll stick with automotive subjects. This isn't Trumpeter, who unfortunately tried to reinvent a lot of things about car kits. Moebius has so far delivered pretty conventional kits, with a bit more detail and some subject matter none of us thought we'd ever see. Still, I wouldn't mind if they'd go to a slightly larger box so everything fits in there without having to be crammed in. Once I open a Moebius kit, the sprues get a thorough examination with some of the extraneous stuff getting cut and tossed so the parts fit in the box without being crushed. That said, I didn't pick up the Melrose Missile hardtop because the California Flash sedan was also announced before either version actually appeared.

The Mini isn't a good comparison. It's an old design, and a combination of British "reliability" and BMW parts/service prices. Even the Mini fanboys know better than to buy them, they lease them and move on to the next "boutique" edition before the "reliability" kicks in. The Business Week numbers are for the year 2015. How far into the year were those reported numbers?

Only issued once, so $22 isn't bad at all if you want one. It's based on an earlier Super Zinger kit, the figure is modified from the Stroker McGurk character included in one of the very early MPC Stroker kits (they did three or four of those if I remember right).

I liked her too, back when her and gravity were getting along better...

No. The nose piece isn't included, probably a few other things also. The fender unit was altered slightly, to eliminate the recess for the side exhaust pipes.

I'm surprised they still make touchup paint in spray cans. You wouldn't catch me trying to touch up a new car with the stuff. Other than minor scratches and road rash, I hadn't used it on a car at all until recently. I did hit the lower rocker panels on my 2004 truck this spring...it looks good for now, but there's a lot of other nastiness that's about to go into full bloom after another winter.

Those early acetate promo models (pre-1964 Jo-Han) shrink a lot. I had the idea of swapping a promo interior into a kit body years ago...it didn't come close to fitting.

This might be an opportunity for GM, if they take advantage of it. A lot of people swore off GM after the bailout, but some of those folks might return to the fold if they can get something that's built here.

Some of us actually like the color. My dad's favorite car ('59 Chevy Belair) was silver. He bought it used, so the color wasn't a choice for him. I've only bought three go-to-work/daily driver vehicles since 1979. The first one ('79 AMC Spirit GT) was ordered as opposed to bought off the lot. After looking over other new and used AMC cars on the lot, I went with silver. I didn't want black. Dark color cars look great when they're clean...trouble is, they're never clean. I looked at three/four year old AMC cars...the red ones were fading, the white ones looked rough, like the finish on a refrigerator (no, AMC didn't still own Kelvinator by then). Thinking about my dad's '59 Chevy, I went with silver and never regretted it. I'd like to have another one of those cars. Next up, an '88 Dodge Dakota. Those trucks were just taking off sales-wise when I wanted to buy one. The dealer I went to had only two on the lot. They offered me a better deal if I'd order one and wait for it. They did a search for one with the options I wanted; the only one they found was midnight blue. No thanks. Now I've got to order the thing, may as well get the color I want. In 2004 I bought another Dakota. Again, they only had a few on the lot, all four wheel drive/extended cab monstrosities in the high twenties price range. I knew what I wanted, again had to order it. I initially chose a metallic beige just to be a little different this time. Oh no, that color is only available on the extended cab models. Again, they did a search for a truck with identical equipment. I was willing to take one in metallic blue, or maybe white, but all they could find was a black one. No thanks, I'll order it and wait for it. I actually do like silver. My other car ('62 Fairlane 500) is metallic brown. I don't think you could have gotten that car in silver, and I wouldn't think of painting it silver...it just wouldn't look good.

The Lindberg Challenger (originally tooled by Palmer, for their PSM brand) was heavily cribbed from MPC's kit, as was their '70 Corvette.

I did say "deep mark". Sanding/polishing out anything that goes too far under the surface will cause distortion. I've sometimes set aside molded clear flat "glass" in favor of clear styrene even when the parts weren't damaged, because of distortion in the as-molded part.

Open it...that way, if there is a problem, you can look into corrective measures now rather than later. If a tire has left a deep mark on a clear part, the part is toast. All of the windows in this car are flat, though, so you can make replacements if need be.

Here's the illustration. It was used twice: cropped, on the first page, then in full size as shown here. The Camaro's hood scoop is too new, they didn't use snorkels yet.

I'm surprised Revell hasn't done anything with these in recent years. I doubt all of them can be reissued; if you take a good look at the stake version, it appears to have been created by altering the der Guber Wagen version. The stake came out in the mid-Seventies: later than the initial issues of the other four, but before the Advent issue of the Patent Pending panel van version. That one was from 1979, which was pretty much the whole period of existence of the Advent brand name.

The AMT body is actually the better one if you want to replicate the stock Fiat body, which a lot of early drag cars used before fiberglass ones were offered. The hood has the stock cooling slats, though with a hole cut in the center. The slats are intact, so the hole can be filled if you are careful. The AMT body also has the full rear window opening and a filler piece for the top. The grille shouldn't be a separate piece, though; on the 1:1 it was stamped as part of the nose section and had a piece of trim attached around it, like a '32-'34 Ford pickup grille. I've played around with the idea of doing a more stock-looking Fiat, with fenders. The front fenders from the Revell Anglia aren't a half-bad fit. Heller should have done a stock Fiat in 1/24 scale; it would have fit right in with the other cars they did. The Revell body is excellent if you want a fiberglass one though; it was supposedly scaled off of a Cal Automotive piece.

The last (Buyers' Choice) reissue of the turbine Indy car didn't have the as-raced color and decal scheme like the first BC and the original issues. The people who wanted to actually build the race car probably bought as many of the first issue as they wanted.

$165, recently, for a '63 Fairlane kit molded in cream. I didn't know about that color, only that there were blue ones in addition to the typical solid white. Had to keep the collection complete (AMT '62-'71 Fairlanes and Torinos, including all reissues, produced by the original AMT company). I don't think anything else came close, except for a couple of promotionals. I don't buy old promos anymore, the ones that come up for sale are usually doctored up (replacement chrome parts, clear gloss applied over scuffed metallic original finish, things like that). They'd be smarter to leave them alone, they're only original once. I had offered $200 for a 1969-issue '63 Chevy II wagon kit once, but that kit turned out to be incomplete so the seller and I agreed on a considerably lower amount. I probably overpaid, but I wanted it at the time and never regretted the deal. There are a few other early eBay deals that came in right around $100 apiece. A lot of other really good items came in lower, but those were bought many years ago. If it's something you don't often see, and you really want it, and can afford it, you don't pay too much...you only pay it too soon.

I just happened to have the magazine in question right here, sitting on top of the pile in a small copy paper box (perfect size for magazines). It's CARS Illustrated, Volume 4 number 5. No date on the magazine, but the table of contents mentions that the "next" issue went on sale October 21, 1986. The real name of the magazine is "Schneider Performance Series"; it was published as CARS Illustrated and MUSCLECARS in alternating months, I'd bet to use the same bulk mail permit. Joe Oldham isn't in this one (hadn't he moved on to Popular Mechanics by then?). Schneider Publishing ran the article in one of their other magazines a while later, I remember the second printing was edited to delete a couple of F-bombs that made it to print in the CARS Illustrated version. Trivia: Joe Oldham was editor of CAR MODEL briefly, in the '67-'68 time frame.

A company called Scuderia Scale did this body in the early Sixties...in two pieces of vacuum-formed styrene! It was sold as a slot car body, but I remember seeing an article on their products that mentioned using them for shelf-model builds like any other slot car body. The two pieces join right where you'd expect them to, at the styling crease above the wheel openings that goes all the way around the car. It's pretty well done for what it is (it was done with a "reverse mold" similar to the way I did some hoods years ago). Still, I'd like to see how long an assembled one lasted as a slot car. Mine is still in the package, but has one split in the lower body half at the top of the wheel opening...

I picked one up yesterday. It's the roadster/stock height coupe kit, which includes the long pickup bed as an option for the stock roadster. It's molded in black, and for the rod version includes only four blackwall tires (no pad printing, no slicks). Decals are mostly in white, lettering for the garage/oil company, all on a Three Stooges theme.

The hand brake lever was in the way. That, and most people entered and exited the car from the curb side in those days. A lot of cars didn't have locking outer handles on the drivers' side until much later.

Regular box kit is yellow, flat box kit is white. Costs a couple bucks more, but has some other added features too.

The Tweedy Pie body is slightly different from the Parts Pack body in that it has a couple of notches at the back, to fit the frame in that kit. It also has notches at the front. The TP interior bucket fits the Parts Pack body pretty well. Both bodies have the passenger/curb side door molded separately.