Mark

Make that five: the Sandbagger pictured above is based on Don Garlits' Wynn's Jammer. If I remember right, the chassis for that one is assembled upside-down compared to the Garlits dragster...

I can't remember the names of any of those, but I think there were four: the T-bucket, the Piranha chassis one, another based on the Surf Woody chassis (which does look like a Logghe Brothers chassis without the roll cage), and one based on the Drag-u-la chassis.

The two Schartman kits are actually the same car. When he was getting help from Ford, it ran as a Mercury. When he was racing on his own dime, he switched it over to Ford Maverick trim.

I'd like to see those "Y-block" cylinder heads next to a pair of stock ones. Just from that one picture, anyone who has ever seen a stock Y-block head will know that the intake port configuration on those new heads differs drastically from the originals. Impressive nevertheless, but not much in common with the original design.

The Jo-Han version of that wheel is the best by far, better than even the ones in the AMT '70 Impala annual. Unfortunately, Jo-Han never put that wheel into any other kit.

It's based on a Ford concept car, the 1966 Mach I, which resembled a '67 fastback with a chopped top. AMT did do a Mach I kit in '67; a new body combined with the chassis from their 1966 kit. It was molded in red. It was next issued as an Autolite spark plug promotional item, and was called "Autolite Hi-Per Special". It was molded in metallic blue and was basically the Mach I concept with different wheels. The Superstang pictured is the third version, was issued in 1969 and was molded in yellow. It has some drag parts added but still has the '66 Mustang chassis with molded-in exhaust detail. There is no straight axle setup; that came in MPC Mustang kits (AMT and MPC were separate, competing companies back then). There was a fourth version of this one issued in the Seventies called Iron Horse. That one was molded in white and had the drag parts removed, basically back to looking like a '67 Mustang with a chopped top. The chassis and engine in the currently available '66 Mustang coupe kit are the same parts that were in these Mustangs, combined with the body and interior from the original dealer promotional model.

Okey's Johan (no hyphen) kits, except for the '59 Rambler wagon and snap Chrysler Turbine car, were assembled from stockpiled parts that were molded prior to his acquisition of the Jo-Han assets. Jo-Han kits from the pre-Seville era did occasionally have parts molded in two colors however. I've had a few USA Oldies '62 F-85 coupe kits with most parts molded in black, and a small sprue molded in white or tan that included two plastic rod axles and the air cleaner. The air cleaner in the Oldies issue is different from the original; it originated with the '63 Starfire and was used in that and both F-85 kits ('62 coupe and '61 wagon).

Decals in many post-1970 Jo-Han kits were a crapshoot. Sometimes you got decals that match the box art illustrations; more often they didn't match. As I said earlier, I have never seen a Jo-Han decal sheet that matches the Rapid Randy Comet box art. Some of the Rapid Randy kits I have seen had the gold Mr. Gasket sheet, a couple of them had the Fast Eddie Comet sheet, most however had the Comet funny car sheet with the blue side panel decals. Whatever they had at the time is what went into the box. As for the chassis, for the era they were pretty good. Some of the early MPC Pro Stock kits had chassis with the stock exhaust system detail molded in. Jo-Han's Sox & Martin '71 Barracuda notched things up a bit (because it was issued only as that; no stock version). MPC's Motown Missile 'Cuda, which came out two years later, had a stock chassis with molded-in exhaust.

The Mr. Gasket decal sheet is from the first issue of the Comet, the '71 annual (one of two '71 Comet kits) that could be built stock (except for Maverick wheel covers) or Pro Stock. That kit still had the side trim on the body, as well as the chassis with molded-in exhaust system and interior with molded-in seats. All of that was carried over from the promotional model (which did have correct wheel covers). The "Comet" decal sheet with the blue panels on it is from the "other" '71 annual, which could only be built as a funny car. No side trim on the body, hood molded shut. I have never seen a "Rapid Randy" decal sheet in any of these kits, and I've looked at a bunch of them. "Rapid Randy" is probably a takeoff on "Fast Eddie". Jo-Han had deals with a number of owners/drivers in the early Seventies to put their names on decal sheets, including Ed Schartman. Jo-Han went heavily into racing subject matter after losing the last of their Chrysler Corporation promotional model business after 1970. Revell and MPC later had a few of the same owners/drivers under contract (Mickey Thompson, Gene Snow, Don Nicholson). The story I heard was that Revell took Jo-Han to court to force them to stop producing the Thompson and Snow funny cars, and Jo-Han then changed the boxes and decal sheets to get their names off of the kits so they could still crank them out. That doesn't explain their removing Schartman's name from the Comet kit though, as nobody else was using his name after Jo-Han. I think the Comet was the last car he raced back then. The bucket seats in the Pro Stock kits are dune buggy items; they're super light weight. Those are accurate (probably the best ones tooled by anybody back then) and were used in 1:1 scale by most Pro Stock teams back then.

Moebius won't do the Continental...no racing history, very few of them customized, no alternate body styles save a couple of convertible conversions. As much as we might like to see one, you can't really be too upset about nobody having done one. One of the Mints did a decent diecast in 1/24 scale, and Ideal did a 1/20 scale kit way back when. The Ideal kit is simplified, but the one I saw a long while back still looked pretty decent. I think Modelhaus sold a resin copy of the complete kit years ago, but no longer offers the body now.

I've heard that the HOT ROD issue of the pickup has a different (retooled) chrome tree from earlier issues, and the chrome cylinder head on that tree does not have "Winfield" lettering. That would pretty much make it look like a chrome-plated stock head. The original tree was (supposedly) restored to the Rat Rod and subsequent issues, and so has the Winfield head with the lettering. The Rat Rod and later issues have a 100% stock closed pickup cab. Earlier issues (including the original) have a cab without the filler piece around the rear window. That panel unbolts from the back panel of the cab, and some guys did take it out and fit a bigger rear window. But the small window is more correct for stock. Unfortunately, only the first issue had the stock wheels (different from those in the '31 kits), and the tires included were made of that nasty Revell plastic-softening vinyl. No issue of any of the pickup (or the '31 sedan/woody/delivery, for that matter) include any pedals (gas, brake, clutch).

The main body is the same (mostly)...check the area below the cargo door. Earlier issue delivery kits had rear bumper brackets molded to the lower body. The Round 2 Three Stooges issue has the body notched in that area to allow the usage of the coupe's bumper brackets that are molded as part of the chassis. I think the alteration was made for the RIDES issue pictured. If you have the delivery's rear bumper, you could cut the lower pan area from the damaged body and piece it into the RIDES one.

This kit is closer to 1/20 than 1/24, probably to allow for the motorized version. Monogram produced it just before they started doing the stock Thirties Fords, with which they settled on 1/24 scale. It wouldn't be too tough to whip one together in 1/25 scale...

Same tires that were in the MPC Firebird and Camaro annual kits from '73 through '78 or so.

The AMT-boxed Jo-Han kits were just that...produced by Jo-Han and packaged in AMT boxes with AMT decals and instruction sheets. Parts in these were not bagged (AMT started bagging unplated parts around 1969; Jo-Han kit parts were never bagged until the Seville era). The plastic used was the more brittle Jo-Han type also. Had these been manufactured by AMT at their facility, parts would have been bagged like other AMT kits, and the plastic would have been similar to what AMT was using in that time frame. If anyone out there knows which company initiated the deal, why it was done, why particular kits were or were not shared, who ended the deal, and why it ended...they've kept it to themselves. All of the higher-ups from that era in both companies are now deceased. Jo-Han started the USA Oldies series in '74; maybe they wanted to keep those for themselves (or maybe AMT didn't want to try selling those under their brand name). Jo-Han kits sold by AMT include Olds Toronados ('67, '68, and '70), Olds 4-4-2 ('69 and '70), two-seater AMX ('68-'70), "Coke bottle" Javelin/AMX ('74), and non-stock items like the Hornet hatchback funny car ('73), pro stock Maverick, Dodge Challenger funny car, '72 Torino NASCAR, and Mark Donohue Trans-Am Javelin/AMX. Some were offered by Jo-Han at the same time the AMT versions were sold; others (two-seater AMX for example) were not sold by Jo-Han in their packaging while AMT sold them. The kit-sharing started in late '66 with the '67 Toronado which was included in AMT's '67 annual kit lineup, and ended with the NASCAR Torino, pro stock Maverick, and Challenger funny car in the AMT '74 catalog. It's been a while since I looked, but I don't think any of those kits carried over into the AMT '75 catalog.

I worked for a commercial (no residential work) roofer for nine years...same story. Among other things, I did the payroll and sometimes got involved with HR. Guys wouldn't show up when needed, would disappear during the winter so they wouldn't be called in for repair jobs (they'd even change phone numbers). But when springtime rolled around, they were back, often owing money that the owner loaned out over the winter. I told the boss to try not calling a couple of the worst ones back, to make an example and bring the rest into line...nope, can't do that because they're hunting buddies. I'd set up savings deductions with the credit union for these clowns; when I went to the CU office to drop off the check, half of them are standing in line waiting to withdraw the money. It's not perfect anywhere else, though...hard to hire good people when you are competing with "off the books" work (no taxes, no child support deducted) and/or just sitting at home waiting for the monthly check...

The automotive swap meets are a mixed bag. Most times, you'll walk away empty-handed after seeing half a dozen guys trying to resell stuff they picked up at the clearance store, but then again there's that one-in-a-hundred deal that makes you forget the previous 99 trips...

I had one (actually, still do)...it was great for taking to the outdoor car shows. I could stick it in my pocket, and it was easy to use and took decent pictures...

I'd be patient and wait a bit...I'm betting Moebius will be doing the A-990 themselves at some point. Extra Lindberg underbodies are good for slipping under Jo-Han bodies, though.

No Cougar II kits in my area (would have snagged one if I'd seen them), but I did pick up an MPC HOT ROD '73 Mustang funny car. Mostly Lindberg stuff (I'd have grabbed a Dakota had it been molded in white, got enough red ones!), only a handful of Round 2 items (couple of curbside 'Vettes, couple of snap-together Willys, and the Mustang).

If the stock 330 box has a red car, the kit will have the A-100 bucket seats. (Earlier) kits with a light blue car on the box will have the bench seat.

Color is definitely different; the Model King issue is white, probably the first time that kit was molded in white. Decals are also different, tires might be different, rest of kit should be the same.

A lot of swap meet and eBay sellers try to sell recently dropped kits at inflated prices..."it's out of production, you know!" The reason it's out of production is because people stopped buying them. I was at the Three Rivers show/swap last Sunday...a couple of vendors had kits on their tables that I have been seeing every year since I started going. There are a couple of sellers at NNL East that air their stuff out every year too. I still manage to spend some money at both events; other guys were there to actually sell stuff...

The Matador has been reissued a couple of times, but the later issues are different from the first couple of issues. The FIRST issue (T-430 "Penske Matador") was issued before the first showroom stock one. The body has recessed areas where the door handles go (handle detail wasn't engraved yet!) and doesn't have any emblems. There's another Penske issue in a different box (probably different product number too) that was issued after the '75 annual kit. The second Penske issue probably has the same parts as the first one, except the body would have the door handle and emblem detail. That version is the one that was included in the racing team set with the trailer and Chevy van. The later version (Bobby Allison Sportsman) was done after the last ('77) annual, and has some different parts (wheels, grille, among other things) from the early Penske issues. Lesney/AMT did the Allison version, and made some alterations including putting a fuel cell on the chassis and wiping the emblems from the body. The showroom stock versions can't be reissued unless those changes are undone. AMT/Ertl reissued the Allison version a couple of times. The early Penske versions (all should be molded in white) should be worth more than the later Allison version (AMT/Ertl molded in gray; not sure about the first Lesney issue).

The Seventies reissues have '68 side markers on the body; a couple of those were called '68s in spite of the '69 hood, grille, and taillight panel. Several resin casters made '68 conversions for those in the past; if you scour the tables at swap meets, you might turn one up (I did, a few years ago). The '68 Hemi Dart chassis and engine are way ahead of the parts in those kits, and should fit without too much trouble (wheelbase might need adjustment).