Mark

The original issue of this kit had the hollow Goodyear Stock Car Special tires (tooled in the late Sixties, last seen as rear tires in the Meyers Manx kit) with plastic sidewall caps (similar to those included in a number of mid-Sixties AMT kits) with Firestone lettering.

Collectible Automobile peppers you with those renewal notices...years ago, they were all the same: "it's a good time to renew your subscription to Collectible Automobile". Good time for them, that is, because you've still got nearly a year to go on the current subscription! I've dropped a few magazines lately, even the cheap ones. Rod & Custom bit the dust, the replacement (Street Rodder) is worthless. Thankfully I only got three or four issues after R&C went away. Right now, I get two model car magazines, Rodders' Journal, Collectible Automobile, and Hemmings Classic Car. HCC doesn't measure up to Special Interest Autos (which it replaced); so it might be the next one to get the bullet...

I'm surprised the Aussie promo has "1960" license plate detail...weren't cars sold there by model designation and not model year?

The Wilhelm's Wonder and King T weren't reissued after the individual MPC issues. I'm surprised MPC didn't update the Wilhelm kit to replicate the 1968 version that shared the AMBR trophy that year. The chassis in those two kits formed the root stock for a mess of MPC show car/street rod kits. The box art on AMT's mid-Sixties kits was usually great, but they did have a few clinkers like the MPC-produced kits, and my "favorite", the '27 T/XR-6 double kit, with its linoleum-gray box and bland fonts...

MPC was founded by several ex-AMT employees. The first few kits ('28 Ford sedan, Dream Rod, '65 Coronet) were sold in AMT boxes; apparently the people running the two companies remained on good terms at first. MPC kit #1 ('64 Corvette) was sold in MPC packaging because AMT already had '64 Corvette kits of their own, based on their promotional model work. If you look at the promotional model side of the business, the creation of new/separate companies seems to make sense. AMT started with mainly Ford work. To get more of the GM work (specifically Chevrolet, which would seem to have been the biggest prize out there) SMP was created. SMP then took most of the Chevy business from PMC. SMP was bought and folded into AMT once it became apparent to everyone interested that the two were pretty much one anyway, and having both Ford and Chevrolet promo business didn't seem to cause any conflicts of interest. MPC was founded in 1963, with the first kits appearing in '64. Their first promo contract (for '65) was Dodge, swiped from Jo-Han. Maybe Chrysler didn't want to put their promo model business into the hands of a company that already had Ford and the bulk of GM, maybe a few people at AMT figured that out and struck out on their own with the idea of getting that business? It's just a thought; the principal people involved are all gone now so we'll never know for certain. Chrysler had thrown SMP a couple of bones in those years (Imperial, Valiant) but stayed with Jo-Han for Dodge through '64, and some of Plymouth through '70. The first few MPC kits were marketed by AMT because the latter had distribution and contacts that were far superior to anything a new company (MPC) would have had, never mind that the new company was being run by old hands who knew what they were doing. Maybe MPC didn't have marketing people at that stage, so they would then have concentrated their efforts on product instead, leaving a little profit "on the table" by selling through AMT in order to work around the lack of depth in the marketing area. Actual tooling going back and forth did happen once in a while, but not often. The early AMT-boxed MPC kits ('28 Ford, etc) were manufactured by MPC. All of the AMT-boxed Jo-Han kits (Olds Toronados and 4-4-2s, two-seater AMXs, etc) were produced by Jo-Han. One instance of actual tooling going from one company to another might be the Plymouth Barracuda and Chevy Fleetside pickup (AMT for '67, MPC for '68). AMT had a Fleetside again for '69, but that one was different (though very similar). The Cougar funny car is probably just a case of two companies doing the same subject matter with similar looking results. Back then the funny car bodies had to stay pretty close to stock in terms of dimensions, so it's not inconceivable that two competing companies would measure a '67 Cougar and come up with bodies that were pretty close.

I've picked up kits there from time to time (especially with the 50% off deal), the selection is not the greatest but they do carry a lot of "basic" stuff that is worth getting. There's lots of other stuff to pick over: X-Acto knives and blades, paint brushes, paint, flocking and embossing powder, adhesives, airbrush paint bottles, display cases, wire, small tools...most times, you can find something there that you didn't know that you needed...

None of these kits ever had the windshield wiper detail removed, then put back on. The '67 Cyclone and '63 Tempest have the wiper detail removed (as well as other emblems and script), and the F-85 roadster body has everything removed including panel lines. The Falcon, Mustang fastback, Barracuda, Nova, Barracuda, Chevelle, and Edsel bodies have always had the molded-in wiper detail. The Modified Stocker Chevelle did have the wiper detail removed, but the funny car version of that body still had it. It's even illustrated in the box art.

Measure, measure, and measure again. The bodies should be the same, but the kits were done 35 years apart by different people at competing companies, so their interpretations will likely differ just enough to be frustrating. I was thinking of a Olds Indy 500 pace car convertible, using the '51 Chevy convertible windshield, but haven't compared the two kits yet.

The Advent Anglia and Thames panel truck gassers I had didn't include plated parts, nor does my Porsche 911 ("plated" tree was molded in silver in all three). The '29 Ford pickup and John Buttera '27 Ford touring do have plated parts.

Bottom line...if you feel the product is overpriced, or otherwise not to your liking...nobody is forcing you to buy it. I haven't seen any of the parts packs (nor any Round 2 car kits, for that matter) in closeout stores, so they must have a handle on the market for these things. I've purchased a number of them, and have never paid anywhere near retail for any of them. It pays to shop around...

The early issues (through the mid-Seventies Modern Classic) had separate red taillight lenses and clear backup lenses. I'm surprised the Modern Classic issue has those, because other kits in that series ('68 Shelby GT500, '57 T-Bird, '53 Studebaker) have the lens detail engraved into the taillight bezels. AMT was on a cost-cutting mission during that period, and unfortunately a number of kits got that treatment. The Modern Classic and Reggie Jackson issue Avanti kits have a number of optional parts deleted (stock version remained intact). Most of those parts were restored to the Prestige and Millennium issues, but the Halibrand wheels didn't come back until the Round 2 reissue.

I don't remember ever hearing so much griping about Pegasus wheel/tire sets going for $8-9, or American SATCO tire sets fetching $6-7 when they were available...

The Edsel and F-85 use the Chevelle chassis, wheels included. In those kits the Chevelle bumpers are blocked off of the plated tree, and the F-85 bumpers are on a cut down tree from the Cutlass annual kit. The Chevelle/F-85/Edsel rear wheels are five-slot deep Halibrands with two bolt patterns, one of which is blocked off. The altered wheelbase '67 Cyclone and mid-engine '66 Barracuda have rear wheels that are similar, though both of those kits' wheels have slightly larger slots.

I just looked some of this stuff over a couple of weeks ago. I'd never bothered to check the wheelbase on the Nova versus the Chevelle, because I knew they were different. The Chevelle just had to be longer...then I checked the parts...wheelbases are the same, length of the overhang at the rear is the same. I've got the F-85 roadster (bought a complete one in a waterlogged box at Toledo many years ago), and have pieced together a Chevelle from a couple of started/incomplete ones. That leaves the Edsel...found an unused body (there are a couple of changes from the annual, you have to see one to know what they are) and a couple of other parts at Hershey a couple of years ago, bought resin copies of the parts unique to that kit (outhouse door spoiler, busted ladder, mud flaps) on eBay as well as finding a partial decal sheet at another show. I wanted to get the right chassis for it too, seeing as how I'm so close otherwise. I've got a few of the Novas and Tempests, just never bothered to check the chassis even though they looked similar. I did find another wide front axle, and I think I've got enough of the right wheels (if not, I'll cast some). I never thought I'd round up a complete set of those AMT altered wheelbase cars prior to the Model King reissues popping up...between those and the parts I turned up, I'm pretty much there now...

The Chevelle interior bucket (used in the F-85 and Edsel also) is longer and wider than the Nova/Tempest piece, but will fit the chassis.

Similar, but not exactly the same. The Chevelle had a supercharger instead of injectors, it had different wheels, and its front axle is wider than the Nova's. The Chevelle chassis was shared with the F-85 roadster and jokey '58 Edsel funny cars, the Nova chassis was used in the '63 Tempest also. The Falcon and Mustang each had their own chassis. That said, the Nova/Tempest chassis can be used under a Chevelle, F-85, or Edsel. The wheelbase is the same, and the frame fits the mounting lugs on the bottom of the interior. If you have the wheels, front axle, and supercharger parts from the Chevelle, those will fit with the Nova chassis/engine parts.

The last issue with all of the Stylizing parts was the first Pepper Shaker issue. The box showed the drag version in green with a black roof, and without the front bumper. The second Pepper Shaker had a turquoise car on the box, with a front bumper. Both have the same stock number (T-280), as does the next issue after those. But only the one with the green/black car on the box has the Stylizing parts, putty, little piece of sandpaper, and peel/stick upholstery material.

The Switchers sedan/sedan delivery body isn't as wide at the rear as it ought to be. Revell got it more right with their sedans, both the chopped Orange Crate and the newer one.

The engine has the stock exhaust manifolds molded as part of the engine block. AMT's '36 Ford kit has its stock engine done in the same way.

I've done a lot of casting (both for myself, and to sell) and DO use talc...but not during the mold making process.

There were no full size Olds (or Buick) wagons in that period, and the midsize body was narrower than the Toronado...so the Pontiac body would have been the biggest one available.

The last "Jo-Han kit in an AMT box" was the T-391 "Torino Stock Racer" (NASCAR version of the '72 Torino) which appeared in the 1975 AMT catalog.

If you are really into Mavericks, Jo-Han produced several variations of their kit. The '70 annual could be built stock or as a funny car, and had a six-cylinder engine for the stock version (1:1 wasn't offered with a V8 until '71). If you build the stock version, the leftover parts include a complete funny car chassis complete with engine. For '71, they did a Comet annual, stock or Pro Stock. Again the stock version had the straight six. The stocker had Maverick wheel covers (promo model had the correct ones though). There were also '71 Comet and Maverick "annuals" that could be built only as a funny car. A stock/Pro Stock '71 Maverick was announced but was not produced. Next up was an Eddie Schartman Pro Stock Maverick, still with the early style grille. This kit had the gutted interior and chassis like the later kits, and had a bunch of parts that never appeared again like the Motor Wheel Spyder mags and a hood with a small scoop. For '72. Jo-Han issued the Dyno Don Maverick and Schartman Comet kits that, except for decals, stayed in Jo-Han's catalog for many years. Throw in the hard to find AMT issue Maverick, and you've got ten different versions by my count (this includes the decal changes to the later versions). Which reminds me...does anyone have the later version Jo-Han Comet with "Rapid Randy" decals that match the box art? I've had a few of those over the years, and have looked at a bunch of others...I've never seen those decals.

The AMT issue Maverick is listed as a March 1973 release, in the '73 "second edition" AMT catalog. On the same page are two other AMT/Jo-Han kits, the AMC Hornet hatchback and Dodge Challenger funny cars. The Maverick is pretty much the Jo-Han Dyno Don car, with additional engine parts from earlier issues to build either a Boss 429 or (less accurate) 427 Overhead Cam engine. The Jo-Han Maverick was issued as the Dyno Don version (with the Grabber style grille) in '72 if I remember right; it and the Eddie Schartman Comet were probably sold by Jo-Han alongside AMT's version. The Hornet hatch was new (in 1:1) for '73; Jo-Han issued it in its own packaging alongside the AMT kit. Why they never issued any of the Hornets as stock versions is baffling. The Challenger funny car was issued by Jo-Han as the Gene Snow car initially, and that one was still available from Jo-Han alongside AMT's issue.

It's a "light transfer bar". Only two bulbs were included; one for the front, one for the rear. The bulb snapped into the transfer bar which would then light up when the switch was flipped, making the lenses glow a bit. Same deal for the back, except for the red lenses. The '64 Galaxie kits had the same arrangement.