Mark

The rear axle is correct; it is a Mickey Thompson unit. I don't think anyone else had access to some of the parts he produced. The Jo-Han Logghe Brothers chassis is still the best one out there IMO. Jo-Han ran into problems with the later funny car kits, though. The Gene Snow Challenger chassis is a "transitional" unit from 1970, unique to that particular car. I've never seen another chassis exactly like it. The Mickey Thompson "titanium" chassis was also a one-off. Original plans were to build two (one Pinto, one Mustang). But the titanium tubing was expensive and difficult to get, labor intensive to weld, and not much lighter than steel because it couldn't be had in the sizes and thicknesses desired. Only one titanium chassis was built; it was used under the Pinto. The Mustang body was draped over the Pinto's chassis for some pictures. I don't know if the Mustang ever saw competition with either the titanium chassis or some other one. The Pinto saw extensive use; M/T only had one Pinto. Revell would offer a kit of the same car in a later version a few years later. Jo-Han was boxed in by having tooled two one-off chassis that were superceded by Pat Foster's "digger" style chassis, that ironically first saw use under Mickey Thompson's 1969 Mustangs. M/T tried to improve on the concept but failed to do so. Had Jo-Han waited until, say, 1972 and tooled a more standard chassis design with a 426 Chrysler Hemi engine (like Revell did), they may have been able to get more mileage out of their drag car kits.

But the body is what you see first, and that's where Jo-Han's stuff really shined. Some of the other parts they did were great, too: -late Oldsmobile engine (so good that Ertl cribbed it for their '69 4-4-2 kit) -426 Hemi engine (still one of the better ones out there) -Boss 429 engine (the best one ever done) -Logghe Brothers early funny car chassis (still the best one ever done IMO) -Toronado front-drive unit (the focal point of those cars; Jo-Han took the trouble to do it right) -Hurst mag wheels (again, the best ones out there) -Firestone Drag 500 tires and slicks (only ones out there, but Jo-Han wasn't sticking dragster slicks in their pro stock kits!)

I'm led to understand that only the '59 Rambler wagon and snap-together Chrysler Turbine Car were the only new (post-Seville) production items. Everything else (including the "limited edition" '68 Plymouth police car) was assembled from stockpiled parts that came as part of the purchase, with new decals and vacuformed clear glass added to the police car. The original Jo-Han company was in bad shape for many years IMO. They'd lost their Dodge promotional model deals after 1964, Plymouth after 1970, AMC and Oldsmobile soon after. Only Cadillac remained, and that ended after 1979. Jo-Han rose and fell on the promotional model business. They didn't produce many kits that weren't financed (at least in part) on the back of a promo. They seemingly never had access to what would no doubt have been the biggest promo contracts, like Chevrolet and Pontiac (though they did do a couple of the latter in the mid-Fifties). And, little by little, MPC chipped away at Jo-Han's Chrysler business. Ford had some potential (was I surprised to see the Maverick kit in late 1969!), but in the end Jo-Han only did the Maverick, '71 Comet, and '72 Torino fastback. They started out the Seventies pretty well, heading in a racing-oriented direction. But race cars get outdated fast. Though sought after now (and even when new), the USA Oldies series didn't include the best set of selections from the Jo-Han tooling archive. I'd suspect that most of what was offered was chosen more because of completeness (even mere availability) of tooling, than for potential popularity. Many of the kits differ noticeably from the original annual versions. Most lacked customizing parts, and also have later interior detail because parts of the tooling had been recut and reused in the following years' product. Some of the later non-Oldies reissues were closer to the original annual kits, but by then it was too little, too late.

The body has a '66 front end because it was reworked from the MPC 1966 fastback body. The body sides look something like a 1967 but the rear window opening was altered from the 1966 (squared off lower corners). They could only change it so much, if you compare to any of the 1967-68 stock bodies out there the rear window on the flip-front car is much smaller. Best choice for a more correct replacement would be the AMT 1967 annual kit body, second choice would be the mid-Nineties AMT/Ertl 1967 fastback. The annual kit body is a bit thinner, the newer one could be thinned out by doing some grinding on the inside.

There's nothing wrong with making a few bucks once in a while to help offset the cost of a hobby. Half of the guys who set up at the toy shows or model contests are doing just that. Selling a few items and coming out a few dollars ahead on them pays for the table at the show, which helps the club putting on the show. Having a bigger/more crowded vendor area brings more people through the door looking for deals, which helps the club even more. In the most extreme situations, you can luck into a collection or a bunch of items at a (non-model) show, sell some of the pile for what you paid for everything, and get the stuff you keep essentially for free. When eBay was really roaring at full steam, I could manage to do that two or three times a year. When I buy something at a show, I might bargain with the seller, but what he or she paid for the item doesn't enter into the conversation. If they come out ahead, and I get something I want, that's a win-win situation for both of us. Some guys can do builds for money, I can't. I've done a couple of them, and don't see myself doing it again. I've done okay at contests (in the distant past), but that's only because I spent a lot more time on something than the average guy. I can do decent work, but I can't do good work fast. If I charged by the job, I'd be working for pennies per hour...if I charged by the hour, nobody in their right mind would pay that much for the work!

The '32 Ford roadster is a good nostalgia exercise, goes together easily and looks okay when finished. Some proportions are off when compared to one of the newer '32 kits, but it is now a fifty year old kit. I've got one in the works, to match the box art. Modifications are limited to a new firewall (kit instructions tell you to merely cut away the bottom half of the kit piece) and extending the front and rear frame horns to meet up with the bumper brackets (which is where they belong). Trying to do anything with the body proportions is an exercise in frustration; change one thing and everything else looks off. Enjoy it for what it is, just don't get too cerebral with it. The '39 Wagonrod, out of the box, is one of those love-it-or-hate-it things. Parts-wise, it has a nice Corvette engine, an up-to-the-minute Art Morrison chassis that can be used for other projects, and some neat wheels. Tires are shared with the '32 Phantom Vickie which came out around the same time (they originated with the Plymouth Prowler). The '34 Ford might just be the best '34 kit out there...better than the Aurora five-window, certainly better than AMT's first two attemps at a '34 passenger car (three-window coupe, two-door sedan). Monogram's three-window coupe might be as good, but is a lot harder to find since it was altered away from a stock version long ago. I'm told Revell's snap three-window isn't bad, but I haven't looked at that one long enough to form an opinion of it.

The Hurst version of the kit includes the automatic, the W-30 version includes a four-speed. Pedals and console are different in each kit, and correct for each configuration. No issue of this kit had both transmissions. The stock air filter setups and exhaust systems differ between the two versions also.

These aren't new, though at some point they may have been retooled also since they were used in so many kits. The two different sizes of this tire might be due to retooling, or perhaps different materials being used, with some tires shrinking and others not.

Aurora put a lot of effort into being first to market with a particular kit. Accuracy often suffered because of that. In the case of the Ferrari, the kit started out as a model of one Ferrari, then changed to another that was introduced while Aurora was developing the kit. Aurora's Avanti was out way before AMT's kit, and likewise isn't as good as AMT's. From what I can determine, AMT's kit came out in late '64 or early '65. Studebaker stopped building Avantis in late '63 when they quit assembling cars in South Bend. (They built engines there for cars assembled in Canada to finish up the '64 model year.) I don't think Newman and Altman had started building them yet; if they had, AMT would probably have changed the engine and introduced the kit as an Avanti II...

A few years back, I spotted an AMT '66 Mercury kit (the rare "Show Car" second issue). Starting bid, $9.99. The one or two of those I'd seen previously sold in the $75 range (yes, for a '66 Merc; this was before RC2/Ertl brought it back the last time). Neither of the ones I'd seen previously were sealed like this one. The auction ended on a Sunday afternoon, and at that time I would be driving back home from the Three Rivers meet in Pittsburgh. I always like to bid in the last few seconds, but that wasn't possible this time so I placed a bid. I went in on the high side but figured since this was a sealed kit someone would want it more badly than me. When I got home and checked my e-mails, I found out I did get the kit...for $9.99! Nobody else bid on it. The shrinkwrap is legit, in fact someone marked it (on the box bottom) that they had bought the kit at a toy show in 1983. Last night, I picked up a Revell late-Fifties Porsche Carrera kit for $10.50. Nice box, sealed parts bag (everything is in one bag, including the tires which are two-piece styrene). This is the original stock version of the racing Speedster that Revell has reissued several times. The stock version was issued only once. You don't see built stock ones because the windshield frame is extremely thin, and the kit didn't have molded clear parts. They expected you to bend that thin clear sheet styrene and glue it to the thin windshield frame! I've got a couple of these kits already, plans are to carve a form and vacuform a windshield that will fit the frame without pulling it out of shape. This one looks so good I'll probably just leave it alone. Even with shipping figured in, there aren't too many fifty-years-old-plus kits that sell for $20. If Revell reissued the kit today, it would sell for more than that. On the flip side, I sold some Digger 'Cuda parts (upper/lower body halves and bare frame, no other parts). Bought at a swap meet for $8, two or three guys slugged it out with the winner paying $114. He was happy to get it too, gave me great feedback. Of course, a few years later it was reissued...

I've used Chrome-Tech in the past, usually two or three racks every year. I have some kit parts replated, but mostly send out resin parts that I sell at a couple of shows per year. Chrome-Tech lets you put plastic and resin on one rack; LMK wants them racked separately. Last time around I tried LMK. Turnaround time was faster, but I wound up tossing half of the parts because the plating was contaminated (had a "gritty" appearance). (I don't sell "seconds".) Back to Chrome-Tech for me!

The Ivo Showboat is a bear to assemble, but looks great when it's done. My older brother had the original issue, never completed it, told me I'd never get it built when I bought the HOT ROD double kit. The exhaust pipes aren't tough, the tough part (for me) was getting the engine mount pieces that are on the engines lined up with the corresponding parts that are molded as part of the chassis tubes. The small tank at the front (not sure if it's a fuel or oil tank) is molded in two pieces with a lot of taper that has to be filed away before the assembled tank fits. Too, make sure the body panels are cleaned up on the inside (ejector pin marks), fit the frame, and meet one another without leaving gaps between them on either side. The Mickey Thompson Challenger I is supposedly easier, but I haven't gotten too far with that one. I did pick up two of the SSP issue Showboat kits thinking I'd build an eight-engine version. You need parts from a third kit to couple the engines, which I have. Haven't gotten around to that one, though...

The Wildcat was built on the Invicta (middle series, price-wise) body. It and the LeSabre are six inches shorter than the Electra 225 (214" vs. 220"), wheelbase is three inches shorter (123" vs. 126"). Only the Electra used the longer body for 1962. The Invicta station wagon, being essentially a 1961 wagon with a '62 front clip, was a half-inch shorter than the passenger car!

The extra headlight and taillight are remnants from when the coupe body was used for the promotional model. (The original annual kit was a convertible, and included the hardtop as a separate part with "vinyl roof" detail.) AMT would include extras of some small parts on the plated trees so the parts bins for the workers assembling the promos would fill up faster. They wouldn't have problems running short on headlights or taillights if some were dropped or broken. Many of the kits from the early Seventies (Pinto, Mustang, Monte Carlo) had five stock wheels on the plated tree for the same reason.

I've yet to see the putty that will stand up to paint removal agents like CSC, Purple Power, or Power Dissolver. The Testors (and old AMT) putties virtually dissolve when dropped into the dunk tank. Even if the stuff doesn't come right off, it will absorb the stripper which will, at best, complicate repainting efforts. Bottom line...either remove the existing paint with sandpaper, or count on redoing all of the putty work.

I've got a Street Rods series reissue '65 (the first issue immediately after the Gear Hustler). It has the stock wheels and custom parts restored to the kit, and has the Gear Hustler's topper instead of the slide-in camper. I believe that issue has the hard hats and six-pack, though they aren't shown in the instructions. Those items would have been tooled along with the topper, so they are close together on the parts trees. To make it more authentic for the construction company I worked for in the Eighties, there would have been several six-packs included, most of them loose/crushed cans tossed through a sliding rear cab window into the bed...

The tall "slide-in" unit first appeared in the original annual issue of the '65 El Camino kit. It later turned up in one issue of the '59 El Camino (not the first issue, but rather the third, in 1968). It doesn't really fit the '59 very well. The smaller "topper" in some issues of the '65 kit first appeared in the "Gear Hustler" construction company themed issue, around 1972. That one might fit the '59, but the '59 was never issued with that one.

The Torino GT kits are still out there. If you have any decent show/contest(s) within driving distance, you should be able to turn one up for less than the price of a current kit. The '70 Torinos are the only kits out there with the non-Boss 429 engine (the AMT mid-Seventies Ford pickups include what was called a "460" but is really a 360 FE-series mill). The Torino GT kit includes some optional engine parts (headers, valve covers, air cleaner). The underbody and engine compartment slide right into the Model King reissue '71 Cyclone stock car body, or a resin copy of the MPC annual kit.

The only "old" part of the banjo rear axle was the center section; all of the stuff inside was new. The reason for keeping the center section was that it had a torque tube and not a driveshaft with universal joints. The torque tube acted as a third traction bar. When the Pontiac rear axle was installed, the torque tube setup was retained. The Chevy engine/early Ford "banjo" rear axle setup seems to have been transplanted into George's "Hurst Gasser Passer" English Ford Prefect. Both Mustangs have fiberglass bodies. The '67 body is said to be a Ford Engineering piece, the same one that was used to design the body dies. It would have been used to determine where the steel body panels would be joined, where the spot welds would be, where the hinges would be placed, where access holes would be needed for routing wires on the assembly line, things like that. While the first Mustang was under construction, the rules still required a production car frame. Shortly after it was finished, fully fabricated frames were allowed in the interest of safety. The '69 Mustang used a Willys frame again because George simply stuck with what he knew would work. The '69 body is a "splash" taken from a pre-production car. There's a 1971 issue of HOT ROD with a feature article on the Multi-Maverick. The kit chassis is pretty much spot-on (mostly rectangular tubing, not round). There's also an interview with George somewhere out there, where he stated that MPC bankrolled the construction of the 1:1 car in exchange for the rights to make the model. (Not farfetched: MPC did kits of three of George's cars, and each was in the catalog for a long time.) The body is off, particularly in the areas of the hood and rear wheel openings. Like the AMT XR-6 Dodge Deora kits, the development of the kit went hand-in-hand with the construction of the 1:1 car, and occasionally got ahead of it to the point where some details don't match. There is another MPC Maverick kit (Jolly Roger funny car) that uses the Multi-Maverick body with a flat hood (the JR has a different chassis that places the engine entirely inside the body). One of those, even a built one, could supply the unscooped hood to help correct the Multi-Maverick. Neither issue of the MM had decals that got close to the look of the 1:1 car either.

To add a little bit of information: -Besides the AMT '65 Mustang ('64 pace car) convertible, Monogram first issued their 1/24 scale Mustang convertible with Pace Car decals. -AMT issued the 1967 and 1969 Camaros as Indy Pace Cars in assembled promotional models and as kits. MPC/Ertl offered a mediocre '69 Camaro convertible as a stand-alone kit (molded in orange, without Pace Car decals) and in a three-car set (molded in white, with Pace Car decals), in the late Eighties. -Revell's '72 Hurst/Olds convertible is no longer in production, but it can be built as a Pace Car provided you track down a Fred Cady decal sheet. -The MPC 1979 Mustang pace car (offered as the 1980 annual kit) has an option for the T-roof setup used on the actual Pace Car. Monogram's kit has the sunroof which makes it a replica of the version that was sold to the public. -Others are available in resin. R&R offers/offered the '52 Studebaker and '54 Dodge convertibles, and probably has others as well. KG Models offered the '85 Cutlass Calais as a vacuform kit. I passed on that one back in the day, but it actually looked pretty good (though it took a lot of work to cut out and assemble).

NHRA Gas class rules at the time required two seats. The Willys kit has one seat because the first issue was modeled on the John Mazmanian car, which was frequently match raced at a lower weight, and with a larger engine, than NHRA Gas class rules allowed. When match racing, the rules are whatever the participants agree on. The second issue, the black Stone-Woods-Cook car, was match raced as well and many pictures of it can be found with one seat. The Pittman Willys is restored to the 1963 season version. For 1964, Pittman built a '33 Willys with a Chrysler engine. In 1965, while match racing with the '33, it was wrecked. Pittman then "un-retired" the '41 that he still owned, installing the Chrysler engine and making some other changes. The '41 was used through mid-'66, when another '33 Willys replaced it.

Nope...'61-'62 Buick Special wagon. The Double Dragster doesn't include the adapter to mount eight carbs to the top of a supercharger, nor does it include a crank-drive blower setup for a Chrysler engine. (The DD's Chevy engines do have crank-drive setups.) The same Chrysler engine (with more chrome) was in the '63 Nova wagon, along with the trailer from the Buick wagon. The Boss Nova kit has the engine too, minus the crank-drive blower (it doesn't fit the Nova wagon in its mid-engine configuration).

The Ertl Corporation acquired AMT in 1982, when Lesney went into bankruptcy and was forced to sell it. (Lesney bought AMT in 1978, moving it to Baltimore after the Troy, MI building had been sold in a climate of fast-rising property values in that area.) Ertl acquired MPC in 1985. Under Ertl's ownership, some AMT kits were released under the MPC brand, and vice versa. After a couple of years of that (and shipping AMT and MPC branded kits in different size boxes), the MPC brand was phased out, and only used on Buyers' Choice reissues that had been MPC items originally. MPC was started in 1963 by George Toteff (an early employee of AMT) and Dick Branstner (who then owned the "Color Me Gone" super stock Dodge). They stayed on good terms with AMT's upper management in spite of having left the company to start MPC. The first few MPC kits were sold through AMT because they had excellent distribution, and were able to place the products in far more stores than a new company. The early MPC kits distributed by AMT include the Dream Rod, Wild Dream/King T double kit (two AMBR winners in one box!), '28 Ford two-door sedan, and '65 Dodge Coronet. Box art, decals, tires, and instruction sheets all are MPC, they don't match up with other AMT kits that were out at that time. The first "official" MPC kit was the '64 Corvette. AMT already had Corvette coupe and roadster kits (based on the promotional models) so MPC had to distribute that one on their own. That's why it's a lot easier to find either of the AMT '64 Corvettes, than the MPC '64 coupe. When MPC reissued some of the kits that had previously been sold under the AMT banner, all of them were modified in some way. MPC didn't want to issue the same items AMT had sold. So, the Dream Rod became the Tiger Shark, the '28 Ford sedan became a roadster pickup/station wagon, and the Wild Dream/King T double kit was divided with each car being sold separately. There was some back-and-forth activity between the two companies into the late Sixties. Somehow, the Plymouth Barracuda and Chevy Fleetside pickup kits that had been issued by AMT for 1967 became MPC kits for 1968. These, and the Jo-Han kits packaged and sold by AMT between 1967 and about 1974, have never been explained by anyone in any great detail. With all of the principal parties now gone, it's unlikely that anyone is left that knows the "how" or "why" behind some of this stuff.

Same basic car, but much of the Dream Rod's body was reworked in the transformation to the Tiger Shark. The 1:1 car was recently restored as the Dream Rod; all of the changes were reversed. Long story short: if you want a Dream Rod, search out a Dream Rod kit. Some parts (glass, chassis and engine parts) could be sourced from the Tiger Shark if needed.

The donor kit that would be needed, is the AMT/Ertl Connoisseur Classics issue pictured in this thread. There is an MPC Connoisseur Classics issue also; that one is from the Seventies, and includes only the stock parts. The Vampire Van doesn't include the stock Chevy fenders, hood, radiator shell, or other trim parts. That said, if you are able to get to any of the bigger model car-related shows, you should be able to find a rebuildable original panel delivery. One of the guys I set up at shows with had a couple of them last year. They were in decent shape (not gluebombed), had all of the parts needed for the delivery, and could have been rebuilt using a Vampire Van as a donor. Each was in the $20-25 range, less than the price of the delivery parts if they were offered in resin. I remember him lugging them to several shows and not selling them. I don't remember where the first one sold (probably a show I didn't go to), the second one finally went at NNL East last month. I'd have bought them myself, but I've already got enough parts to make three good ones already...and that's probably two more than I'll get to...