Mark

If I'd butchered a Jag to build that, I'd have kept it hidden away, period. He can't claim credit for the side coves...AMC did some sports car styling studies with them around the same time if not sooner. Brooks Stevens styled the Gaylord two-seater in '54 or '55, it had side coves also.

Thankfully that was only done to the late Seventies 'Vette and Firebird bodies. Those funny cars probably didn't set the world on fire sales-wise because they were fictional cars and didn't include markings for actual cars from the era. So the "monster" versions were just a way to wring a few more sales out of them. Besides fixing the body butchery, you'd have to track down slicks and rear wheels to fix them. I believe the front ends were raised a bit by installing the front axle upside down.

Many of the eBay listings are sellers fishing. They'll have the same items, listed and relisted, I have seen some that were listed continuously for nearly two years. With 1:1 cars, it will be listed and relisted a few times, drop off, then resurface a few months later at the same bloated asking price or reserve. eBay neglected, alienated, and drove away the people who built them up, trying to become another Amazon. Listings are way, way down, so give out free/cheap listings and endless relistings to prop up the numbers. Widen search parameters to make it look like there are more items than there really are, to try to keep people "in the store" longer, in hopes they'll buy something. I can't remember the last time I actually bid on an item...now it's just find the lowest Buy It Now deal on a given item...

I've got the '47 Plymouth coupe. Very thick in spots, molded-in grille detail has numerous pinholes, body was pulled off of the mold core prematurely as it rises up towards the front. Every so often, I hack away at it with a Dremel, but in the end I think I'm going to end up doing my own conversion on a '41 body, same as how this one was done.

Then just skip the entire section. Some of us don't mind seeing these posts, they are sort of a milestone. We're getting to where there are one or two (or no) actors still living from a TV show we watched back in the day, or one or two (or no) still living members of some band we followed back then...

Not many builders used the Stylizing parts that were in most of the Sixties issues. If you are able to attend toy or model kit collectors' shows, or otherwise pound the ground, it is possible to turn up a started or built kit with those parts among the leftovers. If not, the custom parts still in the kit will make for a nice build.

It will in all likelihood include the mild custom parts that were in the most recent issue, but not the Stylizing parts that were deleted about fifty years ago.

The completed sales probably aren't far off from those prices. Those kits haven't been reissued, haven't been out since the late Eighties, and a couple of them might not be reissued as the bodies were altered to fit monster truck tires on the rear. The Dodge "024 Charger" bodied cars were going for stupid money even several years ago.

I have not yet had any luck printing my own decals, but with the manufactured ones (kit or aftermarket) I only dip them long enough to get them wet all the way through, only a couple of seconds in most cases. Leaving them in longer washes away some of the adhesive in my opinion.

A lot of those early customs were updated for the show circuit. The AMT '50 Ford convertible kit is a good representation of a typical early Sixties custom that got changed later (Carson top cut down into a landau style top, new wheels and tires). One of the early Sixties ISCA champions, a '35 Ford coupe, was restyled and won the championship a few years later for another owner. Like most of those updates, the original version was better.

Postage is the big thing, unless you are only dealing with small stuff. Too, some folks do a lot of trading, others little or none. I did two trades in one week last year, hadn't done any by mail in about 30 years, and none since.

I cut open the grille area intending to put in a separate piece from behind. Note the downward slant of the side window opening; I might cheat and recut that to make it more level. Right now that makes the chop look heavy. I cut the windshield and rear glass so they can be fitted separately after finish paint.

The original vinyl tires in the Indy car kits were one-piece and had tread detail but no sidewall lettering. The two-piece tires have nice sidewall detail but no tread. Hopefully those are molded in black plastic, so the seam can be filled.

I built one with the Stylizing parts back in the day, and have another one in the works. Whatever you do, do NOT use both the chopped top and the front/rear extensions on the same car. The chop stretches the roof and makes the car look bricklike. I did, and do plan to finish it, but also might like to try one car with the chop (and milder custom parts) and one with the extension pieces but no chop. Not a lot of radical custom 1:1 '57s, but that's because the car looked good as-is.

Any specifics?

I don't think the built model was intended to be switched back and forth after it was finished. The idea was more likely to provide both versions. Since Montgomery only tested the car and never actually raced it, this kit probably didn't sell nearly as well as the kits of his Willys and the two Mustangs. As for kits coming out different from the 1:1 car, that seems to be more frequent than you'd expect. The XR-6 kit got ahead of the real one. George Barris' shop deviated from the blueprint and made the nose piece and fenders different; those were later changed. The Deora got ahead too, the detail around the grille and headlamps differs between kit and 1:1. The kit also has side glass that the real truck has never had, and some interior details differ too.

I built mine, so I can't provide pictures of an unbuilt one.

AMT made a mistake in converting the '66 body to '67 trim: they eliminated a crease on the lower body, between the front and rear wheel openings. It can be put back, the builder would need to take a template off of a '66 body to put it in the right place on the '67.

Diamond in the Rough version included some pre-damaged parts: broken glass, different fender unit with one separate running board and front fender, pre-bent bumpers. The undamaged parts were not included.

Or until you are involved in an accident. "Accident" doesn't automatically mean you hitting someone else...it also includes someone else hitting you. Insurance will typically be high on those cars "because parts cost so much". Yet, when you are involved in an accident with one, the insurance company will be quick to total it because of the low resale value. They will then auction the totalled car and get good money for it, because of the value of the still usable parts.

MPC called that kit the V-Rod, but it had a Corvair engine. I believe the original catalog info showed it with a VW engine, somewhere along the way it got changed.

Chassis and engine got reused in the '68-'69 Torinos. The body likely got scrapped once those parts were removed. There was one reissue of the '67, during '67, in the flat box that AMT used for a few kits at that time.

I can't see any state with inspections letting that thing anywhere near a road. I'm thinking that, for whatever reason, that thing only moves short distances back and forth on private property, like at a marina or campground. Why it wasn't just built as a trailer and moved around with another vehicle would be the next mystery.

Even the Revell engines aren't a drop-in fit. These parts packs were designed to work together to an extent, but some finessing will be necessary to get everything to look just right.

I thought Round 2 did do a short run of the kits in this box, as an Auto World store exclusive.