Mark

The started/partially built kit can be found on occasion too, another "luck" thing. If you want to build the custom version, and can find one irreversibly started as the custom, it will sometimes sell more reasonably than a stock one simply because those wanting a stock one will pass on it. I found a '63 Mercury hardtop and '63 Buick hardtop started as customs, got them reasonably because both were started as customs and had the scripts and trim removed. As a bonus, the stock bumpers were still like new so those were set aside for convertibles that needed them.

'65 was pretty much the end of the line for the advanced custom parts. The '66 kits' custom versions were for the most part designed so as not to require the use of putty. In some cases the parts would look better molded in, but they could be built without it. The '65 Impalas, with that radical front end treatment, was by far the most ambitious one though. Finding a set of the parts without a kit, or in a started kit, would be one of those lucky deals. I did that awhile back with the '62 Corvette parts, finding the leftovers from a kit that apparently was built stock (and without the engine). All of those parts will fit any of the reissue '62 Corvettes.

You might check the Model Car Garage PE sets for Oldsmobiles. If you get anything, it will be the spoke section and possibly the horn button emblem. You'd be on your own for a steering wheel rim and hub.

The side panel of the original box lists working front suspension, but the kit did not have it, only the steering. The chassis is modified from the MPC '64 chassis (exhaust detail removed). MPC tooled a new chassis for the '65 kit to add the working suspension. '65 and '66 annuals used molded styrene coil springs. Jo-Han did the same with their Chrysler Turbine Car around that time also. '67 annual used the metal springs, as did the '68-'75 annual kits. In the mid-Seventies MPC started to replace the springs with solid ones, losing the working suspension in the process. The '67 MPC chassis with the metal springs was last used in the Cosma Ray custom, in the late Sixties. It was probably easier to remove the exhaust from the '64 chassis than change the '67 chassis to eliminate the metal springs.

Pretty sure that four spoke steering wheel was an Olds only deal. That's back when GM still made some effort to differentiate between brands.

For those who are interested, I noticed that the Alumilite resin casting materials are heavily discounted. That would seem to indicate that HL won't be carrying those items much longer.

How much space does the 1/8 scale kit's box take up in a shipping container, versus a 1/25 scale kit that retails in the $30-40 range? Also, how many molding machines does it tie up in production versus that same 1/25 scale kit? That right there would explain the price difference...

If the tacky glue doesn't work, you might use extremely small drops of super glue. It won't dissolve the plastic, and once the pieces are separated it can be scraped and/or sanded off.

I've seen that "metal" one; it might be resin with aluminum powder in it, similar to the "all metal" 1:1 auto body fillers out there. I'd be extra cautious sanding or grinding that stuff. I've got another '60 pickup, that I fished out of a junk box at a toy show. Someone cut the thing in half with a wood burning pencil. I only have the front half, thankfully the hood was still with it!

Ertl did a halfway decent 1/25 scale diecast '60 pickup. Unfortunately they chose to do it as a 4 x 4, and included the typical junk cast as part of the bed floor. I've got one, might use the cab to build a ramp truck or a stepside.

The Model King drag team set (the first reappearance of the MPC Cougar funny car) used the AMT Ford Bronco as the tow vehicle. From what I had heard back then, the '63 Ford pickup would have been first choice, but was long gone. We've got to remember, this stuff was moved around several times, sometimes stored in poor conditions, and on occasion junked because someone didn't think it had any future potential. I'd bet nobody involved in the creation of any of it thought it would still be around fifty years down the road.

Based on the AMT Grant King sprint car, different body. The AMT sprint isn't as good as the Monogram one, but it is an earlier one and has the potential to be backdated further.

I wasn't referring to Round 2 combining parts from the two kits...just me.

The fanatics who want an absolutely perfect Ala Kart will combine the best parts of the two kits. The reissue having improved decals will sell a bunch of them, if any other fixes are made then even more will be sold as a result. Others might disagree, but my chosen "best" parts would be: Old kit: engine, body, interior, possibly some chassis parts. Hood/grille shell need work; hood sides should flow smoothly into headlamp bezel portion of grille shell New kit: probably most of the chassis, tires (correct "rubber rake"), also look at the exterior chrome parts vs. old kit Elsewhere: wheels. Old kit has all four the same = wrong. New kit wheels are nice for something, but better ones for this car are out there Decals: maybe the Fred Cady sheet, maybe early original kit with all of the scallops. Early issues had decals for top and underside of fenders, later issues had smaller sheet with only top side. Reference would be mainly the excellent Rodders' Journal article on the restoration.

Top two are MPC, bottom one looks like Revell.

Their price is $29.99. I found one there a couple of weeks ago and bought it. With the 40% off, and sales tax added, mine came in under $20.

Methinks that Camaro is a '73 annual. The front fender emblems might read "SS 350"; if they do, it's a '73. There was no SS in '73, but MPC did the promos '71-'73 so AMT wouldn't have known that.

The tires on the 1:1 stock Nova are small and narrow. We're used to seeing altered cars with a bit more rubber on them. The first change I made on my Fairlane was to switch from 13" tires and wheels to 14". I have since gone to 15".

There is only one cab, so once it was corrected all kits produced after that will have the corrected one.

If I owned one of the affected vehicles, I'd drop a short note to someone at the manufacturer, also to the dealer where I bought it. "This problem, your knowledge of it, and your proposals (or lack thereof) for solving this problem, will carry considerable weight in future decisions I make regarding vehicle purchases..." Probably won't affect their decision making one way or the other, but then again in ten years someone there might just figure out why their sales dropped like a stone... As recently as 2021? There are going to be a bunch of people screaming about this, as they are still making payments.

Barracuda front bumper is Jo-Han.

Bottom one is '63 or '64 Ford Galaxie.

White one is from either an early Sixties AMT Pontiac Tempest, or Buick Special wagon.

'62. '61 had some wild custom parts, but different from the '62. I bought the leftovers from a built '62 a while back, the box contained all of those parts plus the fastback roof.

The Revell '69 Nova will be closer as a starting point. I don't know too much about the Revell kit, but I think one of the versions had a big-block engine.