I just bought this kit and am going to share my thoughts on it. It is a re release of a 30 year old kit, so there will be no pointing out inaccuracies like saying its a Laguna, not a Chevelle.... All Lagunas were Chevelles, but not all Chevelles were Lagunas. Get it?
The kit is molded in blue and black, and very nicely also. Flash is minimal and the blue body could be buffed and look as good as paint. The body is clean and straight with no twist or warpage. There is a minor sink mark only on the drivers side front fender, but is so minimal, could be wet sanded out. The proportions and overall shape look good, but the roof looks a bit low. Then again, it is a race car.
The chassis is in an interesting piece since it is two pieces. Where the chassis is joined together, there are 2 pins on the front section, but 3 holes on the rear. I believe this was done to change the wheelbase for other bodies. Pretty good thinking on MPC's part in the day.
The rear suspension is leaf springs which would be incorrect for this car and era. The front suspension is a Ford design. The entire chassis is pretty basic, but then again, in those days they were not overly technical like today. I does represent an older Nascar set up though.
The interior is pretty sparse and basic, just like the cars of the day. The dash could use better detail, but with some detailing would be very acceptable.
The wheels and tires consist of a set of 10 hole Nascar style wheels, but are definitely not deep enough. The tires are the smaller style Good Year Blue Streek Stock Car Specials. These are also not quite large enough.
The engine is a very unique piece. Lil bit of Ford and Chevy. The starter is on the right side, oil pan sump in the rear, distributor in the front, water neck on right side, water pump inlet on left side, generic cylinder heads and BBC valve covers (2 sets)
Round 2 has retooled the cage and window net to make the net separate, but have also included the original pieces. Decals are very nice, so nice that I believe this will be a box build.
My overall thought on this kit is: I really like it, yea, not perfect but I am sure it will build up nicely. I will probably source out wheels, tires, and engine from a newer AMT Nascar kit and maybe a dash from a Monogram, but that's it. I am sure the coil suspension from the AMT kit could be retrofitted to the older chassis also. I am looking forward to building this in the near future and I recommend it to anybody that likes stock car builds. (I will try to post some pics soon)