tim boyd

I tried to find what I recall was a 1965-sih Southern California Dodge Dealers Advertising TV spot showing the Little Old Lady driving a "brand new Super Stock Dodge", as I thought the TV campaign was inspired by, and came after, the Jan & Dean song, and such ad pictured a 1965 A990. Instead, according to this source https://www.motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2022/the-little-old-lady-from-pasadena-1960s-dodge-advertising the song came after, and in fact was inspired by, the TV campaign. Oh well, the internet is always right, heh! TB

For the 1/1 scale A990 Dodge and Plymouths that form the basis of these kits had identical seats and interior door/quarter panels, so the respective kits are indeed correct in that regard. Having said that, I still understand your disappointment that the kits cannot be built in exact 1/1 scale showroom stock base series configurations. However, if you look at Moebius' current business model (how many derivatives of the F=Series bumpside kits have now been introduced???), I would not be completely surprised if such a model kit might appear at some point in the future. (For the record, though, from what I know there are a number of pretty cool projects underway at Moebius, but a showroom stock Coronet is not among them at this time). Best...TB

I believe that almost of us here thoroughly respect Steve and take what he says at full face value, but for any who might not do so, just let me confirm his statement that Round 2 consideration and subsequent work on this project began well before the 1/1 scale Bronco program content was publicly finalized. Also, FWIW, I do not recall being specifically asked about the 2-door vs. 4-soor decision, but had I been I would have strongly voted for the two-door both from my perspective as a 35-year auto industry marketing/sales/product/design veteran, my experience as a modeler since the 1960s and as an observer of the model car kit business since the mid 1970s. I suspect that some of us see this 2-door vs. 4-door question very differently than I do, and I acknowledge and respect those views as well. Best...TB

Heard from Dave Metzler yesterday; for those of you who do not know Dave, he is one of the key movers and shakers in the Moebius outfit and played a very key role in the development of the new Coronet kits. Dave mentioned that the intent of the red car box art was to revisit the "Little Old Lady In Pasadena" story as depicted in the 45rpm single from Jan and Dean, and later on in the Southern California Dodge Dealers Association ads that ran on TV back in 1965. Note the car, the old garage in the background, et al. This visual reference totally escaped me, but having heard the intent, I think it is totally cool and shows the effort and spirit the Moebius team puts into their products.... Best...TB

Good point here that I had not considered. My thinking may have been affected by feedback I received from the manufacturers I interviewed while writing the "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits" book in late 2019. There seemed to be a rough consensus that the hottest topics for new kits were mid-late century pickups (no surprise there) and 1960s/1970s drag racing themed kits. But there was also a caution voiced by some that those drag racing kits tended to sell well when first introduced, but did not have the ongoing "staying sales power" of more mainstream themed kit topics - instead the demand dropped off rather quickly. Broad generalizations here, so take this info accordingly.... Thanks all for your comments....TB

Go Paul!!! TB

Very interesting to me...this kit was the first of the three Moebius kits to be covered in depth here, yet it has half the number of views as my later post on the other two "street friendly" versions of the kit. I would have guessed the exact opposite to be true. Of course, I was also the guy questioning (behind the scenes) Round 2's choice of the '63 Nova wagon as the possible subject for their first "cloning" kit subject, and that turned out to be a big seller for them. Shows how much I (don't) know about the hobby these days (smile). TB

Yeah, it would be wrong...note that the model kit is missing the 1/1's lower bodyside molding which was a key feature of the Deluxe trim level that year vs. the base (non-Deluxe) Coronet two door sedan. Actually, the Moebius kit is really an A990 Coronet (factory drag racer) that has been mildly tweaked for street duty. Note the A990 interior door trim panels and front buckets, for instance. The A990 did not have a rear seat, but the kit does, an example of how the model represents a mildly "streetified" piece. Having said that, using this kit as the basis for a fully correct Deluxe two-door sedan as you have pictured in your post would not be too difficult - the inside door/quarter trim panels and the front seat being the biggest challenges, and the Lindberg 1964 B-Body slant six engine would be a natural under the hood. Wonder who will be the first one to attempt a project like that? Thanks for the post.... TB

Project mentioned above is just about done, but not without some strange twists and turns....a planned 20 hour project is now at 39.5 hours and still not quite finished....and thanks Dave for updating your Fotki album on the kit...TB

Appreciate the heads-up on that, Erik. And big congrats to you, Dave, and the team for getting these kits finished and on the market! Cheers...TIM

Yes they are part of the plated parts trees in all three kits. That's a real plus for me as I've found it difficult to get a good result applying thinned flat black to the Belvedere Grille due the shallow engraving (which is actually correct as the 1/1 scale grille has very shallow depth). Having these extra grilles will allow me to do that to several griles and pick the best result for use on the model. Wish I had had that opportunity when I built my first A990 project six or seven years ago now....TB

At this link is posted an album with 58 images of the contents of both of these new kits. Here's a closer look inside Moebius Models' 1965 Dodge Coronet A990 Two door sedan, and a derivative "Street Sleeper" (my description) kits. This derivative kit is best described as mostly the A990 kit contents with some new parts and and also some parts deletions (vs. the A990). The new parts are designed for a street use adaptation, and include a rear bench seat, a set of street/drag tires, and 426-S Wedge RB engine with factory four barrel and prior year Max Wedge street induction options. (The A990 kit, of course, has the 426 Hemi). Both kits have a number of extra parts, particularly notable in the chrome tree shots. The photos show the entire contents of the A990 kit, followed by only the parts trees that differ for the Street Sleeper kit. The entire instruction manuals for both kits are included, so that you can go through and see al the differences between the two. For this review I am letting the pictures do all the talking rather than adding captions as I usually do in new kit "look inside the box" recaps. Thanks for looking...TIM

Believe it or not, I got mine in the mail today. Excellent issue. TB

Thanks John, for the clarification. The other two kits off this tool, the A990 sedan and "street fighter" (my description) still use the 8.75 diff in back...my presumption (subject to correction, of course), was that at least some of the AWB cars were upgraded to the Dana by their owners if not equipped that way during their original construction....TB

The long awaited kit is finally here. Click this link for 51 images and captions that show the kit contents in detail along with a complete walk-through of the assembly manual. Thanks for looking! TIM

I am really, really happy to read that both the new tool Revell '71 Mustangs and the '68 R/T HT are doing well. I lobbied for both of these behind the scenes as well as publicly (in the "Collecting Muscle Car Kits" book, here, and elsewhere), particularly so the '71 Mustang Boss 351. Thanks Justin and Steve for your candid feedback on this topic! Cheers...TIM

Following up on an earlier promise (sorry it took so long) here are photos of the funny car chassis from the Nitro Charger kit (which came out in 1971-is, and was also the chassis for a 1971 Torino, Nova, and first-gen Camaro funny car kits) and the MoPower (which was based on tooling that came out 1974-5 ish for the licensed Mustang funny car kit and was then re-employed for a series of kits with Corvette, Pinto/Bobcat, Monza, Vega/Astre, and Road Runner bodies, all of which were slightly exaggerated beyond normal (then) funny car proportions. According to a then-AMT insider, they wore generic graphics because AMT's then-president, Tom Gannon, did not want to pay licensing fees to 1/1 scale drag racing teams. (More info on both these kit tools is in my book on Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits). Nitro-Charger: MoPower: More images of both at this link (see images 180-198): Boyd Funny Cars Models - The Complete Collection album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy. Best...TB

What Larry said = my reaction after seeing this build thread for the first time. Can't wait to see what you do for paint, Dennis, and love the switch to the Caddy V8! TB

Bill...FSM, May/June 2024, p.58 All....includes previously unrevealed (to the best of my knowledge) info about the process of the kit topic, kit development, and insights from Bob Johnson and Ed Sexton. Also the spectrum of commentaries regarding the kit...from not so good to really good. Good info if the topic of the A-M McLarens is of interest to you... Best...TB

The A-M McLaren kits were featured in the "Classic Kits" column in Fine Scale magazine a few months ago. Included info/background that was not previously in the public domain to the best of my knowledge. LMK if you need the specific issue date/pg #....TB

Chris....this is a most impressive piece of work on your part. I thought I knew a lot about this kit series but you've uncovered a ton of fresh info, at least for me. Big, big congrats. One comment/possible addition...and I am doing this from memory so take this as unconfirmed rhetoric as opposed to confirmed fact, but my recollection is that at least one of the two 1980s reissues of the MPC 1972 Chevy tooling included optional engine parts to build a dual turbocharged street fighter type powertrain. Here is how that engine configuration appears in as installed in an AMT 1953 Ford pickup model I built back in the early 1980s.... (the air cleaners and radiator hose were later adds, not in the kit engine...): Thanks for taking the time to research and document this kit history. Count me as among those very, very impressed with your efforts here. TIM

That's what I vaguely recall...that the T5 was a running change later in the 1983 model year. My '83 GT was the 4-speed overdrive IIRC....TB

Believe it or not, the Nitro Charger chassis and the MoPower (originally tooled for the Larry Fullerton "Trojan Horse" Mustang II F/C kit) as well as the powertrains are entirely different. IMHO opinion, the Nitro Charger parts are better detailed, but the Trojan Horse/MoPower parts (also used in several other AMT kits of the era) was much easier to assemble. The engine in the former had one of the few Hamilton blowers, while the latter had what was purported to be a 417 Donovan block....TB I'll try to post photos of both chassis later...TB

The MoPower is a rare kit...featuring a somewhat exaggerated body based on the 1.1 scale 1974-74 Plymouth RoadRunner/Satellite. Here's my kitbash build of this kit, with the body/hood area revised to some degree to eliminate of the more cartoonish elements. Nice kit, will be good to have it back....TB

Yes the 5.0L was available in the '79 Mustang...as I had a factory ordered Ghia two-door with that engine and the 4-speed overdrive. (Scroll down this page to see two images and my follow-on comments about the '81 4.2 and '83 5.oL) It wasn't nearly as fast as my '74 E58 Road Runner but it was a very fun to drive car (along with the TRX suspension/tires). I also drove a 1979 5.0L Automatic Indy Pace Car company car and later on a 1981 4.2L automatic hatchback company car that was just gutless. Then drove a 1983 5.0L GT manual company car and it was a big improvement over the '81 and somewhat faster than the '79. My next one was an '86 5.oL EFI convertible....don't recall it being much different than the '83....TB