37 caddy

Back in the day when these rigs were new,IH used to paint all the engines in their trucks red,just like KW and peterbilt engines were white,ford used to paint their motors blue.It was pretty standard practice back then.You could get the frame and chassis in any color as long as you wanted to pay for it.The IH trucks then were mostly a fleet truck,they were pretty basic trucks,there wasnt much chrome on them,you had to buy a higher priced truck to get some nice features.The transtar interior was almost always the goldish-tan color on any surface that was painted steel,the seats were always brown or black,the dash was the same too.The transtar 2 was a nicer truck, the eagle series was aimed at the owner-operator market.They were also popular with the big fleets too.Back in the day you never seen a transtar with any extra chrome,the only chrome on a lot of them was the door handles and the roof lights,even a lot of them had the small lights,not the bullet style of lights. harvey

They look nice all in a row.The Rubber Duck truck is not a good kit at all,it is wrong on a lot of areas,it is based on a DM600 the real truck is a R-700 a completely different truck.Some of the resin kit suppliers have good copies,pricey but some are very good. Have a look at this site you will see some good ones here,im sure someone else will also tell you the same thing about the Ertl Convoy kit. harvey

I had the original kit back when it first came out in 1974,it was pretty neat then too.I always wanted another but couldnt bring my self to pay the crazy prices on ebay and similar places like that,Was able to get one of the repop ones this past weekend at the Carlisle swap meet,a seller had them there for 38.00.Here where i live they are 89.00,so i couldnt pass it up. harvey

Back in the day these guys were not the multi millionaires they are today,there was a lot of re-using old parts.The cars were not show cars either,they would go home after the race and pound out the dents and go racing again next week.Shiny paint was only for the first race and some sponsor photos.A lot of these cars were regular production cars that were cannabalized for parts whenever they needed something.Find a good color photo and go with that.Harvey

That is nice stuff,any idea how much it will cost?.The dash parts are a much needed improvement over the kit parts. harvey

Any idea as to when this will be available? would like one as well. harvey

I have one too,will be watching as im a little bit put off by the metal parts too.Wonder what the reason for it was?.Would have been a challenge for younger kids with the screws and all.Would make a good rig for hauling a dozer. harvey

I got one a couple of years ago,got lucky they had them at Hobby Lobby,the 40% off coupon helps too.? harvey

is this a complete kit,or do you need a donor kit for the frame and wheels?. any idea as to how much it will cost,Also is it styrene plastic or resin. Ive never seen them before,just some of the bare cabs that need a donor kit.harvey

I did a little more looking and i think that truck was sent to Russia? I found a picture of it on a russian website and one where it was coming off a big container ship,England is the only place over there they drive on the other side of the road,Russia is the same as we are here,the headlights would be a European type. Not certain but im pretty sure it was a" export" truck.harvey

The one with the square lamps looks like it might be a factory prototype,it looks to be a early one with the "bus" type mirrors,they only used them for the first few years then they had a normal type of west coast mirror.Only the real early kits had those,the later kits didnt come with them,however if you look real close at the cab you should be able to see the little raised lines where they mounted.Also the early kits had a more realistic type of grille,it mounted from the back and was flush with the cab front,the later ones it mounted at the front side and stuck out,it doesnt look right in my opinion. harvey

Not sure who Dr Oetker is,but i see the name on frozen pizza at the grocery store? harvey

Is it complete and the box is it in good shape,sometimes the box is worth more then the contents,is the coupon there for the sleeper,it was 1.00 for the sleeper.You mailed in for it and they sent you one.A lot of variables for the real value in one,we need pictures to give a fair value?.if it is an unopened kit that would help too. harvey.

AMT tires are horrible?,years ago the tires that came with the MPC kits were the best,they came in the Mack kits the DM600 and the DM800,they were a softer type of rubber and fit nice and flush to the edge of the rim.You should have seen the tires that came with the Ertl kits,they were a 2 piece setup and were a shiny plastic type of rubber,later on when Ertl bought out MPC they started to use the better tires in their kits..I always used the fatter tires if i had any to spare,they just looked so much better.I cant explain why they use different tires in the kits today,must be the extra cost?. harvey

Ive got one of the "Red" ones,its molded in the light grey plastic,it came with a sleeper?.It is the later style cab with the Cummins engine,is that one the early cab with a detroit motor?.Its hard to tell by looking at the box. harvey

Here in PEI,canada where i live,the Ford LTL 9000 is 109.00 plus 15% tax. I could afford to buy it if i really wanted it,but im sure some kids arent able to buy one,when i was 13-14 kits were 4.99 at the local Kmart,the ertl kits were 3.45 at the local IH dealer.It has been a Adults hobby for a while now,hard for kids to get into it like it was.Sad nut true. harvey

Another thing to consider is the "Gold Bulldog" only the Macks that had all mack driveterain pieces got to wear the gold bulldog on the hood.Back in the day mack used to make all their own components for their trucks,if one had a cummins or a different transmission or even a non-mack rear suspension they had a silver dog on the hood ornament.Mack even made their own wheels,the DM kits have the proper mack spoke style wheels,the AMT kit has the spoke wheels but im not sure they are mack parts?.The DM 600 kit from MPC is a purebreed mack,it has all the proper components for one. harvey

It was around 1973-74 that mack changed the dash,it went from a "olive" green interior to the tan color with the curved style dash.The same year they also changed the MACK letters on the nose,the new ones were larger,almost like a capital letter? The MPC kit has the early style interior in it,the AMT kit is the later style interior. harvey

LOL,that was on TV last nite,i watched it,my wife hated it?.I remember seeing it when it first came out back in the 70's thought it was pretty cool back then too. harvey

Were there ever any other paint schemes available in this kit,i know of the Watkins and the Movin on kits,but was it ever shown in any other colors? Myself i do not care what color it is on the box,it is great that they are even available.It wasnt that long ago there was nothing available in truck kits,i never thought i would ever see them again like this,very happy they are still around.harvey

It would be neat if they had done it with the car hauler,kind off like the old tournament of thrills set,the trailer and 3 of the rat fink cars and the ford C-600.That would have been something Ed Roth might have actually done back in the day.That way you could justify it having chrome spoke wheels i have never seen any Semi with a chrome spoke wheel. Harvey

Not sure about the 3500 series,but the 2500 series had a Hemi,it was a 6.4 litre model,had more power then the 5.7s.

Back in the days when these trailers were n the road,the car companies were very fussy about what kind of truck hauled their cars,it was always a ford truck hauling fords,a GMC hauling general motors products,etc. They always seemed to be an ugly old convenental of some sort,they were real work horses.They all had a rack on the roof for a car too. harvey

WOW, you have to study the first picture to make sure its not a real truck,your mirrors are a work of art,the real ones dont look that good. harvey

I have my own bodyshop for cars,what i did was put a bunch of the little testors bottles in a pint sized can,packed them in with towel so they wouldnt break and put them on my air powered paint shaker for a couple of minutes,it actually worked to revive some of the older bottles i had,I even put the aerosol cans on too,you have to watch them as the plastic tops will start to loosen,but it works 100% to make the mettallics loosen up. harvey