Rob Hall

The MPC '74-75 Vega Pro Stock is coming, was announced a while back.

The AMT Sand Dragon maybe..seems like it is out now.. http://www.modelroundup.com/product-p/amt-r2-scm026.htm

The left turn stalling while learning to drive in that Dodge truck kind of scarred me for life on left turns without a turn arrow. Though 99% of the driving I've done in the last 30 years has been in modern fuel injected cars and SUVs...

Chrysler was a master at parts sharing and restyling cars on a minimal budget. The most expensive part of the 1980 refresh of the Diplomat and LeBaron had to be the roof and rear doors (the '77-79 had the same roofline and rear doors as the Aspen/Volare). The 2dr M-body only lasted until '81, and it had a unique roof and C-pillar design. And for badge engineering, the Diplomat was badged as the Plymouth Caravelle in Canada, the Dodge Dart and Magnum in Mexico, and the Dodge Coronet in Columbia.

Tom Geiger would know, but I believe the '66 Valiant promo was a rare one. They didn't make many because Plymouth changed the roof and AMT didn't catch that change. Or something like that. I believe the '64-65 Valiant kits were only available as curbsides, while the Barracuda annuals had engines. The Barracuda tooling became the Firebowl 500, but the body became the Hurst Hemi Under Glass which reappeared a few years ago...

The '66 Valiant may have only been available as a promo.. The fastbacks were the Barracuda, different kit. The '65-66 Barracuda kits may have shared some parts w/ the Valiant kits, I don't know.

Interesting that of that list of Craftsman kits, only the '64 Comet and '64 Galaxie have been reissued in the last 45 years... I believe some of those tools in that list were trashed to make race cars, like the '63 Nova wagon.

And if your car is British, check the wiring harness for smoke leaks.

Looks like Heller does ship to the US, I may order one of these and the HY from them...

California emissions controls plus the notorious 'lean burn' system on the V8s may have been the culprit... http://www.allpar.com/mopar/lean-burn.html. In the '80s my Dad had a '79 Dodge 4x4 shortbed pickup with the 318, I believe it had the lean burn system...was a real turd to drive, painfully slow and prone to stall on left turns, dead, numb steering, bouncy suspension, just all around awful. Of course, the truck was probably 1000-1500 heavier than the Aspen/Volare, but the 318 seemed powerless...

Rectangular headlights and the large grille are the giveaway...the '77-78 Pinto wagon kits had round headlights and a small grille.

You sure about that? The Diplomat had quad headlights and a different grille design..not the same. [IMG[ http://www.dippy.org/photo/dip/dip083.jpg [\IMG]

Interesting...I think I've heard of that before. The one in the top photo also has a column shift...never seen a Camaro w/ that either.

This will be the first reissue, never previously reissued since the 1979 annual. http://www.rocketfin.com/model_museum/images/ford_pinto.jpg

Chrysler was in very bad shape financially in the late 70s, so they probably really scrimped on the investment on the F-bodies. The similar M bodies seemed to be better built, they seemed to be in wide use as police cars in the 80s.

True...I've had no problem getting items from him on eBay.

My Model Roundup order just arrived. The '61 Pontiacs look great at first glance...going to sit down later and go through the instructions and trees...lots of parts tightly packed in the box.

There was no Aspen kit. MPC started w/ the '77 Volare then did a Road Runner version of it, then the '78,' 79 and '80.

Depends on the vendor, I guess...I preordered mine Dec 1.

very sharp..love the color combo, and the wheels & tires

I wouldn't be surprised if the reissue is nearly identical to the Fuzz Duster (except probably now molded in white), as that was the only '80 release I believe...

I got an email today from Model Roundup that my preorder shipped..they are showing them as 'Just Arrived' on their site.

$17k today is entry level tiny 4cyl econoboxes like the Chevy Spark or Sonic.

The AMT Alaskan Hauler would be a neat kit to see reissued, as would the AMT Peterbilt 352 'Turnpiker' with the large front bumper.

I do have a shipment of six kits from Hobby Link Japan coming this week and the 4 seasons of 'The Sweeney' on DVD coming from Amazon, both Xmas gifts to me from me..