SSNJim

Here is one option used on full-size Mustangs: http://www.cjponyparts.com/black-decklid-t...5-2009/p/TPM15/ Decklid trim panels or taillight blackout panels come in honeycomb, pebble-grained, carbon fiber, ribbed and just about any other finish. They are installed by removing the faux gas cap and attaching the panel with tape. I would think one could be installed on yours using some very thin styrene, a carbon fiber decal, and some sort of glue after popping off the cap. No refinishing of your model required.

Gorgeous, simply flat-out gorgeous.

Most do, but not all. Black was the most common color (mine is black), but there are some silvers available, and they were made in other colors, too. http://www.pocher.net/english/list.html http://www.scaleautoworks.com/Pocherproductionlist.htm

Pocher 911, kit K31. AFAIK, Pocher was the only manufacturer to kit a complete 911 in 1/8 scale. We'll see after the pictures are posted.

Looks great! All the different elements merge together very well. I don't think the rear is too long - the car has a beautiful long, low, look. One of the things I don't like about the donor cars is the extremely tall height from the side windows to the rocker panels. That is not so apparent now. The one thing I would change is the "Aero" panel on the bottom of the Mustang bumper. It doesn't match the rest of the car. This is one of my favorite customs. It just looks right. Looking forward to seeing it done.

I'd say not MPC. This thread has a good shot of a typical MPC chassis of that era; though it's a show car, it's the same chassis MPC used under most of their annual C3 kits. That example is missing the exhaust, which was not as thick as the one you have, and IIRC, it was an X type - two pipes into one catalytic converter, then to two tailpipes. Another thing I could be wrong about. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23252 Search for Astrovette if the link doesn't work. Some good pictures in both threads.

I'm thinking it's a 1975 because of the bumper guards and the "Corvette" script on the rear bumper. That one has the 75 and earlier style; the 76 and later is much narrower, with thicker letters. Generally, the MPC cars had the year embossed into the license plate area. They also had a "working" front suspension, characterized by separate chrome lower A-arms, and real metal springs between them and the frame. The hood hinge doesn't look right to me for an MPC car, but that just be my memory. MPC had separate front inner fender panels, and the two pins on the hood were trapped between them and the body. The hood shouldn't raise that much at the front and still be attached. The wheels don't look MPC'ish to me, either. I built a few MPC Corvettes in the 70's, but never an AMT. I'm voting AMT on this one. A photo of the chassis would help, I think.

Thanks, Bill, that's great news! I really enjoy that event. I'll be down there this time. Where do you find flyers?

There used to be a swap meet held by an outfit that had a name similar to Capitol Miniature Car Collectors Club at the beginning of April and November held at the Dunn Loring, VA firehouse. Is that still being held? If so, when and where? I have never been able to find a schedule for it except at the show.

The problem with not having pictures has nothing to do with the quality of the castings; no one will argue that it is difficult to ascertain quality from a catalog/internet photo. The problem is with customs and phantoms in particular. Everyone knows what a stock '54 Ford looks like. What does a "Custom 49 Mercury" or "Corvette Wagon" look like? The Custom 49 Mercury is like getting a grab bag; lord only knows what you'll get.... After spending all that time hand pouring and hand demolding EVERY part, cleaning off any flash by hand. mounting by hand EVERY part to be plated on trees to send off to the plater, vacuum forming every windshield or back window that is needed via a hand operation, and walking to school uphill both ways, you'd think a caster could be bothered to find 5 minutes to take one or two pictures of at least each custom product sometime during the production run. Between batches while the next batch is curing would be a perfect time. Where would Sears be if they had printed catalogs without pictures? It is blatantly obvious from this and other topics that both model companies and the aftermarket can do no wrong. I just know that I haven't spent my usual $100/mo on models in the last year or so. I'd be surprised if I had spent $100 this past year. Money or time isn't any problem for me. What do you think is?

I'm not really sure it's reliving the past. The past is gone, and I, for one, am glad. Think of it as benchmarking. I remember reading an article in one of the model magazines long ago about benchmarking. What it is in a nutshell is to build the same model over and over again at certain periods - every year, two years, five years, whatever. The point is to see how your skills improve over time with measurable results. It's going to be hard to compare a 32 Ford you built at 15 with a 57 Chevy you built at 20, but if you build a 49 Ford for example periodically, you can see where you have improved and need improvement. Even recreating a car from years ago helps, especially if the original still exists for comparison's sake. How's that for justification?

But the manufacturers of the Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro aren't dead. Yet. Chrysler did save the cars it considered to be worth saving (Prowler, PT Cruiser) before shutting down Plymouth, but they didn't save the Barracuda. Why? Because they don't make a Barracuda, just like Pontiac doesn't make a Firebird/Trans Am. Even if there was a Firebird made in the last 7 years, and it was still being made as a niche car by GM, Chevrolet wouldn't tolerate it as a competitor to its Camaro. Chevrolet has always been very protective of its car lines - why do you think every attempt by Pontiac to build a successful sports car (read Corvette competitor) has been quashed? I will agree with trying to mimic the styling of Japanese cars. Some of them are way overdone and tacky looking. The reason the 4 cylinder 4 door sedan is the basic American car is because that's what sells. Ford still builds the traditional American sedan Crown Victorias (in Canada, BTW) but the public wouldn't buy them. Now they're fleet sales only. The platforms are shared for cost savings. That's why you may find a Mazda, Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Jaguar, and Volvo all using the same platform. That's why Mercury/Nissan and VW/Chrysler share platforms.

I'll be following this, too. I'm glad you decided to restore it. The taillight issue brings up a question - are you going to restore the model or build an accurate replica of the car? Or both? I would definitely stick with authentic colors.

AMT did a snap Dodge regular cab dually, and some of the wrecker kits out there have them. There's a Revell snap 73-87 wrecker that I'm thinking of that has duallies. I don't know what's on the aftermarket.

One more place: http://tocmp.com/ . It's The Old Car Manual Project, and they have sales brochures for nearly every car ever made. If you need information on the 1923 Rickenbacker Six, this is the place to come. There are also period pictures and some owner's manuals. It's a great place to start research on a particular automobile.

Ticketing loud pipes (car or bike) IS serving the public. I hate loud pipes; trying to sleep or hold a conversation while a bike is passing by is nearly impossible. Many areas are now closed to motorcycles because of the noise issue. Harleys do not come stock with loud pipes; they are quiet bikes from the factory. Most people have the dealer install pipes prior to delivery. There is a thought process among inexperienced bikers that loud pipes save lives. Experienced motorcyclists know that loud pipes lose rights. Interestingly enough, loud pipes usually cut the power the Harleys produce because the pipes tend to be tuned for high RPMs. You're right about the LEO's - I know of police agency bikes in the DC area that have loud pipes. How can laws be enforced when the police ignore them? I am a motorcyclist; I own a (very quiet) 2007 Honda Goldwing. I have put 15-20,000 miles a year on my motorcycles for years. I quit going to most motorcycle events because of loud pipes. I don't know about the reducing visibility thing, but I do like foglights, or as I refer to them, a-hole lights. If I see a car with the a-hole lights on when they're not needed, I know the driver is a jerk. They'll weave in and out of traffic, speed excessively, tailgate, run redlights and the like. Rarely are the lights wrong.

I voted restore. It's almost totally complete, and just needs a little cleaning up. Polish the windshield, foil the chrome, and give it a fresh coat of paint. It'd be killer. It would be difficult to improve the car by customizing it, and when you were done, it would look like a custom C3, not a cool Astrovette.

Nice find! That chassis definitely screams MPC. They used the same one under all their C3 Corvettes. It has separate chrome A-arms with a spring (working front suspension), poseable front wheels, and rotating half shafts for the rear wheel. Any MPC-based 1968-1982 Corvette kit should yield the replacement chassis/engine parts you need, and perhaps some of the interior parts. These kits were basically annuals, and the body was the main thing updated.

The bigger problem from my point of view is that they don't have anything to sell except licensing. Why would GM provide and rebadge cars for what they consider to be a failed nameplate already spun off from itself? There may well be plenty of unused manufacturing capability around the country, but New Pontiac needs something to manufacture. Everything they made was owned by GM. All Pontiac designers did was slap Pontiac-looking trim pieces on cars designed by the head corporate office. I've always liked Pontiac; in fact, I'd rather have seen Chevrolet offed. There's not a lot of difference, and Pontiac was always a direct internal competitor to Chevrolet.

I'm looking forward to the Pantera. I'm a big fan of early 70s Italian supercars. I think I have a Pantera bought built stashed away. One day I need to get it rebuilt. I remember seeing a Pantera or two in Louisville when I was young - definitely the first "exotics" I'd ever seen. The rumor was the owner paid about $10,000 for the car. At the time, you could get a nicely equipped Corvette for around $5500, and a house for not much more than $10,000. Enough geezin'.

The Merak was introduced in 1972, well before any fuel economy concerns, gas guzzler taxes or CAFE standards. It was a 2+2 as opposed to the Bora's 2 seat configuration, and had a small backseat. It was a GT car for the family guy or "economy-minded buyer", in much the same way Mustangs were available with 6 cylinders or 8. The Bora and Merak shared the same body shell, and the Merak's lighter weight was due to the Merak's V6 vs the Bora's V8. There were no significant dimensional differences between the two. I do agree that this particular specimen was probably dogged out, and that Chris did a very nice job.

That's my third favorite Italian car, after its big brother the Bora and the Countach LP400. I've built a couple of those kits - nice kits. One I tried to convert into a Bora without much success. I have since obtained two Bora models. The 83HP car is very odd. The Merak had a 200HP V6 installed.

That's about the way the real ones fit together. Neat kit - at least it would be if the parts fit. Is that a new release? I hadn't heard about that one. I've always been a fan of British sports cars, and have driven or ridden in many of that car's contemporaries, though never a Spitfire/GT6.