larrygre

Chuck, my kit didn't have a decal sheet at all. Wouldn't be the first time I got a kit with something missing from it. As for the Tokyo Drift 67 Mustang, the RB26DETT engine might have been a total waste of plastic, and the big bling wheels a figment of someone;s imagination, but the kit DID come with a pretty good stock hood with turn signal indentations (something the normal AMT kit didn't!) That puppy is on my workbench being turned into a 390 GT. Sometimes there is a silver lining in a cloud...!

I concur! Easily the two best and most accurate.

You and me both!

Oh boy....I remember reviewing this one for MCM when Tokyo Drift came out, and I had to be somewhat diplomatic about it. The kit does NOT represent the movie car or anything even close to it. Here's my original review from back in 2007: “TOKYO DRIFT†1970 CHEVY MONTE CARLO – AMT/Ertl #38510 In this box is the 1998 vintage ’70 Monte Carlo Lowrider kit with the addition of two new sprues. The Monte lowrider kit is beautiful to say the least and only is missing stock height suspension and stock wheel/tire setups to be a factory stock Monte SS454. You can build the chromed lowrider suspension in either raised or lowered configurations, and one of the new sprues gives a lowered rear axle, four meaty vented disc brakes, lowered front spindles, and two Sparco-style racing seats. Besides the “normal†lowrider wheels and tires, a new set of chromed 20†five-spoke bling wheels on “rubber band†tires are included. There is no decal sheet. Now, if you want to build the movie car from this kit, be prepared to put in a LOT of work. The real movie car was almost half-NASCAR in its configuration. First off, the car has a Camaro-style cowl induction hood which will need to be kitbashed. The wheels are Cragar 8-hole steelies painted black with Goodyear Eagle slicks and front racing tires. The interior is far from the stock Monte setup in this kit, having a custom fabricated roll bar, Deist seat belts, a custom Auto Meter/Covan gauge cluster, and a set of Beard low-back bucket seats. There’s a NASCAR style fuel cell, and the engine is a seriously tweaked Chevy smallblock. The “beater†yellow and gray primer finish is just the beginning if you really want to model the movie car. Grab the book “The Fast and the Furious: The Official Car Guideâ€, by Kris Palmer (published by Motorbooks International) as a reference for all the cars from that movie franchise up to and including Tokyo Drift. Its a really good modeler's reference on the subject with lots of good photos. Hope that helps some!

Chuck, I think it was the droptop with the trailer that has the funky wheels. As for the Chevy engine being a "gripe", yeah I know smallblock Fords are the in thing but remember, this kit is vintage 1987 and for then, the 350 in the kit was state of the art...!

I remember when this kit first came out back in 1987. It was an immediate hit. It builds up nicely and has that "not from the 60s" street rod look to it. My only gripe, and its not really a gripe but an observation, is that the roof is chopped. Its a small chop, yes, maybe 2"-3" tops, but its not stock height. So much for my aspirations to do a stock '37. That aside, its a great kit, and the newer wheels are a nice addition.

This is GREAT - thanks so much for sharing this with everyone! My two cents: I have a Fiskars swivel knife, similar to X-Acto's Swivel Craft Knife, and it works great with circle templates - makes quick work of those problematic cuts too. It works just great with this technique for wide whites.

Lee, the 53 and 55 have identical chassis, so the ride height problem is indeed shared. An early 1980s issue of SCALE AUTO ENTHUSIAST (caps intended) had an article on how to fix the kit. I'll rummage through my library and try to find out which issue had it.

The first year for "cowcatcher" bumpers was 1973. That was the year the Federal mandate for 5 mph front and 2.5 mph rear bumpers had to be on every car sold in the USA. In 1974, the rear bumpers went to 5 mph as well.

Revell went back to doing annual kits in 1989, with their Thunderbird SC, Pontiac Grand Prix, and Mercury Cougar XR7. Despite these being really nice kits, 1992 was the last year for them, and Revell has not done any annual kits since.

Perhaps Revell could duplicate what they did to the 1/8 Big Deuce and give multiple building versions to a revitalized Little Deuce kit. The highboy would not be possible, however, due to the chassis and fenders being a single unit in the kit. Wouldn't be bad, though - Little Deuce, Son of Ford, and current rod in the same box as a 3-in-1? And how many spares boxes would be eternally grateful?

The vintage-1982 AMT 280ZX Turbo is a very nice kit indeed. In fact, so are the two VWs that were issued by AMT under the Lesney/Matchbox stewardship: the 1978-issue Rabbit, and the 1979-issue Scirocco. And the 1981-issue Subaru BRAT was also a nice little kit as well. Granted, they don't have the sex appeal of a Hemi Challenger or Z28, but they are great little kits and certainly worth reissuing (and except for the Datsun, none of them were been reissued under the Ertl stewardship of AMT) - how about it, Round2?

Nice - VERY nice! That will look awesome, especially parked next to an Alternomad Caprice.

WAY before final assembly. You'll have to reduce the ride height DURING chassis assembly or your 55 will have the stance of an SUV.

Not bad, Chuck - not bad at all!

That one got by me...thanks Mark. You're right, I remember the black Early Iron Deuce. Looking at the box art of all of the issues, the Little Deuce just plain looks the best to me.

Greg, someone on Facebook suggested re-releasing all the classic rods on Revell's page, including the Blue Beetle, Red Chariot, Yellow Jacket, and Green Hornet - and Revell thought that was a really good idea. I agree. Some of those were darn nice kits to begin with. And reaching into the Revell vaults, how about bringing back the Orange Crate, the Scarlet Screamer/Bantam Bomber double kit, the Mooneyes Dragster/Altered Coupe double kit, and some of the 1962 "Metalflake" series of Chrysler Corporation products (Dart, full size Chrysler, Lancer, etc.) And lets not forget our friends at round2/AMT/MPC whbile we are at it. How about: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Car, the Get Smart Sunbeam Tiger, the Dodge Thunder Charger, the Super Teen Firebird, the Mannix Toronado, the Mission Impossible Coronet, the Astro-Vette, and the '32 Chevy Roadster? How's THAT for waxing nostalgic????????

A production Camaro was a no-brainer. I hope R-M will give us a droptop as well - that convertible just looks sooooo sweet, especially in Red or Orange with those 1969 Z28-style black stripes!

That been the case for a while now. I bought one of the MotorWorks editions from a local Wally World back in 2004 or thereabouts, and that lower body wear was present then - I had to graft on some sheet styrene at the rear. It would really be nice if R-M could restore this tool to the original 1964 "Little Deuce" for all of us waxing nostalgic - and fix the worn body lowers while they are at it.

I guess that just goes to show how eminently forgettable that Rockin Rods series issue really was, Ken!

This is truly a kit with a LONG pedigree. It started out life in the mid-1960s as the "Little Deuce" and had a Pontiac 389 engine and an optional up-top. It was re-issued in the early 1970s molded in orange and having customizing touches by Tom Daniel as the "Son of Ford" The kit was revised again in 1986, the Poncho mill being replaced by a smallblock Chevy with a single four-barrel with large chrome air cleaner, rams horn exhaust manifolds leading to narrow under-chassis separate exhausts with Thrush-style mufflers, and big-n-little tires with wire wheels. This kit stayed in the Monogram lineup well in to the 1990s when it was again revised with chrome steelie wheels with 1940s style FORD dog dish hubcaps and custom louvers on the hood top and sides, and the up-top went bye-bye. It had a very short release under the Revell label with a die-cut cardboard McDonalds diorama display, and then showed up as a MotorWorks special for Wal-Mart minus the diorama. This same kit was issued in 2006 in Revell's "Basic Builder" series, and this Monogram "Classic Cruiser" is a re-boxing of that last issued kit. (If I left out any reissues, guys, please let me know - I did this one from memory!) How is the kit? For its age, actually, pretty good. Low points are the chassis and fenders being a one piece unit, the too-spindly dropped front axle and the vintage Model A/Model B rear suspension setup, and the too-skinny exhausts. The Mouse motor isn't too bad and could stand some extra detailing. Its nowhere near the topnotch-quality of the later Revell 1/25 scale '32 Fords, but it IS buildable. Hope that helps a little.

The big bugaboo with this kit (and the '53 sister kit) is the ride height. This will need to be adjusted or the car will look like a 4x4. I doubt that Round2 went in and fixed the tool, so its pretty much up to us. There was an excellent article on fixing the errors of the '53 in a very old edition (pre-1980, I believe) of the original Scale Auto Enthusiast and I don't have access to my library at this moment so I am not certain of the issue - anyone please feel free to step in and name that mag! That four-speed is nice but historically incorrect. Four-speeds didn't show up in 'Vettes till 1957, so you had a choice of Powerglide or three-speed manual. That's all, folks. Otherwise, details notwithstanding, it's not a bad kit at all, and a nice canvas to mess around with! More in the next issue of MCM!

For those "Strictly Stock" among us, the kit has one little problem - the stock wheelcovers are incorrect - they are for a '57, not a '58. Modelhaus has the K-H Ford wires available in resin that would be an admirable replacement. That notwithstanding, its a great build.

No doubt about it - Norm does AWESOME stuff, and always has!

Chuck, with Lindberg's future currently unknown, I'd tend to doubt there would be tooling money to be spent on an '11 Charger. Last I heard is that the company was up for sale. Would be nice to have a healthy Lindberg spending tooling money though.