Stang-banger - MPC "Style"

[Faust]

Mustang. It’s a legendary name and a car that has had an amazingly long life. The thing is, Mustangs are so popular that it’s hard for me to find one that fits into the “loser” car mould. Sure, there are Mustang II’s, but I LIKE Mustang IIs. Besides, they’re “II”s. Thankfully, the late ‘70s and early ‘80s teamed up with MPC to satisfy my craving for Stang-based sadness.

Check out my out of box review for the “Wild Breed” custom Mustang below. It’s a typical MPC, which means it has great detail and texturing as well as nice tires, but also some very tasteless custom touches!

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/125-mpc-wild-breed-mustang-cobra-oob/

 

Edited August 13, 2015 by Faust

[Nova-ss]

LOL...yes MPC hard some nasty custom wheel flares and other aero packages that look bad along with bad chassis plate detail...but as I say if you don't like what there is....fix it...its what I do..what we all do.....Chris

[jbwelda]

hey Adam, what a great review and what an eye for picking losers! just those graphics and the drop out horse are enough to make me gag! so did  you actually build this pile?

thanks again!

jb

 

[Faust]

I have an eye for the losers, alright! There were tonnes of cars like this at car shows when I was growing up, so they kind of "stick with me". The drop out horse is AWESOME! Well, okay, maybe not "awesome" but "awful", the "aw" is the same.

I haven't built it yet, but I'm getting a lot of positive response on this one. I have a lot of Fox-Stangs actually... Hmm... maybe I need to do a poll to see which one I should build? I will build this one stock, though. I want the fans of Muscle-Stangs to be forced to confront the 120 hp V8, in an attempt to untint some rose-coloured glasses!  Yeah, I'm just that evil! Bwa ha ha ha! 

[jbwelda]

totally ironic that little four puts out more than that big bad (well, how about bitty bunk) V8! man those sure were the days (to be into non USA cars).

 

jb

 

[chitownbri]

iirc ford was going to offer a "super snake" (or something to that effect)option on the mustangs, hence the "ss" badges on the fenders.

but i guess in the final hour ford realized what a snafu that would've been and i remember reading about how some cars actually made it to dealerships

with the ss badging but ford had them all replaced with 5.0 badges before any were sold.

 

[Don Sikora II]

iirc ford was going to offer a "super snake" (or something to that effect)option on the mustangs, hence the "ss" badges on the fenders.

but i guess in the final hour ford realized what a snafu that would've been and i remember reading about how some cars actually made it to dealerships

with the ss badging but ford had them all replaced with 5.0 badges before any were sold.

 

I think Brian is right that the SS badges were a from a pre-production plan, and the hottest '82 Mustangs ended up being GTs with 5.0 badges. I'm old enough to have built the kit when new, and I remember reading about the proposed Mustang SS somewhere and being surprised to see those emblems on the kit instead of the 5.0 markings. The '82 Mustang doesn't seem like much now, but I remember being pretty excited about it back then. Not as exciting as the '82 Z28 and Trans Am were, but it was still a cool car.

[lysleder]

I'll call it AWEFUL!  -  love it!

[TimJ]

Great review Adam. I picked up a sealed example last year but unfortunately my tires had come into contact with the windows and rear lights, with the expected result.

.

[kruleworld]

I have an eye for the losers, alright!

Those make for some of the most interesting subjects, because everyone else goes right past them onto the nearest Charger/Camaro/Mustang.

 

I dare not open the bag until I’m ready to build this thing. Why? Because in typical MPC fashion many parts have liberated themselves from the confines of their sprue prisons

zip lock bags are you friend, get some now. Your review is a fun read, thanks.

[Can-Con]

Adam, not sure you are aware of this but that's actually the annual kit for '82, not a custom version, as was the red "Snakebite" kit ['81] They were all a progression of the same '79 mold. MPC didn't put the year on the annual boxes prominently in the late '70s and early '80s as they did before and after.

Pretty nice kits really, probably because they weren't based on a promo with a one piece chassis plate..

 

We had a Leisure World store here in Fredericton in the '70s and '80s. I think it was a pretty large chain for a hobby store. IIRC, there was one in Moncton and Halifax too.

[Faust]

Hey Steve!

Yeah, you're right, it is essentially an annual, but I it is actually a custom because of the decals they gave you, plus it's built with the custom wheels and sidepipes right on the box. They didn't market the kit as being able to be made as a stock vehicle, and there's no correct Cobra decal for the hood and no correct lettering for anywhere on the car. This is what MPC does for it's subsequent-year annuals, it seems. Like the Omni: the '79 kit was just "Omni", and it has the ability to be made custom, but can also be made stock. Later issues, like the Silver Bullet Omni and the black clone with the same ugly chin spoiler aren't marketed as "82 Omni" they're marketed as "Silver Bullet" or whatever; the custom is the selling point. Snakebite is also awesome! I'd love to have two of these so I could build one stock and one custom! 

Wow, I didn't know Leisure World was that far spread. We had two here in London at one time. One survived until the late '90s or early 2000s, too. 

Okay, so here's a question for the Stang guys, because I can't figure it out from the internet:

Can you have a 1982 GT, with all the airdams, spoilers, etc., with the front-facing hoodscoop and the 4.2L? I know the 5.0 was standard in '82, but Wikipedia says that the 4.2 was still offered as a credit option, but doesn't make it clear if that included the GT. Also, if you got the 4.2, did you have blank fenders where the "5.0" writing would go?  

If this kit could be built this way, it would rock. Saddest Mustang V-8 ever, with 111hp. Awesome!

 

Edited August 16, 2015 by Faust

[Tom Geiger]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember that MPC would put out the new annuals in the fall,  then do the customs as their mid-year release to keep the sales rolling.  I'm currently playing with their Dodge van series and that seems to be the pattern with those too.

[Faust]

Oh, is that how they did it?

I always thought the did an annual when the kit was new, and then once in a while if it needed refreshing (like the Omni when it became the 4-headlight Charger, and two-headlight Charger, etc.) but the customs filled in the years when there wasn't anything "new" on the car. 

I am likely wrong, but I got that impression from the dates on my boxes, and inferred the rest. 

[Don Sikora II]

It is the '82 Mustang annual, but MPC really seemed to start downplaying the annual angle after 1978. They started giving most, but not all, the annuals "names" in 1979, like in this case Wild Breed. At least the first production run would have come with a plastic band around the box indicating it was a 1982 kit. My kit still has this. Presumably retailers could remove that 1982 band when the '83 kits came out, leaving a shrink-wrapped kit that people wouldn't expect to be discounted because it was last-year's model.

 

 

[Maindrian Pace]

Like many/most MPC kits of the day, this one is a little confused about exactly what it is. It purports to be an '82 GT, a milestone Mustang, without actually saying it. The last year for that series of Cobras was '81, which is the year that would have had the 4.2/255 V8. Since the 4.2 and the 302/5.0 both were dimensionally identical, the engine could be called either. The kit comes with the Cobra/recycled pace car hood cowl, but also the '82 GT scoop - so it can be built as either.. but it lacks the Cobra graphic decals so an '82 GT 5.0 would be the best bet. Most of the ones I remember seeing were medium red with a sunroof and TRX wheels. Nice looking cars.

[Faust]

Yeah, Mike, that's a totally MPC thing. I don't know if it's their fault, or Ford's, since both are using parts mashups to create different versions of the same thing.

You're right that it could be an 82 GT, and all the parts are there, save the 5.0 Badges.  However, the Cobra decal was an option, like the T/A's fire chicken, and thus it could be a Cobra without it. My kit would be totally devoid of Cobra decals, unless I find some soon or I build it to represent a restored car that hasn't gotten decals yet.

Say, here's a question: were there any '80 or '81 Cobras that DIDN'T have the flat black two-toning? Also, could you get the recarro seats in the Cobras in the two tones listed in the catalog, like Bittersweet and white? 

I'd like to do Bittersweet with Bittersweet and White interior, but I don't have any photographic proof you could get that. Can anyone help me out?

Thanks!

[Maindrian Pace]

I've never seen a '80-'81 Cobra without the flat black lower body paint. The bittersweet Recaros would be a strong "maybe". They were available in regular Mustangs through '81, and I've seen them in '82 GTs in the Pace Car black/white stutter stripe pattern as factory equipment.

Recaros in a Vaquero interior, (orangy brown) '81 Cobra.

Wedgewood blue:

Edited August 20, 2015 by Maindrian Pace

[JTalmage]

Mmmm.... Vaquero interior... my favorite right next to good ol canyon red 85 GT guts

[Faust]

Man, that Vaquero colour is awesome. Could you get that on a Cobra in the "Pastel Chamois"? Could you even GET a Cobra in chamois. I think that's the Bittersweet with the Vaquero interior. I kinda like that combo!

[95neon]

Hate to be off topic but I saw your monogram svo in green on your site and phenomenal job on that puppy!

[Maindrian Pace]

Man, that Vaquero colour is awesome. Could you get that on a Cobra in the "Pastel Chamois"? Could you even GET a Cobra in chamois. I think that's the Bittersweet with the Vaquero interior. I kinda like that combo!

This site lists an available Pastel chamois/black 2 tone:

http://www.mustangspecs.com/years/81.shtml

Doesn't say whether it was available on a Cobra. Knowing Ford back then, it probably was - and maybe a handful were built - and it would have had the orange/brown graphics package. Know how to print decals on the computer? now would be a good time to learn. You can't go wrong with that Bittersweet/Vaquero combo, it's dreamy, no?

[Faust]

It seems like something they would do, yeah. A beige Cobra with the 4.2L. Doesn't fail harder than that...

The Bitttersweet is what I was going to do, since I want to do my '79 Capri the same colour. The Bittersweet Vaquero does look nice, good call!

 

 to be off topic but I saw your monogram svo in green on your site and phenomenal job on that puppy!

 Thanks for the compliments on the SVO, too, Tim!

[Mopeyguy]

In Canada you could order a Turbo 4 cyl option in the 1982 GT. An interesting combo.

I will have to post a pic of my current summer cruiser,,  a Black 82 GT with a warmed over  5.0

[Mr Stock]

I have the MPC 79 Indy Pace car Mustang and the 84 SVO kits in the stash, I only recently got them just because I like the shape of the Fox body Mustangs and I was quite surprised at the level of detail in these old kits......apart from the floorpan but that can be enhanced.

And yes both kits suffered the usual MPC traits the pace car had hardly and parts left attached to the trees, and the SVO kit had a tire that had welded to the windsheild, but I managed to fix that by sanding and polishing it out.

Adam you are a bit like me in liking the offbeat and loser cars, I just havent built any yet!. So are the other MPC kits like the Mustang for detail , Im thinking the EXP and the Daytona maybe?.

 

Edited August 26, 2015 by Mr Stock