Anyone have a review of the AMT '64 Impala 'Super Shaker'?

[pharoah]

I know kinda what's in the box. I was wondering if this version had the steel wheels and maybe whitewalls?

 

Thanks!

[Bob Ellis]

The AMT '64 Impala HT has been re-issued a million times, well, almost.

Not all the 1964 annual parts have returned, but the roll bar is included. Also included is a convertible boot. Some parts were added like the Cragar mags.

This kit is supposed to replicate the 1973 issue T408, but not with the Street Shaker name. This latest issue has more parts than the 1973 issue, but less than the 1964.

Attached is a jpeg of the map on the bottom of the box showing the parts. Hopes this helps you.

 

[pharoah]

thanks!  I was just curious about it. I had the original w/working lights  when it came out. It seemed like it had more options than the one I bought in 73(?). I could be wrong ,I've slept since then. lol

[Casey]

?

Edited March 1, 2022 by Casey

[MeatMan]

I have that kit.  Bought it a few months ago for a future build.  It has Cragars and hubcaps.  It has nice thin whitewall tires for stock or fat polyglas for the street rod.  

No working lights but I do remember the old kits with working lights but this ain't one of 'em.  Hope this helps.

[unclescott58]

Here's a video review on YouTube, too: https://youtu.be/am0dx6yCAmA

Sorry Casey, but that is the worst kit review, if you want to call it that, that I have ever seen. What was the point of that?

[stavanzer]

Scott, is correct. That is really not useful, or helpful.

2 1/2 minutes of somewhat pointless reminiscing , and not even any shot inside the box. I am guessing it is not your work, but that has to be one of the worst YouTube Kit Reviews, I've ever watched. Nice if you like that sort of thing, I suppose, but not a kit review.

[pharoah]

I saw that yesterday. Yeah ,too bad he didn't even open the box...

 

[tim boyd]

There's a very good Larry Greenberg review of this kit in the latest issue of Model Cars mag.  You guys need to check it out.

Larry also points out that it includes a Hilborn-style fuel-injection intake manifold sized for a 409 "W: motor; this is the only one in scale I can think of, and it was not in the earlier reissues from what I can tell.  It would be perfect for a 1960's Gasser running a 409....

Also...if you check the box art, the new kit has the Cragar S/S wheels inserted in place of the ugghhh baby moons that were in the c. '74 reissue that otherwise shares its box art with this reissue.....TIM 

[Mark]

I'd have to check, but I'm pretty certain the Hilborn intake was an option in the '63 Impala kits.

[tim boyd]

I'd have to check, but I'm pretty certain the Hilborn intake was an option in the '63 Impala kits.

Mark...you mean the original '63 annual kit?  (Don't have one of those in my stash...).   Thanks...TIM  

[Bob Ellis]

The '64 Impala original kit engine came as a single carb 409 or a blown 409 with a scoop. I believe it has always been the same.

The '63 Impala had a single carb 409 and 8 injector 409 (4 2s injectors). BTW, the 63 an 64 chassis and engines appear the same (original kits) but they are slightly different. The re-issued '63 Impala (1988 and later) has an awful 409 engine and no firewall. This was designed in the '70s by AMT to update the Craftsman Impala but laid sleeping until ERTL woke up the kit. Must have been 2 tools of the '63, or AMT reverted the annual kit back to a promo for the 1966-68 Craftsman releases. In any case, the current versions of the '63 are a hybrid.

I liked the Street Rods reversed Moons wheels and tire combo. AMT must have lost the tire tool as they are loooooog gone.

The Woodward Avenue '64 Impala kit of 1969 had some of the headlight/taillight parts and dated bumpers. Mostly all the annual parts. The GOW bulbs were missing as was the battery box. The next issue T408 (1972-73) had the head lights filled in and not well either. Gone were the dated bumpers with chassis lugs, chassis screws and 25-30% of the parts.

Still a great kit. The head lights can be fixed.

[Exotics_Builder]

Mark...you mean the original '63 annual kit?  (Don't have one of those in my stash...).   Thanks...TIM  

I have a Prestige 63 version in my stash and only has a stock motor.  My 90's reissue 64 has a stock or GMC blower for the 409.

[Bob Ellis]

Your Prestige '63 Impala is the Craftsman kit with the hood opened up and an engine added. The custom parts are from the annual kit.

[Art Anderson]

Your Prestige '63 Impala is the Craftsman kit with the hood opened up and an engine added. The custom parts are from the annual kit.

And, IIRC, it was missing the firewall in the Prestige Series kit (I robbed a firewall out of a '64 for my build, done back in 1987).

Art

[Bob Ellis]

Yes Art, that one (and all the next re-issues too?) are missing a firewall. Isn't that a big screw-up to forget the firewall?

You can tell immediately the difference of the modified Craftsman '63 body (1988 and later) against the original annual '63 body. The tail lights are filled in (no red lenses) and the lip on the body and the hood are missing to hold the metal hood clip.

The '64 firewall approximates the original '63 perfectly.

 

[Art Anderson]

Yes Art, that one (and all the next re-issues too?) are missing a firewall. Isn't that a big screw-up to forget the firewall?

You can tell immediately the difference of the modified Craftsman '63 body (1988 and later) against the original annual '63 body. The tail lights are filled in (no red lenses) and the lip on the body and the hood are missing to hold the metal hood clip.

The '64 firewall approximates the original '63 perfectly.

 

I've always questioned the description of that body shell as being the Craftsman Series shell though, given that it does have an opening hood, which part and the area underneath are exactly the same as the original '63 Convertible 3 in 1 build I restored simultaneously with the Prestige Hardtop I was building, given that the Craftsman kit was little more than the unassembled promo--although there could well have been some tooling slides that were interchangeable.

IIRC from building it up, the '64 Firewall part was virtually identical to the one in my '63 Convertible kit that I disassembled and restored.

Art

Edited November 24, 2015 by Art Anderson

[Bob Ellis]

I have to re-check, but I believe the original '63 annual hood and the ERTL era '63 hood do not interchange. Sometimes if you look inside the model body, you can see the mold lines (like veins and arteries) that feed the styrene through the tool. If they are the same, it is the same tool. If, not, there is more than one tool.

I am sure that the original question concerning the '64 is as the following. It is the exact same tool on the '64, from 1964 until 2015.

[pack rat]

I have to re-check, but I believe the original '63 annual hood and the ERTL era '63 hood do not interchange. 

This got me wondering, so I just had to check it out.

You're right; the annual and the prestige hoods are totally different; the underside detail doesn't match, and the prestige hood is fractionally longer.

  

[unclescott58]

How about getting back to the '64 that started this tread? Anybody got one they can show us?

[unclescott58]

Oh, by the the way. A good tread to start would be showing and comparing the different AMT '63 Impalas. I'd like to learn more. But, back to the '64.

[Mark]

The Hilborn injector manifold in the Round 2 reissue '64 kit is from the '63 annual kits.  One is included in the '63 convertible kit I have, and I'm pretty certain it was in the hardtop also.  Not in the '64 kit are four pairs of very short, plated injector tubes that go with the manifold.  Those are in the Prestige series '63 hardtop, and subsequent reissues of same.  They're on the plated tree, on the side with the custom parts.    

The second-issue Super Street '64 (with the Woodward Avenue box art copied from a GTO ad) included all of the clear parts from the annual kits, including the light transfer bar pieces.  The battery box was not included.  Engraved headlamp detail was added to the grille, though in the kits I have seen the detail is "clocked", or not aligned correctly.  This was corrected with the Street Rods series and subsequent issues.

I used to think that there were two separate '63 hardtop tools; one for the kits and another for the promo/Craftsman kit.  They are probably one and the same.  The slide for the hood area would be different for the two versions (kit with separate hood, promo with molded-in hood).  The engine, firewall, and some other parts probably got moved over to the '64 kits back in the day.  When the simplified engine was later added to the Craftsman version of the '63, they probably altered the body tooling and tooled a new hood instead of looking for the original slide (which may not have existed by then).  That would seem to be the most logical explanation...

[Rob Hall]

 

The second-issue Super Street '64 (with the Woodward Avenue box art copied from a GTO ad) included all of the clear parts from the annual kits, including the light transfer bar pieces.  

 

Sounds interesting...anyone have a pic of that particular box art?   I have the original issue '64 ht & conv kits, the Countdown Series, and several of the reissues since then incl. the current one.

[Bob Ellis]

The is the first re-issue of the annual AMT 1964 Impala HT sold in 1969.

Some call it the Woodward Ave issue. Kit T222 has all the original parts except the battery box and grain of wheat bulbs .

[unclescott58]

The is the first re-issue of the annual AMT 1964 Impala HT sold in 1969.

Some call it the Woodward Ave issue. Kit T222 has all the original parts except the battery box and grain of wheat bulbs .

Great box art! Sometimes I'll buy a kit I'm not all that interested, because the box art so cool. Presently I don't need or want another '64 Impala. But, if that box showed up on the shelves, I'd being spending the money.