TRULY RAREST OF THE RARE 1/25 MUSCLE CAR KITS OF ALL TIME

[Pete J.]

I bought this one off ebay not long along, complete and it wasn't anywhere near $100.

My guess is we were in competition. The last two I bid on went for $96.22 and $61.70 after shipping and I was in it to the last bid.  It is weird, the convertible cover looks like a resin piece to me.  If you don't have a use for the original roof, would you be willing to pass it on?  As I said, I have the rest of the kit and want to build my first car, a coupe with the 200 CID six. 

Edited April 19, 2016 by Pete J.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I didn't buy them for future collector value. I bought them to build.

That's why I like your style Bill!

The rarer mint kits that I have waiting right now are a '65 Plymouth Fury, '66 Plymouth Fury convertible, '67 Plymouth Fury, '67 Ford Galaxie, '66 Pontiac Bonneville, '62 Pontiac Bonneville, '67 Chrysler 300 & a '60 Chrysler Imperial, as well as few less rare Johan "USA Oldies" kits.

All of them will be built.

 

Steve

[Nova-ss]

Ok, this is the mustang kit I am talking about.  I have an automatic search on eBay and it comes up maybe once a year and it almost always goes for near $100.  Fastbacks are a dime a dozen but the coupe, now that is a rare horse. 

wow...can you post a bigger picture of this rare horse...thank ya....Chris

[Snake45]

Has anyone yet mentioned the MPC '70 Cuda, or the AMT '63-'65 Chevy II/Nova hardtops?

Thought of another one in my stash: MPC '71 (or maybe it's a '72) Duster 340. The parts are all MIB but for some reason I ashcanned the original "Zingerish" box and put it in another box decades ago. What a pity.

[vamach1]

My guess is we were in competition. The last two I bid on went for $96.22 and $61.70 after shipping and I was in it to the last bid.  It is weird, the convertible cover looks like a resin piece to me.  If you don't have a use for the original roof, would you be willing to pass it on?  As I said, I have the rest of the kit and want to build my first car, a coupe with the 200 CID six. 

I found the roof piece and can send it to you.

[disabled modeler]

I didn't necessarily suggest "modifying" anything Mark.

I'm just curious as to whether or not anyone who has an old MIB kit has actually built it.

I bought this '61 Fury kit a few years ago.

It was perfect in every way.

The only thing I did to it was have the chrome parts re-plated & add a set of after market tires.

I didn't even paint it.

Just polished out the plastic.

Not a muscle car by any stretch, but it was a very rare MIB kit.

 

Steve

 

Steve.... Very nice...!   I have built mint in box old rare kits before.  If they are damaged I do the same thing i do with damaged promos if they cant be repaired...build them into something else or another version of one.  I have restored some real basket cases though...I just cant let them die...LOL..

[Pete J.]

I found the roof piece and can send it to you.

PM sent.  Appreciate it.  Thank you!

[Pete J.]

wow...can you post a bigger picture of this rare horse...thank ya....Chris

This is a pic I took off of eBay that I was bidding on.  I will see if I can find it in the stash and photograph it. 

[afx]

Pictures of the kits mentioned would make this tread far more interesting.  Reading a bunch of lists is not much fun.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Pictures of the kits mentioned would make this tread far more interesting.  Reading a bunch of lists is not much fun.

Here's my '62 Bonneville.

Not really a muscle car or all that rare, but it is in absolute mint condition.

 

Steve

 

[Sport Suburban]

I have some rare kits in my stash but most are not mint in box. I do have a few thou and plan to build them. Here is one I did open and build.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2016 by Sport Suburban

[Sport Suburban]

I have this one still sealed and have a thought about opening it. But since it is so rare and regularly breaks $200 on eBay for opened unbuilt kits. I have been temped to list it and see what happens. I have not seen another sealed one.

[Sport Suburban]

Here is another rare kit that was almost mint. The box had gotten wet and the box and decals were ruined. I had no trouble building this one but the box had mold on it. So everything got a good wash.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Sport Suburban

[Tom Geiger]

Okay guys, the rarest of the rare!  Yea, this is a promo but I submit it since this is the only way this body style was ever done,  not just a big dollar color variety.

The is the AMT 1966 Valiant Signet promotional model.   This qualifies as the rarest Mopar promo because it was never distributed in the normal manner. The photos here are the one I own. I've have photos of it in red, yellow and blue too.  

Here's the deal.  Look at the rear view. The roof line and trunk details are wrong for the 1966 car. They match the 1963-5 lines, and the car got a boxier rear window and squarer roof. The rear trunk edge is wrong too. The promo order got done with the wrong roof, and I believe the entire shipment was ordered destroyed by Chrysler after refusing to accept them.  Many of the survivors I've tracked were originally in the hands of Chrysler employees, so they probably had a few 100 review samples.  

As such, there was no AMT Craftsman kit of the 1966 Valiant like there were in 1963-65.  It will never be reissued because I believe the tooling was modified into the Fireball 500 car.

Decent ones sell for over $500.  I paid $350 for this one with some chrome tarnish and a broken steering wheel.  

 

[Mark]

Has anyone yet mentioned the MPC '70 Cuda, or the AMT '63-'65 Chevy II/Nova hardtops?

Thought of another one in my stash: MPC '71 (or maybe it's a '72) Duster 340. The parts are all MIB but for some reason I ashcanned the original "Zingerish" box and put it in another box decades ago. What a pity.

The '63 Nova kits could be had for quite a long time, but the '65 Craftsman kit was always tough because people were buying them up, assembling them, and trying to palm them off as promotional models.  There were no '64 Nova kits or promotionals. 

MPC '72 Dusters are tough now (built ones often have cut hoods) but '71s seem to turn up more often.  That usually happens when a newly tooled version of a particular car turns up, whether the new one is better than the original or not.  For example, I've got three or four really nice, clean, rebuildable '62 Impala convertibles that I bought after the AMT/Ertl convertible came out.  I don't think I've got more than ten bucks in any of them.  Same goes for '61 Impalas, both hardtops and convertibles.  I even tripped over a couple of cheap '69 El Caminos after the '68 came out. 

[Snake45]

 That usually happens when a newly tooled version of a particular car turns up, whether the new one is better than the original or not.  For example, I've got three or four really nice, clean, rebuildable '62 Impala convertibles that I bought after the AMT/Ertl convertible came out.  I don't think I've got more than ten bucks in any of them.  Same goes for '61 Impalas, both hardtops and convertibles.  I even tripped over a couple of cheap '69 El Caminos after the '68 came out. 

I know what you mean. There was a time when an unbuilt AMT '67 Corvette would go for well over $100, maybe closer to or even over $200. But since the Revell kits came out, couple years ago I scored several mint unbuilt AMT '64-'67 Corvette kits and didn't pay over $70 for any of them. And several more nice, clean, very restorable builtups in the $25-$35 range.

[Bob Ellis]

I agree on the .68 Chevelle. I don't even remember it in 1968 when I was a kid.

[Bob Ellis]

I know what you mean. There was a time when an unbuilt AMT '67 Corvette would go for well over $100, maybe closer to or even over $200. But since the Revell kits came out, couple years ago I scored several mint unbuilt AMT '64-'67 Corvette kits and didn't pay over $70 for any of them. And several more nice, clean, very restorable builtups in the $25-$35 range.

Be careful buying rare kits. Sometimes they get reissued.  The 1963 Impala kit got $200 in 1985 but $50 in 1987 after ERTL brought it back in the Prestige kt.

[dptydawg]

I have a few kits in the stash that might qualify as rare or at least as scarce.

top of the list is a   1971 Dodge Challenger by PMS ( a Palmer kit ) The box says its a 440 Six Pack but the kit has a Hemi in it.

                            1970 Plymouth Barracuda by MPC molded in bug juice green plastic

                            1970 Dodge Challenger by MPC molded in purple plastic

                            1969 Pontiac Firebird by MPC comes with Chrysler turbine engine and clear hood

 

Carl

 

 

 

                              

[Snake45]

I agree on the .68 Chevelle. I don't even remember it in 1968 when I was a kid.

I never saw one, either. If I had, I would probably have bought it.

[Bob Ellis]

My guess is we were in competition. The last two I bid on went for $96.22 and $61.70 after shipping and I was in it to the last bid.  It is weird, the convertible cover looks like a resin piece to me.  If you don't have a use for the original roof, would you be willing to pass it on?  As I said, I have the rest of the kit and want to build my first car, a coupe with the 200 CID six. 

I admit this Revell 1969 Mustang is a bit rare. It builds 2 versions not otherwise available

I agree on the .68 Chevelle. I don't even remember it in 1968 when I was a kid.

[MrObsessive]

I agree on the .68 Chevelle. I don't even remember it in 1968 when I was a kid.

I could almost swear that was the first kit I ever got in Christmas of '68, and I can certainly remember refusing to put it together! It reminded me of a puzzle, and back then I despised puzzles!

[Snake45]

I have a second one, too (AMT '69 Mach I). Glue bomb bought off eBay a few years back. "Glue bomb" doesn't begin to describe it. It has the worst glass I've ever seen--heavily frosted by liquid cement or some kind of solvent--and it is in there SOLID. I've gotten pretty good at prying old glass out, but the started destroying the A-frames on this one so backed off on that. I'm going to try polishing out the glass in place (I think there's about a 75% chance I can do it) and if that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to try to graft on the entire roof section from a Revell '69 Mach I or Shelby.

There's other issues with the thing, too. Original builder glued the tail lights on the hood as some sort of customizing element. Again, I THINK I can get them off with a razor blade saw.

It came with the original box and nearly all the original kit pieces, including both stock and custom grilles. (Modelhaus offers nothing for this kit.)

Worse comes to worst, I can always cut off some portion of the nose of the hot mess and graft it onto a common Revell '69 Mach I. I'm determined to make SOMETHING out of my $25 investment.

And here it is, in all its nauseating disgusting glory:

But that wonderful, beautiful, accurate front end will make all the sweat and  tears worthwhile:

[ss2000]

I have some rare kits in my stash but most are not mint in box. I do have a few thou and plan to build them. Here is one I did open and build.

 

 

 

 

That is absolutely stunning!

[Bob Ellis]

Whose idea on the tail lights on the hood? That is the easiest problem to fix. The 1969 AMT kits seemed elusive. I missed them in 1969 but found 3 new ones  in a store in Oldtown , ME in the '70s.