AMT 1960 Ford F100

[my80malibu]

I have a general question about the AMT Ford annual kits.Back in the past at what time of the year were the kit release information let out, and does anyone know specifically what quarter the Pickup was released?

[Art Anderson]

I have a general question about the AMT Ford annual kits.Back in the past at what time of the year were the kit release information let out, and does anyone know specifically what quarter the Pickup was released?

All AMT "Annual Series" model car and pickup model kits (the so-called "3in1" kits) were based on promotional model tooling that was done to provide the Big Three automakers with scale model toys of the new cars they were selling--as promotional items.  Those came first, as automakers' marketing departments (and new car dealers) wanted those in showrooms as close to new car introduction dates as possible.  "Kit Information" came in two forms back then:  "Sell Sheets" mailed to local hobby shops (or sent to them by their wholesalers), and ads in magazines (most notably Rod & Custom, Car Craft and Hot Rod Magazine.  Those print announcements tended to be a good 6-8 weeks before kits actually reached store shelves in many cases however.  As for the '60 Ford F100 3in1 kits, I seem to recall those hitting our LHS here in Lafayette (the former Bell Auto Supply) whose owner was extremely agressive about always getting the latest model car kits ASAP, just about the time school let out in late May (I was a HS sophomore at the time--coming up on getting my driver's license that summer!)

Annual 3in1 kit releases always took some time to come to market--due to tooling/retooling lead times:   Generally speaking though, most all 3in1 Customizing 3in1 kits were released int the first quarter of the year of the actual vehicles.  From my recollections, convertibles came first, followed fairly quickly by hardtops, with the AMT '60 Ford and SMP '60 Chevy pickup kits hitting stores sometime in early May of that year.

Art

[my80malibu]

 Was that May1959, or 1960?

[Art Anderson]

 Was that May1959, or 1960?

Considering that we're talking 1960 Ford F100 pickup kit from AMT, May 1960,  1960 being the model year of the actual pickup.