1/25 AMT 1966 Mercury Hardtop

[Casey]

Well, I think it has yet to be stated if the Hurst mag wheels shown on the box top drawing will be included, but fingers crossed Round2 sees fit to tool up an all-new set for this (and other) reissues.  

Edited March 20, 2022 by Casey

[Sledsel]

another to add...  curse you Round 2

 

[Bob Ellis]

17 hours ago, Casey said:

Well, I think it has yet to be stated if the Hurst mag wheels shown on the box top drawing will be included, but fingers crossed Round2 sees fit to tool up an all-new set for this (and other) reissues.  

This is the 1969 issue exact contents as original 1999 annual.

[El Caballo]

Oh hell yes, make this Round 2!

[ChrisBcritter]

Handy if obscure hint: The custom rear bumper can be cut down to make a great patch panel for a Hubley '60 or '61 Ford wagon with damaged lower rear quarters (you'll need one for each side). 

Edited February 15, 2018 by ChrisBcritter

[fairlane1320]

This kit has the cool tall Mercury valve covers. I have a set on my 1:1 Fairlane.

['70 Grande]

What engine is inside this kit?  Is it a 390, or larger?  Is this kit, (even tho it was originally-issued several decades ago), a fairly accurate representation of the 1:1?  Thoughts; anybody?

[fomocomav]

On 2/13/2018 at 1:43 PM, Bob Ellis said:

This is the 1969 issue exact contents as original 1999 annual.

I've seen an original 1966 issue, but not the 1969 annual.  Are the mags still in the 1969 annual?

[unclescott58]

1 hour ago, fomocomav said:

I've seen an original 1966 issue, but not the 1969 annual.  Are the mags still in the 1969 annual?

I don't think there was a '69 annual of a full-size Mercury. '66 was the last year of a kit or promo for full-size Mercurys. 1967 on, it was Cyclones, Cougars, Comets, and Capris for Mercurys in scale. 

[unclescott58]

On 2/16/2018 at 5:39 PM, '70 Grande said:

What engine is inside this kit?  Is it a 390, or larger?  Is this kit, (even tho it was originally-issued several decades ago), a fairly accurate representation of the 1:1?  Thoughts; anybody?

390, 410, 428. You can claim it to be anyone of those. All three look the same. I'm willing to bet, that AMT claimed it to be the 428 at the time. 

[Snake45]

I'm gonna have to get one of these just to build the custom version. I'm currently working on a custom '66 Vette roadster, using the annual kit custom parts. Then I could do the '66 T-Bird and Wildcat as customs. Maybe the Mustang, too. And I think I've got a full set of leftover '66 Skylark parts I could use to convert the dirt tracker into a nice custom. Hmmmmmmmm......

[fomocomav]

10 hours ago, unclescott58 said:

I don't think there was a '69 annual of a full-size Mercury. '66 was the last year of a kit or promo for full-size Mercurys. 1967 on, it was Cyclones, Cougars, Comets, and Capris for Mercurys in scale. 

OK.  And it appears that the mags came with the issue this new re-release replicates.  Hopefully they are in the most recent release as well!

Edited February 25, 2018 by fomocomav

[Bob Ellis]

15 hours ago, unclescott58 said:

I don't think there was a '69 annual of a full-size Mercury. '66 was the last year of a kit or promo for full-size Mercurys. 1967 on, it was Cyclones, Cougars, Comets, and Capris for Mercurys in scale. 

I have never seen a 1999 Mercury annual either LOL. 1966 obviously. Lots of 60s annuals were repacked in 1969 with exact parts and instructions but had new theme boxes,

[Robberbaron]

19 hours ago, fomocomav said:

I've seen an original 1966 issue, but not the 1969 annual.  Are the mags still in the 1969 annual?

 

7 hours ago, fomocomav said:

OK.  And it appears that the mags came with the issue this new re-release replicates.  Hopefully they are in the most recent release as well!

Correct - the 1969 reissue still had the Hurst mags from the first release.  The last time it was available from RC2 (NOT Round 2) was around 2004-ish with an aqua (teal?) car on the box.  This version didn't have the Hursts, I believe it had American Racing Vectors or a similar "turbine" style wheel? (I bought a couple when they were reissued, but they're buried deep in my "stash" and I don't have the ambition to dig them out right now.)

I'm suspecting that the wheel switch was made for the "Countdown" reissue in the late 1970s.  I haven't seen that version, but when RC2 was reissuing all of this type of stuff, it seemed like they were dusting off all this old tooling and running it pretty much unmodified.

[fomocomav]

Robberbaron, if there is no issue between the Countdown series and the one you posted a picture of, then you are right, that is when the Hurst mags disappeared.  I don't think the 1966 EVER had a stock intake setup, though.  The 1965 did.  I don't know why the change was made.  As a side note, someone elsewhere on the 'Net mentioned that the Park Lane isn't supposed to have the chrome strip across the tops of the fenders.  That is for a different model (Monterrey?).  I haven't looked that up yet.

[Rob Hall]

7 hours ago, Robberbaron said:

 

Correct - the 1969 reissue still had the Hurst mags from the first release.  The last time it was available from RC2 (NOT Round 2) was around 2004-ish with an aqua (teal?) car on the box.  This version didn't have the Hursts, I believe it had American Racing Vectors or a similar "turbine" style wheel? (I bought a couple when they were reissued, but they're buried deep in my "stash" and I don't have the ambition to dig them out right now.)

I'm suspecting that the wheel switch was made for the "Countdown" reissue in the late 1970s.  I haven't seen that version, but when RC2 was reissuing all of this type of stuff, it seemed like they were dusting off all this old tooling and running it pretty much unmodified.

 

The 'Countdown Series' Merc was one of the first kits I built as a kid, IIRC it had some wire spoke wheels as the custom option.  

[Casey]

5 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

The 'Countdown Series' Merc was one of the first kits I built as a kid, IIRC it had some wire spoke wheels as the custom option.  

Kelsey-Hayes "Stripper" wheels, also found in the semi-recent reissue of the AMT '53 Corvette:

Edited February 26, 2018 by Casey

[Rob Hall]

Yes, that's them. 

[Dave Darby]

Those are Kelsey Hayes "Stripper" mags. Also available in every issue of AMT's 53 Corvette.  

[my66s55]

There wern't any wire wheels on the 1966 full size Merc. What you are seeing in the kit is AMT's way to try to present these optional wire hub caps. 

These two hang on the wall of my garage. There is chrome on the top of the rear fenders of the 2 door hardtops however.

I have a pair of the chrome spears that I took off a parts car. I laid one on the rear fender of my S55 vert to show where they appeared.

I had intended to use the wire hub caps but I couldn't because I put 71 Montego disk breaks on the front to help stop.

 The stock 66 wheels however, wouldn't fir on the Montego hubs. I installed Torque Thrust II's all the way around instead.

Edited February 26, 2018 by my66s55

[stavanzer]

Casey, you don't have the instructions for that 'Countdown Series" Merc do you?

I've never seen that version of the kit. Only one I have seen is the 2004-ish boxing.

[Dave Darby]

1 hour ago, my66s55 said:

There wern't any wire wheels on the 1966 full size Merc. What you are seeing in the kit is AMT's way to try to present these optional wire hub caps. 

These two hang on the wall of my garage. There is chrome on the top of the rear fenders of the 2 door hardtops however.

I have a pair of the chrome spears that I took off a parts car. I laid one on the rear fender of my S55 vert to show where they appeared.

I had intended to use the wire hub caps but I couldn't because I put 71 Montego disk breaks on the front to help stop.

 The stock 66 wheels however, wouldn't fir on the Montego hubs. I installed Torque Thrust II's all the way around instead.

That's a really nice Merc, but no. The kit comes with stock wheel covers and the one you think are wires are actually mag wheels. See above posts. 

[Dave Darby]

16 hours ago, Robberbaron said:

 

Correct - the 1969 reissue still had the Hurst mags from the first release.  The last time it was available from RC2 (NOT Round 2) was around 2004-ish with an aqua (teal?) car on the box.  This version didn't have the Hursts, I believe it had American Racing Vectors or a similar "turbine" style wheel? (I bought a couple when they were reissued, but they're buried deep in my "stash" and I don't have the ambition to dig them out right now.)

I'm suspecting that the wheel switch was made for the "Countdown" reissue in the late 1970s.  I haven't seen that version, but when RC2 was reissuing all of this type of stuff, it seemed like they were dusting off all this old tooling and running it pretty much unmodified.

I had one of those RC2 66s too. Can't remember what custom wheels it had but the instructions (via Drastic Plastics) say the Hurst mags. Hopefully that's what we'll get.

[Ron Hamilton]

2 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

I had one of those RC2 66s too. Can't remember what custom wheels it had but the instructions (via Drastic Plastics) say the Hurst mags. Hopefully that's what we'll get.

That version had the K-H "Stripper" mag wheels in it. That is the one I used when I did my S55 Convertible . Pretty nice kit.  I still have a Countdown Series kit, but I like the look of that custom merc on the box top of the latest kit.

[Casey]

2 hours ago, alexis said:

Casey, you don't have the instructions for that 'Countdown Series" Merc do you? I've never seen that version of the kit. Only one I have seen is the 2004-ish boxing.

Sorry, no, but it looks like the instruction sheet was updated very little since the original issue. The RC2 reissue still shows the Hurst mag wheels: