Story of Jo Han models.

[GMP440]

Found this by accident.  Thought it was an interesting read.  I apoligize if this  was posted before. 

http://www.motorcities.org/Story/The+History+of+Jo+Han+Models+br+By+Robert+Tate+Automotive+Historian+Researcher+br+Images+Courtesy+of+Robert+Tates+Collection+Dennis+Doty+Model+Car+Journal+br-415.html

[Ben]

What was the very last Jo Han kit manufactured?

[vamach1]

1 hour ago, GMP440 said:

Found this by accident.  Thought it was an interesting read.  I apoligize if this  was posted before. 

http://www.motorcities.org/Story/The+History+of+Jo+Han+Models+br+By+Robert+Tate+Automotive+Historian+Researcher+br+Images+Courtesy+of+Robert+Tates+Collection+Dennis+Doty+Model+Car+Journal+br-415.html

It was posted yesterday also.

[thatz4u]

1 hour ago, Ben said:

What was the very last Jo Han kit manufactured?

I don't know the answer to that, I'm working on a Jo Han 1978 Coupe de Ville now....

[Mark]

1 hour ago, Ben said:

What was the very last Jo Han kit manufactured?

Depends on which ownership you are talking about.  The current owner of the Johan (not hyphenated) brand and tooling had two kits manufactured: Chrysler Turbine Car snap kit, and '59 Rambler wagon with accessories and interior.  The '68 Plymouth police car and one or two other items were sold during this period, but those were pieced together from stockpiled parts included in his purchase of the remaining assets.

The previous owner (SeVille Enterprises, who used another name also) manufactured a number of kits under the original/hyphenated name, Jo-Han).  Among these were four kits (Sox & Martin '71 Barracuda, '69 AMX drag version, '69 SC/Rambler, and '71 Comet drag car) that got new box art and decals.  The last one that was readily available seems to have been the S/C Rambler, so I'd guess that was the last one produced.  That, or possibly the snap '75 Cutlass.

Now, we're back to the original ownership...could be any of a number of kits, no way of knowing which.  The USA Oldies kits aren't among the last ones produced, nor is the Cadillac hearse, and I'd throw the '70 Rebel Machine into that category too.  

[64Comet404]

Interesting read. There was one of those Dynaflow models still on the shelves in Auto Shop when I was in high school.

[Daddyfink]

I think they need to make a Jo Han sticky for all the "What Happened to Jo Han?" stories 

 

[Howard Cohen]

At NNL East, I bought an AMX from JoHan. He still makes a few kits, just small quantities. 

[PARTSMARTY]

11 hours ago, thatz4u said:

I don't know the answer to that, I'm working on a Jo Han 1978 Coupe de Ville now....

That is a cool caddy kit to have !!!

[Mark]

10 hours ago, Howard Cohen said:

At NNL East, I bought an AMX from JoHan. He still makes a few kits, just small quantities. 

Those are pieced together from existing stock, not new manufacture.  I don't believe Okey ever got the AMX tool.

[Can-Con]

I think the last tool cut by Jo-Han would have been the '79 Coupe deVille.  A promo but they also released that generation Caddy as a snap kit. Not sure if the kit was a '77, '78  or '79. 

[john sharisky]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

I think the last tool cut by Jo-Han would have been the '79 Coupe deVille.  A promo but they also released that generation Caddy as a snap kit. Not sure if the kit was a '77, '78  or '79. 

 

The Coupe de Ville kits (red car on the box) were available in those three model years. As far as I know, the graphics on the kit boxes did not give up what model year kit was inside.

John

 

[Rob Hall]

1 minute ago, john sharisky said:

 

The Coupe de Ville kits (red car on the box) were available in those three model years. As far as I know, the graphics on the kit boxes did not give up what model year kit was inside.

John

 

The snap kit box art shows a red '77, though the one I have has a '79 inside. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Rob Hall

[Mark]

The original Jo-Han company had things like boxes and decal sheets printed in huge numbers, then drew from the stockpile when the kit was next run.  The Javelin-AMX kits from '72 to the end all came in that one box that had the illustration of the '72 on it, even though most of them actually have the '73-'74 inside (with the smoothed roof panel and different taillights). 

Decals were a crapshoot, though.  I've had a bunch of those Javelin-AMX kits, and I don't think a single one ever had the stock hood stripe decal.  And, I've never seen a "Rapid Randy" Mercury Comet sheet either; I'm thinking there never was one that matched the box art for that kit.

[pack rat]

1 minute ago, Mark said:

 The Javelin-AMX kits from '72 to the end all came in that one box that had the illustration of the '72 on it, even though most of them actually have the '73-'74 inside (with the smoothed roof panel and different taillights). 

Or you might get a mutt like mine; a smooth roof panel with '72 chrome. 

I also have a '72 Eldorado with a '73-style body without the chrome gills on the rear quarters (pretty sure it came in this box; I've also seen one that contained a '76-style Eldo)

Edited July 13, 2018 by pack rat

[Motor City]

the '73 Eldorado kit had a different box than shown

[Casey]

 

Edited July 19, 2018 by Casey

[High octane]

There's still some JoHan kits to be found at swap meets, but just have deep pockets and be prepared to pay a good buck for them, or do without.

[pack rat]

26 minutes ago, Motor City said:

the '73 Eldorado kit had a different box than shown

Yes...the box shown should contain a '71 or '72 kit.  That's why it's a bummer to open one and find a '72 with a '73 body....or an entire '75-'78-style kit 

[Mark]

1 hour ago, pack rat said:

Or you might get a mutt like mine; a smooth roof panel with '72 chrome. 

 

The "mutt" kits were produced by Seville towards the end of their tenure.  Apparently they thought the bumper change alone would backdate the kit, but they didn't know about the roof panel change, nor the fact that the taillight panel on the later cars was bigger, not to mention that putting in the earlier bumper resulted in a gap around the taillight gridwork.  The front bumper had guards added to it too.

I've got a Hot Wheels Javelin-AMX that was obviously mastered off of the "mutt" kit...earlier taillights, smooth roof, front bumper guards.

I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard that Revell took Jo-Han to court in the mid-Seventies, to stop them from selling the Mickey Thompson and Gene Snow funny car kits because Revell had both men under contract by then.  From what I heard, at first it was a case of "we're just using up the decals and boxes", but that went on for another year or so before they went to court again.  The eBay seller who got the Jo-Han "archives" might still be selling new leftover decal sheets for those three kits, which would (sort of) back up this story...

[Bainford]

49 minutes ago, Mark said:

I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard that Revell took Jo-Han to court in the mid-Seventies, to stop them from selling the Mickey Thompson and Gene Snow funny car kits because Revell had both men under contract by then.

That must be why they changed their funny car kit graphics to generic livery. I have two of the Pinto kits, both with the generic "Crazy Horse" box art, but one of the kits has the Mickey Thompson Titanium Pinto decals in the box.

[Motor City]

I hope I can clear some things up regarding the second generation Eldorado FWD kits covering model years 1971-1976.  The first issue was a '71, kit#C114.  The '72 kit is #C211.  The kits graphics are identical except for the kit number on both ends of the box.  The '73 kit, #GC-2300, has updated the ski car graphics with the correct round side marker light on the quarter panel, the revised rear bumper and taillights, and revised front bumper of which you see very little.  Since no year is indicated on the rear license plate, here are ways to tell them apart:

'71 louvered trunk lid, ELDORADO in block letters with 8.2 Litre emblem on the back end of each front fender, grille with a fine vertically-oriented rectangular pattern; '72 no louvered trunk, Eldorado in script on the front edge of the front fender with 8.2 Litre emblem on the back end of the front fender, grille with a slightly coarser vertically-oriented pattern with faint crowns on top of the headlights; both interiors are identical

'73 full vinyl top, separate taillights instead of integrated into the rear bumper, egg-crate grille

The real confusion comes with the Eldorado Rancher kit, which was issued as a '74 and '76 kit (I'm not sure about '75).  The '74 has a revised grille, taillights in the rear bumper again, and a landau top that was carried over for '75 and '76.  My '73 and '74's are difficult to get at, so I'm not sure what interior revisions were made if at all.  Both the '73 and '74 have the fender skirts.  The '75 promo has the ends of the front fenders molded as part of the body, while the '76 promos have it molded as part of the bumper assembly.  The rear taillights on the '75 are two small rectangles separated by a Cadillac emblem on each side of the rear plate.  The '76 has one rectangular light on each side of the plate.  Both the '75 and '76 promos have front & rear plates with the year indicated.  I'm not sure if the kit has a year on it.

Here are photos of the '73 kit box that I got off the internet.  I don't think it was ever re-issued.  1973 Cadillac Eldorado kit.docx

 

[ChrisBcritter]

59 minutes ago, Motor City said:

Here are photos of the '73 kit box that I got off the internet.  I don't think it was ever re-issued.

Here they are, if you can't open the file:

(And if anyone has a '71-74 parts car, I could use the headlights for my '65 Oldsmobile Jetstar conversion! )

Edited July 14, 2018 by ChrisBcritter

[Motor City]

thanks, Chris

[iBorg]

Try this link:

https://www.motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2015/the-history-of-jo-han-models