Hasegawa Mitsubishi Colt Galant GTO MR 1971

[martinfan5]

New kit from Hasegawa

 

Edited August 14, 2018 by martinfan5

[martinfan5]

[89AKurt]

Seems that Hasegawa is obsessed with "chrome" window trim and defroster decals.  That could make a cool drifter.

[peter31a]

Love the mini-Mustang styling of this similar to the Toyota Celica. Thanks for showing us what's in the box.

[Scalper]

defroster decals? cool

[Phirewriter]

Thanks for sharing, always liked this car. I've got an old kit the manufacturer escapes me but was very simple (motorized) with fender flares and aftermarket wheels/tires. Nice to see a stock one.

[Oldcarfan27]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I wish these kits were available with US spec left hand drive interior and trim options. I wouldn't mind building some vintage Japanese cars that I used to see growing up. But I didn't see them this way and converting them to American versions is just too hard for me. I also wish they had complete engine details.

I am glad to see they don't have the dumb motorized feature, though.

Maybe someday they'll offer kits for us too. Oh well.

[niteowl7710]

1 hour ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I wish these kits were available with US spec left hand drive interior and trim options. I wouldn't mind building some vintage Japanese cars that I used to see growing up. But I didn't see them this way and converting them to American versions is just too hard for me. I also wish they had complete engine details.

I am glad to see they don't have the dumb motorized feature, though.

Maybe someday they'll offer kits for us too. Oh well.

Well the Colt Galant GTO was never exported to the U.S. at all.  In fact very few were exported outside of Japan, and those that were wound up mostly in New Zealand, England & Ireland.  So all of the exported versions were RHD.  There is no LHD version of this car, nor is there one of the 1st Gen Civics they've made - so far they've all been Japanese only trim levels.  Nor the Isuzu Gemini which again only came as an Imscher Turbo & ZZ Tuned by Lotus in Japan.

I understand what you're saying, but at the same time they can't just make a LHD MURICA! version of something that didn't exist.

[Oldcarfan27]

14 minutes ago, niteowl7710 said:

I understand what you're saying, but at the same time they can't just make a LHD MURICA! version of something that didn't exist.

I hear that. But there are a lot of Japanese imports that did make it here that I think would be fun to build. Early Celicas, Cvccs, Accords, Datsun B210 or 200SX, early Toyota, Datsun and Mazda pickups. Rotary Mazdas and 70s sedans.

But I'm only interested in them if they're 1/24 or 1/25 scale US spec versions with engines and NO MOTORIZED JUNK or generic platforms.

We know that Japanese manufacturers can do highly detailed worldwide marketable kits, but even to this day, their focus seems to be on curbside and toylike models directed only to their home market.

Even within the last 10-15 years, I've seen Nissan Z cars and Supras as well as Ferraris and Lamborghinis. They still have provisions for motorization and basic pans for engines - what gives?

[fumi]

On 8/15/2018 at 1:23 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

We know that Japanese manufacturers can do highly detailed worldwide marketable kits, but even to this day, their focus seems to be on curbside and toylike models directed only to their home market.

Even within the last 10-15 years, I've seen Nissan Z cars and Supras as well as Ferraris and Lamborghinis. They still have provisions for motorization and basic pans for engines - what gives?

Curbside, yes.  Toy-like, no.  The Japanese market had spoken, they prefer a nicely proportioned and crisply molded car body over details that cannot be seen on display, and the Japanese manufacturers delivered.  These kits are also selling well in overseas markets.

 

[gtx6970]

I would like to have the body, glass and exterior trim from one of these.

 

I could see a Rod Shop Prostock potential.

 

Edited August 17, 2018 by gtx6970

[Justin Porter]

On 8/15/2018 at 1:23 AM, Oldcarfan27 said:

I hear that. But there are a lot of Japanese imports that did make it here that I think would be fun to build. Early Celicas, Cvccs, Accords, Datsun B210 or 200SX, early Toyota, Datsun and Mazda pickups. Rotary Mazdas and 70s sedans.

But I'm only interested in them if they're 1/24 or 1/25 scale US spec versions with engines and NO MOTORIZED JUNK or generic platforms.

We know that Japanese manufacturers can do highly detailed worldwide marketable kits, but even to this day, their focus seems to be on curbside and toylike models directed only to their home market.

Even within the last 10-15 years, I've seen Nissan Z cars and Supras as well as Ferraris and Lamborghinis. They still have provisions for motorization and basic pans for engines - what gives?

I can almost guarantee those kits have very well aged tooling that dates to, at the most recent, the mid 80's. Modern Japanese curbside tooling tends to be along the lines of the gorgeous Fujimi Porsche 917k or Hasegawa Lancia O37 where what you can see is brilliant and what you can't see doesn't interfere with the build.

Think of it as the antithesis of a kit like the old Revell Anglia Gasser.