Johan amx question

[br67]

Hi, what are the differences between a 68 and 69 Johan Amx?

[MrObsessive]

I'm not sure the Johan '68-'69 AMX's are represented accurately at all as far as the interior. At least the last reissues of the '69 appeared to be more out of the '70, than the '69. Exterior wise the cars were identical save for slightly different wheels between the model years, and some other very subtle changes.

Here are some door panel pics as I've got a ton of 'em since I once owned the 1:1...........

1968

1969

1970

Last time I looked at my kit (buried with others on my third floor), the door panels looked more like the '70 above than '69. Johan's original annuals might have had the correct interior initially, but through the years they used whatever they had on hand to make a particular kit as the tooling aged.

Hope this helps you out!

[br67]

Thanks Bill

[Snake45]

Did JoHan even issue a 1968 annual AMX kit? I know AMT had it in their boxes in 1969, because I had one at the time. Not sure if JoHan issued the '69 back in the day, either. 

I just google-imaged and couldn't even find a picture of a JoHan '68 box, nor an original '69--all the JoHan '69 boxes I saw were later reissues. 

[Jack L]

I have a 68 in a amt box and the interior has  68 door trim and low back bucket seats

[Snake45]

2 minutes ago, Jack L said:

I have a 68 in a amt box and the interior has  68 door trim and low back bucket seats

Yup, google images of AMT '68 come right up! 

[Bucky]

Jo-Han issued this kit in '68, C-2568:

It is a Javelin SST, no mention of AMX on the box, as far as I know.

 

This one was issued in 69, C-1169:

Also listed as an SST.

[Bucky]

Both kits claim to have stock interior. I don't have either kit. These pics are borrowed from WWW.

[1930fordpickup]

The directory says a 68 and a 69. The 70 is listed as a Javelin. Stock.

Drag cars are 69 and 70. 

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Bucky said:

Jo-Han issued this kit in '68, C-2568:

It is a Javelin SST, no mention of AMX on the box, as far as I know.

 

This one was issued in 69, C-1169:

Also listed as an SST.

I had the JoHan '68 Javelin (still have the built model), and the instruction sheet for it) and it could in fact be built either stock or as a funny car. Never had the '69 but I assume it was the same way. 

I had an AMT '69 AMX and was the same thing--stock or funny car. It was obvious that it had been tooled by the same people who tooled my JoHan '68 Javelin. 

BTW, these funny car chassis and associated parts were MUCH nicer than what MPC was dealing out at the time. 

[Bucky]

Are the '68-'69 Javelin kit bodies longer than the AMX bodies? The Javelin is a full 12 inches longer than the AMX.

 

 

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Bucky said:

Are the '68-'69 Javelin kit bodies longer than the AMX bodies? The Javelin is a full 12 inches longer than the AMX.

 

 

Oh absolutely. No question about it. Two completely different bodies. Different chassis, different interiors. I apologize if I said anything to imply otherwise. 

[pack rat]

To expand on Brandon's original question; 

The original '68 AMT-boxed kit has a correct '68 interior and turbine-style wheels (wheel covers?)

The Johan USA Oldies '69 has a '70 interior bucket with what appears to be a '68 dash, and no stock wheels...just Hurst mags.  (NOTE-this is what my USA Oldies kit contains....your results may vary)

I assume the original AMT-boxed '69 has the correct stock parts; does anyone out there have one?

  

[Mark]

29 minutes ago, pack rat said:

To expand on Brandon's original question; 

The original '68 AMT-boxed kit has a correct '68 interior and turbine-style wheels (wheel covers?)

The Johan USA Oldies '69 has a '70 interior bucket with what appears to be a '68 dash, and no stock wheels...just Hurst mags.  (NOTE-this is what my USA Oldies kit contains....your results may vary)

I assume the original AMT-boxed '69 has the correct stock parts; does anyone out there have one?

  

I have this kit.  I believe it is exactly the same as the AMT-boxed, Jo-Han-produced '68 kit.  It has the 1968 style door cards as posted by Bill Geary above, and low-back seats without headrests (seats are molded as part of the interior, as with all of these kits).  This kit also has the "turbocast" wheel covers, same as the '68 kit.  Those are included in other Jo-Han 1966-69 AMC kits also.  The 1968-69 annual AMX bodies lack the thin B-pillar that 1970 bodies (and all reissue 1969 bodies) have. 

I also have a '69 AMX friction, which has the '68-'69 interior but with headrests added to (molded as part of) the seats.  The body does not have the thin B-pillars.  It has Magnum 500 style wheels.  This is a friction, which is an original 1969 piece because the frictions weren't reproduced.  I've also got at least one loose kit interior with the headrests.  I don't know when the change was made.  I'd suspect Jo-Han ran some '69 promos, did a run of kits for AMT, then did the headrest update for another run of promotional models for AMC.  It would appear there was also a second production run of kits for AMT after the headrests were added.

Jo-Han did not sell any stock two-seater AMX kits during 1968-70.  All three years were sold by AMT, in AMT packaging.  The '68 kit was sold in one box, '69 and '70 were sold in two different boxes for each year with different stock numbers for each.  The '70 kits had correct 1970 interior and exterior updates but still used the 1966 first-generation V8 engine tooled for the 1966 Marlin kit.  Jo-Han eventually tooled some updated external parts but never tooled a correct second-generation block.

The first two-seater AMX sold in Jo-Han packaging was the original issue 1969 Shirley Shahan super stock, in 1971.  The body was backdated to 1969 trim but the front fender side markers and the rocker panel moldings were left off (some of the SS cars had them, some didn't).  The B-pillar was left from the '70 kits.  The interior bucket was left alone with the '70 high-back bucket seats and 1970 style door cards.  The bumpers did not have license plate detail (the plate recess was smoothed over on the front bumper).  There are a couple other little things that differentiate the original Shahan kit from the Eighties reissue.  All kits up to this point have wire axles also.  

The USA Oldies issue replaced the drag parts (chassis and engine parts) with stock parts.  The engine was back to the stock 1966 unit.  The interior was still the 1970 bucket with the early instrument panel.  Every one of the USA Oldies kits I have seen has Hurst mag wheels and not stock wheels.  The floor shifter in the Oldies kits is different from the one in the annual kits, I'm pretty sure it is the one from the later Javelin-AMX snap kit.  USA Oldies AMX kits have plastic rod axles.  

[Don Sikora II]

The only kit I’ve seen with the ‘68-‘69 interior with the headrests added is the AMT Trophy Series boxing of the ‘69. It uses a different box than the 1969 annual kit that’s shown above. 

[MrObsessive]

It's safe to assume that if you're planning to build an accurate Johan '69 AMX, get ready for LOT of corrections including the engine. The only thing really correct about that kit is the body-----everything else is either flat out wrong, or not quite accurate for the car.

This was originally on my to do list to build, but the Shelby won out. I have all the bits and pieces to do a correct car including the engine, air cleaner decals, and PE. I'd like to shorten up a Mustang chassis as I don't like the Johan chassis at all. Modified inner fenders would be in order too as the kit ones are woefully wrong.

[MrObsessive]

It would be great to see this on my shelf someday...............  

It would require some bucks though as I have a '70, but not the '71 to make this. Too bad this never made production.........it was to be the '71 AMX, but AMC decided against it due to lackluster sales of the '70. I don't want to trash the '70 I have, maybe find junkers someday to do this.

[Bucky]

Here's a similar one:

https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1968/amc/amx/100836278

Kinda has a cool look to it.

[Sport Suburban]

Here is a pic of the AMT 68 AMX box. I have the kit and all the info is already mentioned so I can't really add anything more.

[br67]

Thanks for all the info