1/25 AMT Y-193 '69 Camaro Kit History & Evolution

[Pete L.]

Highway,

 Thanks for the info. The reason I asked is that I have a decent AMT hard top '69 Camaro body and I was looking to build the car reasonably close to stock.

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Pete L. said:

Highway,

 Thanks for the info. The reason I asked is that I have a decent AMT hard top '69 Camaro body and I was looking to build the car reasonably close to stock.

If you have the hood, grille, bumpers, and taillights, I think it would be a great project to kitbash it with the guts of a Revell. I'm planning to convert an AMT Funny Hugger body back to stock and doing this with it, just because I think the old AMT Rally Sport front end is more accurate and better looking than Revell's. 

[br67]

13 hours ago, Pete L. said:

Highway,

 Thanks for the info. The reason I asked is that I have a decent AMT hard top '69 Camaro body and I was looking to build the car reasonably close to stock.

Just for interest sake - the chassis from the Revell 68 Firebird fits like a glove 

[Bob Ellis]

20 hours ago, br67 said:

Just for interest sake - the chassis from the Revell 68 Firebird fits like a glove 

One nice thing is that theat the AMT is an RS with hide-away headlights

[br67]

Here's my convertible that I'm going to resurrect using the chassis from the Revell 'bird I mentioned earlier. I'm thinking this one is going to be a small block auto with set of magnum 500s and narrow whitewalls

Edited April 4, 2020 by br67
Add text

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, br67 said:

Here's my convertible that I'm going to resurrect using the chassis from the Revell 'bird I mentioned earlier. I'm thinking this one is going to be a small block auto with set of magnum 500s and narrow whitewalls

VERY cool project! Are you keeping it a Pace Car? If so, I think decals are available from somebody. 

If you're not going Pace Car but are staying factory stock, you can use a small block but for the cowl induction hood it will have to be an SS350. The CI hoods were only available on SS and Z/28s. 

[br67]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

VERY cool project! Are you keeping it a Pace Car? If so, I think decals are available from somebody. 

If you're not going Pace Car but are staying factory stock, you can use a small block but for the cowl induction hood it will have to be an SS350. The CI hoods were only available on SS and Z/28s. 

Must still iron out the finer details but thanks for the heads up on the hood. Def not going to be a pace car though

[espo]

If you stay with the SS Grill and other markings the Cowl hood would have been an option. Just in case you never noticed, Chevrolet and other after market suppliers have sold more Cowl Hoods than were ever supplied in '69. I put one on my base 1:1 Camaro as did most of the people I knew that had Camaros from '67 thru '69. 

[br67]

9 hours ago, espo said:

If you stay with the SS Grill and other markings the Cowl hood would have been an option. Just in case you never noticed, Chevrolet and other after market suppliers have sold more Cowl Hoods than were ever supplied in '69. I put one on my base 1:1 Camaro as did most of the people I knew that had Camaros from '67 thru '69. 

Yes I did notice it seems to be the go to hood 

[the other Mike S.]

On 3/31/2020 at 9:31 PM, highway said:

It had been (and a much better kit in my honest opinion) by Monogram. 

I'm not sure if later Revell reissues of the same kit still also include the Pace car markings or not, but as I said in my opinion these are far better than any of the early AMT or MPC offerings of a 69 Camaro. I'm sure if nothing else there are aftermarket decals available for the Revell offerings for the Pace Car edition. 

I agree.  Also, don't forget the promo style Revell "Snap Fit" '69 Camaro Z28/SS and the harder to find Revell "Hot Wheels" '69 Camaro Z28/RS.  The latter didn't include stock wheels, but that is easily remedied.  I think they were originally to be offered as promos from Chevrolet, but the GM bailout screwed things up or something.     

Edited April 14, 2020 by the other Mike S.

[Oldcarfan27]

On 4/4/2020 at 11:10 AM, br67 said:

Must still iron out the finer details but thanks for the heads up on the hood. Def not going to be a pace car though

Brandon, You should consider making it a small block pace car. The decals can be found easily, you have all the critical parts and the Pace Car kit is even more rare than the standard kit. 

Besides, it would look so cool displayed in front of that box for proof of it's origin!

Just my opinion. 

[Motor City]

I saw on Ebay last week that a promo box sold for around $130.00 - just the box!

[1930fordpickup]

On 4/4/2020 at 4:43 PM, espo said:

If you stay with the SS Grill and other markings the Cowl hood would have been an option. Just in case you never noticed, Chevrolet and other after market suppliers have sold more Cowl Hoods than were ever supplied in '69. I put one on my base 1:1 Camaro as did most of the people I knew that had Camaros from '67 thru '69. 

My buddy  has a 1969 Z28. that he put a cowl hood and rear spoiler on  it when he restored it.  The guy that ordered it did not check that box. But he did get the rubber bumper up front. 

[espo]

On 4/5/2020 at 1:14 AM, br67 said:

Yes I did notice it seems to be the go to hood 

I'm not sure which model or body style you're planning to build but with American cars at that time and ones like the Camaro especially are really hard to know exactly what came with what option package, and some options required that you order something else and a few styling options could be a stand alone option also. I still have an old magazine dedicated to the '69 Camaro that I had when I owned my 1:1 '69 Camaro. The magazine lists the options and shows what you could and couldn't have. I would be glad to give you any information on what it is your trying to replicate. Remember most Camaro's in real life have been changed to the point that unless you have the factory build sheet for the car there really isn't any way to know if it really was built that way from the factory. 

[espo]

13 hours ago, 1930fordpickup said:

My buddy  has a 1969 Z28. that he put a cowl hood and rear spoiler on  it when he restored it.  The guy that ordered it did not check that box. But he did get the rubber bumper up front. 

That would be the optional Special Front Bumper RPO VE3 $40.00 MSRP.  

[br67]

On 4/26/2020 at 5:00 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Brandon, You should consider making it a small block pace car. The decals can be found easily, you have all the critical parts and the Pace Car kit is even more rare than the standard kit. 

Besides, it would look so cool displayed in front of that box for proof of it's origin!

Just my opinion. 

Theres just something about the pace car color scheme I’ve never liked 

Edited April 29, 2020 by br67
Spelling

[br67]

On 4/27/2020 at 6:54 PM, espo said:

I'm not sure which model or body style you're planning to build but with American cars at that time and ones like the Camaro especially are really hard to know exactly what came with what option package, and some options required that you order something else and a few styling options could be a stand alone option also. I still have an old magazine dedicated to the '69 Camaro that I had when I owned my 1:1 '69 Camaro. The magazine lists the options and shows what you could and couldn't have. I would be glad to give you any information on what it is your trying to replicate. Remember most Camaro's in real life have been changed to the point that unless you have the factory build sheet for the car there really isn't any way to know if it really was built that way from the factory. 

Thank you sir

[espo]

2 hours ago, br67 said:

Theres just something about the pace car color scheme I’ve never liked 

You mention the color scheme, and I guess for some it may be a little garish but the colors combinations at the time were pretty bold compared to today. The revers of this color setup would be the body painted a bright Hugger Orange (as mine was) and White stripes that could even be optional. That was a very popular color at the time and not just on Camaros. Sounds as if you just want to build a nice looking Camaro Convertible. I would look for a color you like if this is the case and build it the way you would like. 

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, espo said:

Hugger Orange...was a very popular color at the time and not just on Camaros. 

It was available on '69 Corvettes and SS Chevelles (possibly SS El Caminos, too), where it was called Monaco Orange. Not sure about Novas.  I don't believe it was available on Corvair or the full-size Chevies. 

The same color at Pontiac was called Carousel Red. I've only seen it on GTOs (it's kind of the iconic color for the '69 GTO Judge) and Firebirds. It might have been available on Tempest and Lemans, virtually a mood point here in Model Car World as to build a Tempest or Lemans you have to convert a GTO. 

BTW, if you're looking at color magazine photos of a restored (i.e., factory color) '69 Camaro and can't tell if it's bright red or Hugger Orange, it's Hugger Orange. GM's red that year (Chevy Garnet Red) was a dark red, similar to Testor #4 Red. For some reason it's not uncommon for HO-painted cars to look reddish in photography. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Snake45

[espo]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

It was available on '69 Corvettes and SS Chevelles (possibly SS El Caminos, too), where it was called Monaco Orange. Not sure about Novas.  I don't believe it was available on Corvair or the full-size Chevies. 

The same color at Pontiac was called Carousel Red. I've only seen it on GTOs (it's kind of the iconic color for the '69 GTO Judge) and Firebirds. It might have been available on Tempest and Lemans, virtually a mood point here in Model Car World as to build a Tempest or Lemans you have to convert a GTO. 

BTW, if you're looking at color magazine photos of a restored (i.e., factory color) '69 Camaro and can't tell if it's bright red or Hugger Orange, it's Hugger Orange. GM's red that year (Chevy Garnet Red) was a dark red, similar to Testor #4 Red. For some reason it's not uncommon for HO-painted cars to look reddish in photography. 

I think you are correct on the Hugger Orange full size and Corvairs. While seen often on Camaros I don't really remember any Chevelles, but this was still a time when you could special order just about any GM color on any GM car. The HG Chevelles would make since I remember more than one El Camino in that color. I think the color came available after the first of the year for Pontiac Judges. I knew a guy who ordered a '69 Judge and he had to wait till the new year, calendar 1969,  before they would release it to build. Something about the Monaco Orange makes me think the color is slightly different shade. You mention the Red color on Chevrolets, in addition to the Garnet Red they did in fact have a bright non metallic Red also.   

[Casey]

On 4/4/2020 at 9:44 AM, br67 said:

Here's my convertible that I'm going to resurrect using the chassis from the Revell 'bird I mentioned earlier. 

Please post a link to your WIP topic if/when you start. I'll check out how well the Revell understructure fits the original AMT kit's body.

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, espo said:

 You mention the Red color on Chevrolets, in addition to the Garnet Red they did in fact have a bright non metallic Red also.   

You're right, I forgot about Monza Red but that was only offered for Corvette.The red for all "lesser" Chevies was the Garnet Red. 

[espo]

14 hours ago, Snake45 said:

You're right, I forgot about Monza Red but that was only offered for Corvette.The red for all "lesser" Chevies was the Garnet Red. 

You my be correct on the Garnet Red. I had to look at some suppliers as to what they had listed for '69 colors. I had a new '68 Bel Air that I ordered with Matador Red which is "Fire Engine Red" for lack of a better description. No metallic and very bright. I'm thinking that if the Garnet Red you mention fits that description it was a name change is all. Should that color be a metallic shade and somewhat darker say on the order of the Maroons of old. As mentioned before about the '69 HO full-size Chevrolet, I remember looking on line at a '69 Biscayne up for auction. The car was presented as a special ordered car in HO. The consigner claimed to have Build Sheets and other documents to support the claims of a 425/427 4-speed car. For some reason I have always been drawn to oddball drive train and color combination vehicles. A full size HO Chevrolet would have been a lot of Orange and I think I would have remembered such a car if I had seen it. Enough with colors, have a great day and I always enjoy comparing notes with you on some of the technical stuff that most people really don't care about.  

[unclescott58]

One thing I'd like to see here is a comparison of the original AMT kit to the much maligned MPC '69 Camaro. There was a lot of tool sharing going on between AMT, MPC, and JoHan, back in the day. So how similar or different are the AMT and MPC '69 Camaros.  

Also, everybody loves to beat up on the MPC '69 Camaro, and to a lesser extent the AMT kit, ever since the Monogram version came out. But for its time, how bad are these kits, really? I like many others have built one or two over the years. I always thought they were okay. 

[Snake45]

10 hours ago, unclescott58 said:

One thing I'd like to see here is a comparison of the original AMT kit to the much maligned MPC '69 Camaro. There was a lot of tool sharing going on between AMT, MPC, and JoHan, back in the day. So how similar or different are the AMT and MPC '69 Camaros.  

There was NO tool sharing going on between AMT and MPC on the '68-'69 Camaros, I can assure you. Two completely, entirely different kits. 

Your confusion comes from the fact that what's left of the old MPC '69 Camaro has been reissued at least once in an AMT box, but there is not one original AMT piece in it. 

The original annual AMT '69 Camaro is quite nice, and holds up well in comparison to the Revell. In some ways it's actually more accurate, though not quite as detailed in chassis and so forth. It lives on today in the body of the Funny Hugger funny car, though the wheel openings have been altered. 

The Monogram (introduced in the '70s) is a 1/24 scale turd. Although we had nothing else to work with for a couple decades, there is no reason to waste time on one today.