TV "Star"cars that never were kited

[ranma]

Since Revell went back in time to make a S&H '76 Striped tomato Torino . It makes one wonder why not bring out some other classic TV "Star"cars!

1. ADAM_12 Ran on tv from 1968-1975 which make quite a few Police cars that could be done in kit form.

2. Hawaii 5-O which ran from 1968-80, Jack Lords Mercury would be a welcomed site in 1/25

3. Hill street blues. Older Monoco's used from 1981-1987

4.  The Andy Griffith show 1960-1968  Lot of ford police cars for that show!

Any Other's that we can think of?????

[JJ Deuce]

Rockford's firebird. 

Poncharello's Trans Am

 

[Bill J]

To me the most wanted star car would be the Kookie Kar, :T: bucket hot rod built by Norm Grabowski and featured on 77 Sunset Strip. I used to watch the show just to catch a glimpse of the car.

[highway]

38 minutes ago, JJ Deuce said:

Rockford's firebird. 

Poncharello's Trans Am

 

Rockford's Firebird, other than a tie in to the TV show, can be built from available kits. The series used multiple model year Firebirds according to this Wikipedia article and these photos:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rockford_Files

The 74 through 76 cars would be somewhat pricey to replicate since the only kits are the old MPC annual kits that car can be built. The same goes for the 77 and 78 versions since there are numerous kits available of that car, and all that would be needed to be done is to leave the Trans Am pieces off the build and also fill the shaker hood hole and vents in the front fenders. 

As for Ponch's car, with a little work the recently reissued Revell 70 1/2 Trans Am (Firebird) would make a decent replica of his car. 

At least the 70 1/2 would be a lot closer than this feeble attempt of it in 1981 from Revell all it shares is the "CHiP's" connection and the fact that it is a gold Trans Am! ?

If you couldn't tell also, even though I realize the whole licensing aspect between the Firebird and Trans Am names, I have loved these cars since I was a kid and have owned two of them, both a Firebird and a Trans Am GTA, so I call them by what they are properly called despite model company licensing. I have even bought many older kits with good decals that may have reissues with much better and expanded decals, such as the recent 70 1/2 from Revell just so I have the proper Trans Am markings to use with the newer kit that does not have them. 

   

[styromaniac]

For reference maybe some collector can chime in with pics of the "Star"cars that were kitted...I bet there's quite a few more than we realize...and I'm not talking about the usual George Barris/ Gene Winfield stuff ( i.e. Munster Koach, Raiders Coach, Monkee Mobile etc. ) I think a lot of kits tried to take advantage of TV notoriety...say..."Welcome Back Kotter"? I myself have a Farah Fawcett Vette in my corvette collection.

[Snake45]

29 minutes ago, styromaniac said:

For reference maybe some collector can chime in with pics of the "Star"cars that were kitted...I bet there's quite a few more than we realize...and I'm not talking about the usual George Barris/ Gene Winfield stuff ( i.e. Munster Koach, Raiders Coach, Monkee Mobile etc. ) I think a lot of kits tried to take advantage of TV notoriety...say..."Welcome Back Kotter"? I myself have a Farah Fawcett Vette in my corvette collection.

That would be another thread completely; the exact opposite of the topic being discussed here. 

Only unkitted star car I can think of offhand would be the Vista Cruiser from That '70s Show. And while they're at it, wasn't there a '67 El Camino featured prominently on that show, too? 

Just thought of another one: '69 Camaro RS convertible in Rally Green from Bewitched. A diecast has been done but should be an easy reissue for Revell. 

[paul alflen]

Columbo's Peuogot (spelling) . I know there was a fantasy box of this made!!

[paul alflen]

Easy one for Revell of Germany to do- Sanford and Son 1952  Ford F100 pickup. Just tool up a grill and interior . Also tool up some stuff Fred would bring home in it.( sewing machine, telephone, musical instraments ( etc )For filling the bed of the pickup!

[paul alflen]

Another "easy "one for Revell of Germany  CHIPS -John( Ponch"s partner) had a nice Squarebody pickup with the Stepside fenders and roll bar with the KC lights on it.  A simple reissue with the show tie in ,use the 1/24 kit already tooled up!

[CapSat 6]

I think the biggest omission so far has been Jim Rockford's Firebird. You would think that perhaps the model manufacturers stayed away from that subject because the show was geared more for adults, but then again, AMT did the T-Bird from "Vegas" and Monogram did the Camaro Z-28 from "Simon & Simon". Those two shows didn't exactly have big adolescent fan bases. Even the truck from "The Fall Guy", and the "Hardcastle & McCormick" vehicles were a little out of market, but they got made anyway.  

I think in the '70's and 80's, for the model manufacturers to do a licensed TV car, they usually had to have tooling they could use or slightly modify in order to do a given subject in the first place.

When I was about 8 years old, I wrote to AMT just after "The Dukes of Hazzard" came out, suggesting that they offer a General Lee kit. I wrote to AMT because basically I had their address from one of their model boxes on hand. They did send a nice letter back to me, thanking me for the suggestion and stating that the subject, like many others, was under consideration.

MPC eventually came out with that kit of course, after making major changes to their existing '70 Charger tool (remember that the annual tool was first a '68, then a '69, then a '70, then a Charger Daytona stock car body, so in essence, it's last form was a '69-'70 stock car). I'm sure it was mostly the circumstance of them already having that tool- but as we all know, that kit became a HUGE seller...     

 

[JJ Deuce]

1 hour ago, highway said:

Rockford's Firebird, other than a tie in to the TV show, can be built from available kits. The series used multiple model year Firebirds according to this Wikipedia article and these photos:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rockford_Files

The 74 through 76 cars would be somewhat pricey to replicate since the only kits are the old MPC annual kits that car can be built. The same goes for the 77 and 78 versions since there are numerous kits available of that car, and all that would be needed to be done is to leave the Trans Am pieces off the build and also fill the shaker hood hole and vents in the front fenders. 

As for Ponch's car, with a little work the recently reissued Revell 70 1/2 Trans Am (Firebird) would make a decent replica of his car. 

At least the 70 1/2 would be a lot closer than this feeble attempt of it in 1981 from Revell all it shares is the "CHiP's" connection and the fact that it is a gold Trans Am! ?

If you couldn't tell also, even though I realize the whole licensing aspect between the Firebird and Trans Am names, I have loved these cars since I was a kid and have owned two of them, both a Firebird and a Trans Am GTA, so I call them by what they are properly called despite model company licensing. I have even bought many older kits with good decals that may have reissues with much better and expanded decals, such as the recent 70 1/2 from Revell just so I have the proper Trans Am markings to use with the newer kit that does not have them. 

   

right.  I understood the question to be whether kits had been issued with the show/movie tie-in on the box.  I wasn't aware of the CHiPs kit, but like the Rockford Firebird, you could use almost any 70s Firebird/Trans Am as the basis for either tv car since they varied so much over the course of the series.  

[Classicgas]

The Partridge family bus., Gilligan's pedal car.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Classicgas

[paul alflen]

Bill j ,The Kookie car was done by Danbury Mint in diecast. Revell of Germany or Atlantis can do this out of the little t kit?? Whoever has the molds?

[Bucky]

Were the Lincolns of Frank Cannon ever kitted?  '71 Mark III, and a couple years of Mark IV, I believe.

[ranma]

1 hour ago, paul alflen said:

John( Ponch"s partner) had a nice Squarebody pickup with the Stepside fenders and roll bar with the KC lights on it. 

That along with these others were made from CHiPS

[highway]

1 hour ago, paul alflen said:

Another "easy "one for Revell of Germany  CHIPS -John( Ponch"s partner) had a nice Squarebody pickup with the Stepside fenders and roll bar with the KC lights on it.  A simple reissue with the show tie in ,use the 1/24 kit already tooled up!

 

5 minutes ago, ranma said:

That along with these others were made from CHiPS

 

Yes, but again as with the Trans Am, Revell totally missed the mark with Jon's Chevy because not only is it not a stepside, but by the box art photos and especially the one of the rear 3/4 view, is it just me but am I seeing a K5 Blazer??

[paul alflen]

How about Banacek's old Packard 1939-1941??( I'm aging myself here)

[paul alflen]

 

Highway, that's why Jon's head is covering the quarter panel, so you won't notice it!

[paul alflen]

 

How about the Mannix  Cuda ? The Toronado was done by MPC.

[paul alflen]

 

Here's one for the Milineals, Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles Vw - mutant like van

[paul alflen]

Barnaby Jones Ford LTD( don't know the year , sorry!)

[Atmobil]

The one that I would wish for is the dodge sweptline pickup from Lassie:

http://imcdb.org/vehicle_244432-Dodge-D-Series-1965.html

And the already mentioned Peugeot 403 cabriolet that Columbo drove around in:

Actually quite rare cars those 403 cabriolets, I think they only made a few thousand of them in total. I think they made at least a million of the 4 door sedans.
http://imcdb.org/vehicle_71913-Peugeot-403-Cabriolet-1960.html

I would also like to see the Santini Air Jeep CJ7 from Airwolf:

Not at all a difficult one to make as there are more than one CJ7 kit out there, all one needs is the decals.
http://imcdb.org/vehicle_4089-Jeep-CJ-7-1982.html

Macgyver drove around in a 57 Nomad:

http://imcdb.org/vehicle_91133-Chevrolet-Bel-Air-Nomad-2429-1957.html

And he used a YJ Wrangler in many episodes:

http://imcdb.org/vehicle_406161-Jeep-Wrangler-YJ-1987.html

They did do some car kits from Magum P.I. but never the Audi that had Robin 2 as a licenceplate:

http://imcdb.org/vehicle_121319-Audi-5000-Typ-43-1980.html

Let's not forget Al Bundy's "Dodge":

http://imcdb.org/vehicle_2822-Plymouth-Duster-1972.html
Looks like they used many different cars, this is listed as a 72 Plymouth Duster but they have also used cars that are listed as 71 and 73.

This may be a bit out on the left field but there is a small scale diecast already made of the Austin 1100 that John Cleese gets really angry on in an episode of Fawlty Towers:

http://imcdb.org/vehicle_19718-Austin-1100-Countryman-ADO16-1967.html

 

[Richard Bartrop]

The 1932 Packard from the series Banyon

I don't think the cars from the series UFO were ever released in kit form.

[Matt Bacon]

6 minutes ago, Richard Bartrop said:

I don't think the cars from the series UFO were ever released in kit form.

A friend of mine’s dad’s garage in Liverpool ran those. They were based on a Ford Zodiac or Zephyr, with surprisingly heavy fibreglass bodywork, and were good for about 20mph max... ? 

best,

M.

[heyjohnxx]

4 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Just thought of another one: '69 Camaro RS convertible in Rally Green from Bewitched. A diecast has been done but should be an easy reissue for Revell. 

I've got one of these by Greenlight. Samantha probably got in a lot of trouble with her 427 RS with headers. Twinkle, twinkle.