1/25 AMT 1969 Ford Torino Fastback

[Casey]

Pretty sure Ford referred to this as a Sportsroof, but the 1/25 AMT '69 Ford Torino fastback is to be reissued as kit #1217:

AMT-1217

1/25 1969 Ford Torino Cobra Fastback Car

 

I think circa-1969 style box art would be a great choice:

[Motor City]

I'm waiting for a reissue of the '68 Torino GT convertible Indy Pace Car, but I'm afraid that might be a long wait.

[Pete L.]

I'm looking forward to it's release, maybe they'll include some accurate period correct decals much like the COBRA Racing Team got ?

Edited May 8, 2020 by Pete L.

[Snake45]

5 hours ago, Casey said:

Pretty sure Ford referred to this as a Sportsroof, but the 1/25 AMT '69 Ford Torino fastback is to be reissued as kit #1217:

AMT-1217

1/25 1969 Ford Torino Cobra Fastback Car

 

I think circa-1969 style box art would be a great choice:

It's either a Torino or a Cobra, but it's not a Torino Cobra. Both are variants of the Fairlane. 

I never had an original, so don't know what the original kit was, but the reissues from the '90s up have all been Cobras, with accurate badging so declaring. 

The Cobra was Ford's answer to the Road Runner, a big engine in a no-frills midsize, like Dodge's Super Bee and Chevy's SS396 built on the 300 2-door sedan. 

[Rob Hall]

10 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

It's either a Torino or a Cobra, but it's not a Torino Cobra. Both are variants of the Fairlane. 

I never had an original, so don't know what the original kit was, but the reissues from the '90s up have all been Cobras, with accurate badging so declaring. 

The Cobra was Ford's answer to the Road Runner, a big engine in a no-frills midsize, like Dodge's Super Bee and Chevy's SS396 built on the 300 2-door sedan. 

The original fastback annual kit was a Torino GT (pictured in this thread), different trim from the later Cobra modified reissue.    The original Cobra kit from '69 was a coupe/convertible (separate roof).  That one has never been reissued (pictured below).   I have both the originals and a couple of the later Cobra kits.

[Mark]

The annual kit was a GT.  After that, the Cobra hardtop/convertible kit was run, the grille was converted to the Cobra version then.  The hardtop/convertible kit shared the engine, chassis, and most of the chrome tree with the fastback.

The fastback came back as the Modified Stocker a couple of years later.  The Cobra grille stayed, so the part itself was probably modified.  This kit was less butchered than the other Modified Stockers, the bumpers weren't messed with and the windshield wipers were left on the body.

Ertl pieced together the Cobra fastback by retooling the body sides, putting in new seats, new wheels, and separate pieces for the exhaust system.  They got a "new" kit cheaper than tooling an all new one.  This restoration came out a lot better than the '65 GTO, but the GTO was hacked up a lot more than the Torino.

[espo]

The original issue of the fastback included many extras. A lot of NASCAR inspired equipment and some minor custom options. They also included several different wheel and tire sets. I look forward to picking one up when they are released. 

[Mr mopar]

3 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

The original fastback annual kit was a Torino GT (pictured in this thread), different trim from the later Cobra modified reissue.    The original Cobra kit from '69 was a coupe/convertible (separate roof).  That one has never been reissued (pictured below).   I have both the originals and a couple of the later Cobra kits.

This is the box they should bring back Cool!

[Snake45]

8 hours ago, Mr mopar said:

This is the box they should bring back Cool!

The box art is a hardtop. The kit is a fastback. But let's dream and say they find the tooling to reissue the HT/convertible body! 

[Rob Hall]

2 hours ago, Snake45 said:

The box art is a hardtop. The kit is a fastback. But let's dream and say they find the tooling to reissue the HT/convertible body! 

They could do a retro style box w/ the fastback but with that artwork style.    I do wonder what happened to the ht/convertible body and interior tooling.. the convertibles had fragile windshield frames (both the '68 and '69s I have have broken windshield frames). 
 

This was the 2005 reissue, I assume the new reissue will be the same as this but w/ new box art and tires, the usual Retro Deluxe marketing. 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Rob Hall

[Motor City]

Snake,

"It's either a Torino or a Cobra, but it's not a Torino Cobra. Both are variants of the Fairlane."

Yes and no.  I have a mailer sent to my Dad from 1969.  It's a colorful bi-fold with a snakeskin pattern printed on the outside.  When you open it up, a Cobra head pops up!  Part of the text reads, "In 1968, Torino Cobra scored the Grand Slam - stock car racing's triple crown - the championships in all three major racing circuits: NASCAR, USAC and ARCA."  

When introduced for 1968, it was considered a sub-series of the Fairlane.  Calling it just Cobra in conversation was causing confusion with the Ace-based Cobra sold by Shelby.  Obviously if someone were to see the cars side-by-side, there would be no confusion.  I think it's now usually referred to as a Torino Cobra to differentiate it from the Shelby Cobra.  Shelby sued Ford over Ford's use of the Cobra name without his permission.  I don't recall what the outcome of that was.

In any case, it would be nice to see the hardtop/convertible kit reissued.

 

 

 

[Mr mopar]

Here is the new art work on the box look's OK !

Edited May 15, 2020 by Mr mopar

[jjsipes]

Hope they got the grilles straightened out. I remember back in the late 80's early 90's when they first brought this and the Talladega out, that they had the wrong grille in the 2nd run of the Torino. They had the Talladega grille which was to small for the Torino opening. I had a couple that never got built because of the wrong grille.

[Rob Hall]

On 5/8/2020 at 1:04 PM, Motor City said:

Snake,

"It's either a Torino or a Cobra, but it's not a Torino Cobra. Both are variants of the Fairlane."

Yes and no.  I have a mailer sent to my Dad from 1969.  It's a colorful bi-fold with a snakeskin pattern printed on the outside.  When you open it up, a Cobra head pops up!  Part of the text reads, "In 1968, Torino Cobra scored the Grand Slam - stock car racing's triple crown - the championships in all three major racing circuits: NASCAR, USAC and ARCA."  

When introduced for 1968, it was considered a sub-series of the Fairlane.  Calling it just Cobra in conversation was causing confusion with the Ace-based Cobra sold by Shelby.  Obviously if someone were to see the cars side-by-side, there would be no confusion.  I think it's now usually referred to as a Torino Cobra to differentiate it from the Shelby Cobra.  Shelby sued Ford over Ford's use of the Cobra name without his permission.  I don't recall what the outcome of that was.

In any case, it would be nice to see the hardtop/convertible kit reissued. 

The original Ford advertising called it a 'Torino Cobra'.   

[Rob Hall]

16 minutes ago, jjsipes said:

Hope they got the grilles straightened out. I remember back in the late 80's early 90's when they first brought this and the Talladega out, that they had the wrong grille in the 2nd run of the Torino. They had the Talladega grille which was to small for the Torino opening. I had a couple that never got built because of the wrong grille.

The grille should be correct, the issue I have from the 00s has the correct grille.

[Casey]

12 hours ago, Mr mopar said:

Here is the new art work on the box look's OK !

OK??? That's retro perfection right there. ?

[69 Fairlane Cobra hardtop]

On 5/7/2020 at 7:54 PM, Mark said:

The annual kit was a GT.  After that, the Cobra hardtop/convertible kit was run, the grille was converted to the Cobra version then.  The hardtop/convertible kit shared the engine, chassis, and most of the chrome tree with the fastback.

The fastback came back as the Modified Stocker a couple of years later.  The Cobra grille stayed, so the part itself was probably modified.  This kit was less butchered than the other Modified Stockers, the bumpers weren't messed with and the windshield wipers were left on the body.

Ertl pieced together the Cobra fastback by retooling the body sides, putting in new seats, new wheels, and separate pieces for the exhaust system.  They got a "new" kit cheaper than tooling an all new one.  This restoration came out a lot better than the '65 GTO, but the GTO was hacked up a lot more than the Torino.

 

[Bill J]

On 5/8/2020 at 10:04 AM, Motor City said:

Snake,

"It's either a Torino or a Cobra, but it's not a Torino Cobra. Both are variants of the Fairlane."

Yes and no.  I have a mailer sent to my Dad from 1969.  It's a colorful bi-fold with a snakeskin pattern printed on the outside.  When you open it up, a Cobra head pops up!  Part of the text reads, "In 1968, Torino Cobra scored the Grand Slam - stock car racing's triple crown - the championships in all three major racing circuits: NASCAR, USAC and ARCA."  

When introduced for 1968, it was considered a sub-series of the Fairlane.  Calling it just Cobra in conversation was causing confusion with the Ace-based Cobra sold by Shelby.  Obviously if someone were to see the cars side-by-side, there would be no confusion.  I think it's now usually referred to as a Torino Cobra to differentiate it from the Shelby Cobra.  Shelby sued Ford over Ford's use of the Cobra name without his permission.  I don't recall what the outcome of that was."

 

Correct, the car was officially a 1969 Torino Cobra. I bought a brand new one in  1969, Lime Gold with a 428 CJ Ram Air and a C6 automatic. It had the optional bucket seats, black interior and an 8 track player. Fun car and a good highway cruiser. I remember it cost about $4200 with 3 year payments around $125. Those were good times. Never heard of a law suit with Shelbly, I think I recall Ford buying the name from Shelby since he was done making the little Cobra we all love. The badges on my car said Cobra below the beautiful snake. Pretty common for people to steal the badges, they had a sticky back and just stuck on the car. I got tired of replacing them and took the last one off and stuck it on my tool box. The rear badge stayed, the badge was curved to fit the rear panel and no one bothered to steal one from me. I may still have one  of the fender badges, haven't looked lately. I recall that all Torino Cobras had the 428 CJ in 1969 and the 429 CJ wedge in 1970-71. I test drove a 70 and decided I'd keep my 69. I seem to remember the Torino Cobra being released in the spring of 69, after the new car releases of the 69 model year cars were debuted in the fall of 68.

Kit wise, the annual was a  69 Torino GT, the grille is different and they probably reworked the GT molds, so the GT grille is a rare item. I would like to see the 68 Torino GT kit reissued, better side striping and the grille was unique to the 68 also,

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Bill J

[youpey]

has anybody bought this version of the release and built it? how does it go together? any major issues?

[stavanzer]

Here is HPI Guys review of the kit, but oddly for him, no build up.

 

[youpey]

i found this one where he says the front wheels dont fit under the wheel arches and are off and he had to move the wheel spindles

 

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by youpey