"New" AMT '60 Ford Starliner

[Brett Barrow]

Got my '60 Starliner today, if this is what we're to expect from the new crew running AMT, WOW! It finally looks like someone in charge gets it. You get gorgeous '60's inspired box art (which sells more kits than the old folks* realized) , a fold-up "mini-box", a good-sized (about 3") AMT sticker, and..... Oh, yeah! - The plastic kit! You actually get the parts from both original '90's AMT/Ertl boxings (stock and custom) in one box, now in a shinier and whiter plastic than AMT/Ertl had been using, all for a suggested retail of $17.95, - not too shabby, sure you'll see lower street prices out there. Also as a neat touch you get pre-painted whitewalls on the stock tires, not plastic inserts, but tampo printed right on the tire. I think we've finally got some real car modelers calling the shots and I can't wait to see what's coming from the "new AMT".

*the previous owners of AMT/Ertl, not senior citizens in general!

[62SS]

I just put this on my "MUST HAVE" list.

Are these available now, Or is this some kind of a pre-production test kit?

Ed

[SteveG]

Nice review, Thanks. I'm going to get mine this weekend ..... so who's going to be the first to post some photos of the contents?

These are the builts from I-hobby Expo

-Steve

[gasman]

sounds great. I hope too get one at the Hobby shop this week

[Rob Hall]

I have a few of the 1st issue, but this sounds like such a nicely done reissue and the new box art, I think I'll definitely pick up 1. Probably one of the '49 Fords and '51 Chevy also (I have the fastback and hardtop '51s, but not the convertible).

[djway3474]

With all the great AMT kits coming out I have already spoken to a Bankruptcy lawyer LOL

[Brett Barrow]

I just put this on my "MUST HAVE" list.

Are these available now, Or is this some kind of a pre-production test kit?

Ed

They're shipping now, should be in shops this week, along with the Titan 90, Lil' Stogie, and the '51 Chevy convertible. I work for a distributor, so I get a couple days head-start! Since this one is the first kit that's not just a straight reissue, I was interested in what they'd do differently than the original boxings.

[Brett Barrow]

Old? Who you callin' old? Boy.

By "the old folks" I meant the previous groups of people in charge of AMT/Ertl, not just plain "old folks" like you. Old Folks do realize how important good box art is to a kit!

[Bluzboy66]

I just put this on my "MUST HAVE" list.

Are these available now, Or is this some kind of a pre-production test kit?

Ed

Picked mine up at the local hobby store yesterday. NICE kit!

Mike

[Brett Barrow]

Nice review, Thanks. I'm going to get mine this weekend ..... so who's going to be the first to post some photos of the contents?

-Steve

My home computer is fried, so I can only get on the internet at work, I would have posted some pics. Hope Santa brings me a new computer!!!

[SteveG]

Well, I guess I'll be the first to post photos of the contents. I got this one at the Motorcity NNL

This kit takes me right back into the sixties, reminds me of the old Trophy Series kits. Lots of little goodies

including two complete engines. The Tampo printed whitewall are packed in tissue paper. No warpage that

I can find. Just some minor flash here and there. This is how RC2 should have done it !!!!

-Steve

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx for the pics. Steve!

These guys totally "get it"! They will sell all they are willing to produce. So let's hope they don't drop the ball and keep their limited production runs too limited!

What are the two engine? Not that I really care, you can never have too many engines to choose from!

Edited November 24, 2008 by gbk1

[CAL]

looks good, I will get one.

It's not bad over all. One of AMT's better kits.

[bigphoto]

Picked mine up Friday!! Youcan never have enough spare FE engines!!!!!!!!!

What are the two engine? Not that I really care, you can never have too many engines to choose from!

The engine are listed as a 352 CID. However you can call them 352's 360, 390, 406, 428,410 Mercury

and if you put some grandt line bolt heads along the skirt of the block to reresent cross bolted main caps

you could call it a 427. As all FE engines were essentially the same looking on the outside except for the 427 side oiler

which had a long bulge on the side of the block where an additional oil passage was located and also had screw in freeze plugs

but if the engine is sitting in a car or p/u you really would be hard pressed to notice these things!

[Don Banes]

By "the old folks" I meant the previous groups of people in charge of AMT/Ertl, not just plain "old folks" like you. Old Folks do realize how important good box art is to a kit!

Not just plain "old folks" like me? Boy. Remind me to thump your head, next time I see you. Whippersnapper!

[Tom Kren]

Saw Steves at the show sunday but didnt get one now i think i will looks like a great kit and i love the box!

[SteveG]

RC2 was largely clueless to & didn't care about the design, packaging & marketing of AMT kits, & Round Two knows what we want in a model company, & are catering to us.

Exactly, I thought you almost missed my point but you got to it at the end there. RC2 had the tooling and what did they do with it. Put it in a checkerboard box ......... please...... OK, well I'll give them some credit for the Masterpiece version.

Round2's packaging of this kit is just brilliant, I can't wait to see what's next from them.

-Steve

[coopdad]

I don't normally build 60's American cars BUT this car is too beautiful not to build.

Racing Champions, AMT, Ertl, RC2, whoever, you are to be commended... now keep up the great work! Bring us more cars we can't do without.

John

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Yeah man! All this, a bag of chips, and WHITE PLASTIC, too!

I'm looking forward to snatching the first one I see, and it's a flippin' reissue! That really says something for the thought Round 2 is putting into all this. Now with any luck, we'll buy enough reissues that maybe some new tooling will become feasible again - preferably with guys like John Mueller and Tom Montgomery at the design helm.

Really diggin' the Trophy Series tie-in, too; 'cause when you pack all the tooling versions together in one box, these kits become very much a Trophy Series for this day and age! I'd love to see the '62 Bel Air get this kind of treatment. '66 Riv'd be cool, too. Hell, anything from AMT's great '98 - '00 romp would be sweet, and the '50 Chevy pickup would be pretty trick, too...

Edited November 25, 2008 by Chuck Kourouklis

[Guest promodmerc]

Keep in mind, too, that the powers-that-were at RC2/Learning Curve ultimately saw fit to package both the stock and street rod versions of the '34 Ford coupe in the same box, so give them credit for that, if nothing else.

The '60 Ford was one of many kits produced during what I like to call the "Mueller Era" of AMT that were issued in separate stock and street machine variants. Many, if not most of them, would make excellent 2-in-1 kits, as Round 2 has done with the Ford and intends to with the '62 Pontiac.

Some that I'd love to see reissued as 2-in-1s would include, but not necessarily be limited to:

*'57 Chrysler 300.

*'60 Chevy pickup.

*'58 Edsel. (Remember the short-lived second version that added only skirts and a Connie kit?)

*'67 Impala.

*'57 Chevy (Admittedly, it'd take a BIG box for that one, since the street machine version had a LOT of different parts from the stocker.)

*'66 Riv.

*'70 Monte Carlo.

*'71 Charger (the street machine version had a Hemi, IIRC.)

*'68 El Camino (the street blower setup in the street machine version was KILLER!)

*'57 Corvette (the new-tool kit).

*'50 Chevy pickup.

*'62 Chevy.

Need to add the 70 Super Bee to that list.

[Rob Hall]

Others that were previously issued as two separate versions that would make great 2n1s I think would include the '69 GTX, '67 Chevelle, and '66 Nova. The '66 Nova Pro-Street was only issued once w/ all it's parts intact (they sort of reissued it a couple years ago, but that version was missing some of the most important parts--the tires!).

[Rob Hall]

Rob, was that "sort-of" reissue you're referring to the pre-painted version? I didn't realize it didn't have the same tires as the original ... what did it have?

Also, if I'm not mistaken, the "Rides" version of the '66 Nova was a "sort-of' reissue of the pro street kit.

It was the Rides issue I was thinking of. Forgot about the pre-painted. I think it has all the original parts.

[Eshaver]

Most interesting, Whitewall tires ........... Example pictures of the contents on the side of the box............ trivia on the instruction sheet........... Wow, maybe my prayers were answered and it really is 1968! ######, I gotta go get me sum 25 cent gasoline !

Ed Shaver

[LoneWolf15]

Saw Steves at the show sunday but didnt get one now i think i will looks like a great kit and i love the box!

Tom,

Tell me Steve was'nt like a little kid showing that kit around at the NNL. I wish I had a video camera up there with me .I would have filmed his reaction and sent it to AMT. He was like a little kid at Christmas with a new toy , and rightfully so! Kudos to Steve and AMT for their love for the hobby!

Donn Yost

[Brett Barrow]

It always amazed me that Model King and the other third-party reissuers largely ignored all that excellent 90's/00's AMT/Ertl tooling (Model King's '70 Camaro Z/28 is one exception). I'd love to see the '71 Charger reissued, I hacked mine up to make a stock car right before the Polar Lights kits came out. I'll be excited to see if they do anything different with the '62 Pontiac Catalina when that comes out, I missed it when it was new.