1/25 AMT 1966 Mustang GT -- Original Annual & Modified Reissue

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Yep, but the 1:1 tips are WAY proud of the rear pan, and the original kit evidently had something to put there.

Got the reverse lights, so that's good...

[Mothersworry]

8 hours ago, Mothersworry said:

So no exhaust tips? They were in the original kit. Rear valence looks goofy without em.

Just checked my original kit...no exhaust tips, coulda sworn they were in the original...evidently I've suffered another CRS attack.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Mothersworry
Spelling error

[vamach1]

10 hours ago, Mothersworry said:

Just checked my original kit...no exhaust tips, coulda sworn they were in the original...evidently I've suffered another CRS attack.

Perhaps you are thinking of the ones that came in the much more rare MPC 66 fastback kit.

Edited March 25, 2023 by vamach1
Photo

[Mothersworry]

Sooo....after some research and speaking to an old kit authority friend of mine, chrome exhaust trumpets were included in the original issue of this kit. On the first page of this thread there is a chrome tree from an original kit, in the upper right corner next to the grille and front bumper are the two exhaust trumpets. As to why they are not mentioned in the instructions one possible explanation is that these parts were intended for the promo and were accidentally included in the glue kit ( promos of the '66 fastback had separate chrome exhaust trumpets installed) but that's just speculation.

My friend also said, but I could not personally confirm that these exhaust trumpets can be found in the AFX/Altered wheel base (Street Freak) Mustang kits of recent issue.

Guess my CRS isn't as bad as I thought.

[pack rat]

Here is an original annual; back-up lights but no GT exhaust pieces.  The back-up lights could be confused for exhaust tips but for their location on the valance panel.   

Interesting that the instructions neglect the installation of the back-up lights.

The identical parts are in the Street Freak altered wheelbase kit from the 70's, and I assume they would be in the subsequent reissues as well. 

 

 

[vamach1]

3 hours ago, pack rat said:

Here is an original annual; back-up lights but no GT exhaust pieces.  The back-up lights could be confused for exhaust tips but for their location on the valance panel.   

Interesting that the instructions neglect the installation of the back-up lights.

The identical parts are in the Street Freak altered wheelbase kit from the 70's, and I assume they would be in the subsequent reissues as well. 

 

 

These appear to be the exhaust trumpets and not the backup lights.  On the coupe kit the rear valance has the molded in back up lights which are not a separate piece.  As we know the later Monogram kits had the separate chrome backup lights on the 65-66 fastback kits and there wasn’t a separate GT kit .  Not sure if this solves the mystery or if it remains unsolved.

[vamach1]

On 3/18/2023 at 1:21 PM, mk11 said:

I had not see this valance before but those are the “outlets” for the exhaust trumpets for sure.  Now if they were just included in this “new” kit would be a bonus. 😐

[mk11]

Here's what they look like on the street freak chrome tree, lacking the locating pin of the original.

Being hollowed out, they could double for the trumpets maybe.

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by mk11

[mk11]

On 3/25/2023 at 1:41 PM, pack rat said:

Here is an original annual; back-up lights but no GT exhaust pieces.  The back-up lights could be confused for exhaust tips but for their location on the valance panel...   

 

It's entirely possible that AMT just muffed the detail by placing the exhaust tips too far outboard on the valance. Seems to me that that has to be it, as the tips tie the GT theme all together. Backup lights would have been a secondary feature probably not deemed needed at first.

Edited March 26, 2023 by mk11

[GMP440]

 

  Looks a good kit to do a pro stock.  Anyone doing this one as a prostock?

[Snake45]

Got mine last week, but only just now got a chance to give it a good look. 

The original annual came with the GT badges on the front fender and a GT gas cap molded in. The new one has no emblems, and a separate chrome GT gas cap. With the roof vents being molded separately, it's easy to imagine that they'll be reissuing this one in several different versions in years to come--'65 fastback, '65 and '66 Shelby GT350s, and so forth. This is a GOOD thing. 

The original annual had some very cool custom parts included, such as front valences, a Shelby-ish grille, and '65 T-Bird taillights. I miss these. Also miss the original American mags. There's a separate set of four American-ish wheels that aren't quite as good as the originals, but still very much appreciated, as are the "styled steel" factory wheels which weren't there before. 

I'm not a huge fan of the old small-diameter MPC-type slicks, but I imagine I'll eventually find some sort of use for them. I also miss the original solid-vinyl Firestone Supremes (they're great for drag or Street Freak front tires) but the TWO full sets of new tires--redlines and Firestone Wide Ovals--kinda makes up for it. Also much appreciated are the TWO complete sets of clear headlight lenses--I never have enough of these and am always looking for some, so, thanks R2! 👍

I hope future releases will bring us a Thunderbolt-type "teardrop" hood and the '65 GT350R front valence, but there's plenty here to keep me busy till those appear. Overall rating: VERY MOST WAY SNAKEWORTHY!  Well done and thanks again, R2! 

[Snake45]

4 minutes ago, GMP440 said:

  Looks a good kit to do a pro stock.  Anyone doing this one as a prostock?

There was no pro stock back in those days, and when Pro Stock was born in 1970, the rules mandated bodies two years old or newer, so there was never a true "Pro Stock" '66 Mustang. 

HOWEVER....

In the summer of '69, there was a thriving "run whatcha brung" circuit going on with Jenkins, Sox & Martin, Landy, and many others. Don Nicholson was running an old '65 A/FX car on that circuit, and there was a VERY sharp looking car called BOWANI II by Sam Auxier, Jr. on the same circuit (I saw him beat Jenkins for the Ultra Stock Eliminator title at Cecil County in 1969). I for one would LOVE to see decals become available for both, and would happily and eagerly build both! 

[dodgefever]

I have a stripped 1966 promo.  It has the trumpets, but the outlets in the valance are spaced a bit wide, roughly in line with the innermost tail light.  The new parts look much better.

[blizzy63]

Keep or remove...??

New vertical bars molded to the front end on the body. Not clearly addressed in the instructions.

[sfhess]

30 minutes ago, blizzy63 said:

Keep or remove...??

New vertical bars molded to the front end on the body. Not clearly addressed in the instructions.

Snip, snip.

 

[SteveG]

8 hours ago, sfhess said:

Snip, snip.

 

9 hours ago, blizzy63 said:

Keep or remove...??

New vertical bars molded to the front end on the body. Not clearly addressed in the instructions.

Those are not supposed to be there, should be pre-trimmed before packaging.     Thanks for sharing that. 

-Steve

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, SteveG said:

Those are not supposed to be there, should be pre-trimmed before packaging.     Thanks for sharing that. 

-Steve

I just checked--mine doesn't have them. 

[Chuck Kourouklis]

I was puzzled as hell!  Mine doesn't either. 🤔

[mk11]

23 hours ago, blizzy63 said:

Keep or remove...??

New vertical bars molded to the front end on the body. Not clearly addressed in the instructions.

I'm jealous; mine didn't come with them either.

There ya go... auction it as a rare one-off 🤣

Edited April 6, 2023 by mk11

[1972coronet]

1 hour ago, mk11 said:

There ya go... auction it as a rare one-off 🤣

Y' beat me to it ! Maybe it's a rare pilot vehicle !

[mk11]

On 3/24/2023 at 11:27 AM, Mothersworry said:

So no exhaust tips? They were in the original kit. Rear valence looks goofy without em.

Absolutely. Here's Casey's pic of the original fastback chrome...

and a combination pic of chrome from the funny car/street freak awb on the left, current fastback issue on right and sections from one of the many coupe reissues ('89 ertl) under it.

 

Now, it do look like there were never any tips offered in the coupe kit chrome at all, right from the '65 annual through the revised full detail coupe brought to life in the early seventies.

Therefore, since Round2 is utilizing the coupe chrome shot for this fastback reissue, our options are to source the nice drilled tips from the funny car or invent them.

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by mk11

[fairlane1320]

On 3/26/2023 at 2:37 PM, Snake45 said:

There was no pro stock back in those days, and when Pro Stock was born in 1970, the rules mandated bodies two years old or newer, so there was never a true "Pro Stock" '66 Mustang. 

HOWEVER....

In the summer of '69, there was a thriving "run whatcha brung" circuit going on with Jenkins, Sox & Martin, Landy, and many others. Don Nicholson was running an old '65 A/FX car on that circuit, and there was a VERY sharp looking car called BOWANI II by Sam Auxier, Jr. on the same circuit (I saw him beat Jenkins for the Ultra Stock Eliminator title at Cecil County in 1969). I for one would LOVE to see decals become available for both, and would happily and eagerly build both! 

 

 

The Bowani car is/was the ex-Tasca Ford 65 Mustang. Here's what it looked like at Carlisle in 2012....

 

Here's your decals..........

https://www.ebay.com/itm/403897580483

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Said it before and I'll say it again: I just LOVE forensic kit examination!

It's a bit like archaeology, checking one iteration of tooling to the next...

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, fairlane1320 said:

 

 

The Bowani car is/was the ex-Tasca Ford 65 Mustang. Here's what it looked like at Carlisle in 2012....

 

Here's your decals..........

https://www.ebay.com/itm/403897580483

Very Most Way Cool, thanks! I'd already figgered out it was an original '65 A/FX but didn't know which one. Glad to know it still exists. Thanks again! 

[Snake45]

The BOWANI II Mustang was very influential in my build of the AMT Mustang AWB funny car in 2020, as should be apparent. 

I have strong reservations about those eBay decals, though, sadly. First, they're 1/24 and might have trouble fitting in the side "coves" of the 1/25 kit. Second, they seem to be in white. I saw the real car live in 1968 and I recall the  "BOWANI II" and the "23" were in silver leaf--and pretty shiny silver leaf, too, not engine-turned. The shiny silver lettering on the deep candy-blue car was an extremely striking combination. You can see that I'm still fascinated by it now, 55 years later.