AMT 1966 Fairlane 427

[Robberbaron]

On 3/31/2022 at 12:42 PM, Plowboy said:

I got a chance to look at my original and reissue of this kit and both have the same door panels and other parts for the 427 Fairlane. Both have lug nut detail on the steel wheels. It's odd that this issue would have the wrong door panels.

Robert, could you post a photo of the door panels in this issue?

Here's lousy phone pics of the interior pieces from the current reissue.  Pretty sure the first issue 427 didnt have the console, since of course it isn't meant for the bench seat interior.

Last pic shows the actual "Fairlane GT" badges on the door panels.

Edited April 2, 2022 by Robberbaron

[SteveG]

On 3/27/2022 at 7:55 PM, Robberbaron said:

 

The original issue 427 kit included a complete standard Fairlane 500 interior: front bench seat, matching rear seat, AND base Fairlane 500 door panels (all different from the Fairlane GT kit, and correct for the factory-built 1966 Fairlane 427 cars).

This reissue has the correct front bench and rear seat, but it has the Fairlane GT door panels.  Most people probably wouldn't know the difference, but the main reason I bought this kit was for that completely different interior, so it is a pretty big letdown in my book.

Looking at photos of kit contents and built-ups on line, it looks like some of the earlier RC2 era reissues also had the incorrect door panels.  Wondering if the original issue is the only one with the correct ones?  If anyone has any insight on this, it would be appreciated.

Robert,

Thanks for pointing this out, you're correct that the 427 version should have the base style Fairlane door trim.  Long story short, it came down to plain old human error.  The good news as the proper inserts that produce the base Fairlane door trim have been found.  I'm told that any reorders of this kit will now have the correct interior side panels.  There has also been an order placed for some replacement parts.  This will not happen overnight, but if you go to Round2's website and click on the Parts/Instructions link you'll be able to request the correct style trim parts through their normal channels. 

-Steve

[Robberbaron]

6 hours ago, SteveG said:

Robert,

Thanks for pointing this out, you're correct that the 427 version should have the base style Fairlane door trim.  Long story short, it came down to plain old human error.  The good news as the proper inserts that produce the base Fairlane door trim have been found.  I'm told that any reorders of this kit will now have the correct interior side panels.  There has also been an order placed for some replacement parts.  This will not happen overnight, but if you go to Round2's website and click on the Parts/Instructions link you'll be able to request the correct style trim parts through their normal channels. 

-Steve

Steve,

Glad to hear they've found the inserts and will be running the correct parts. 👍

[keyser]

@SteveG Thanks for working on the small stuff. Doing it right pretty awesome, sadly rare. Appreciate it from all of us 👍🏼🍸

[SteveG]

14 hours ago, keyser said:

@SteveG Thanks for working on the small stuff. Doing it right pretty awesome, sadly rare. Appreciate it from all of us 👍🏼🍸

Thanks for mention but it was really a group effort.  Round2 has a dedicated team working behind the scenes.  A single kit re-issue takes weeks of work and the efforts of about of about a dozen people before production can even start.  Even with all the checks that they have in place, mistakes do happen.  Most are caught but this one slipped through.  Luckily this one was fixable.  

-Steve 

[stavanzer]

Thanks for helping to get this fixed, Steve!

[magicmustang]

Found a replacement part for the top of the shock tower detail. A three point wheel center knockoff spinner from the spare parts box looks very close. 

Edited April 6, 2022 by magicmustang

[Rodent]

Scott at Futurattraction makes these as well.

https://futurattraction.com/7.html

 

[Jim B]

This kit has intrigued me since I saw Chris' (hpiguy's) video.  Now, in the video he states that is can be built up as a stock Fairlane or a drag car.  (Now, personally, I don't really get drag racing, but that's just me.)  One thing I noticed on the decal sheet, among all the drag decals, were the big "57" decals, and it got me thinking: what would it take to make this kit into a race car?  I saw in a previous post in this thread that it's possible, but what changes would have to be made?

[Fat Brian]

16 hours ago, Jim B said:

This kit has intrigued me since I saw Chris' (hpiguy's) video.  Now, in the video he states that is can be built up as a stock Fairlane or a drag car.  (Now, personally, I don't really get drag racing, but that's just me.)  One thing I noticed on the decal sheet, among all the drag decals, were the big "57" decals, and it got me thinking: what would it take to make this kit into a race car?  I saw in a previous post in this thread that it's possible, but what changes would have to be made?

The kit builds as a stock Fairlane 427, it doesn't have any real race options. These cars were intended for drag racing, kind of a slightly less extreme version of a Thunderbolt. Depending exactly on the period and class you might be able to get away with just the decals as a race car but you'll most likely need a roll bar at the bare minimum. The Fairlane wasn't really used in NASCAR, they ran the Galaxie in 66.

[keyser]

[Robberbaron]

36 minutes ago, keyser said:

Current pics of that car show it as a '67 (grill/taillights different than '66):

Of course I'm no expert, so I'm not sure if it originally ran as a '66 and got updated.

As Brian mentioned, most teams ran Galaxies in '66, but this was right when the transition to midsize was happening.

I know I've seen pics of at least one or two post-66 Galaxie stock cars.  Can't be sure if those were actual NASCAR or one of the other competing associations at the time (USAC, etc.)

Edited April 23, 2022 by Robberbaron

[keyser]

Ned Jarrett 66. Mario won Daytona 500 in the 67. 

[Jim B]

Thanks for the information, guys.  So, it is not out of the relm of possibility to turn the AMT Fairlane 500 into a race car.

[keyser]

No sir. Couple photos of fave car. 
 

This 66 Galaxie is not an ez project however. 

[Jim B]

4 minutes ago, keyser said:

No sir. Couple photos of fave car. 
 

This 66 Galaxie is not an ez project however. 

No, they're quite different, aren't they.

[stavanzer]

Add a Rollbar and some Slicks, and it could be a Drag Racer. You'd have to look at the rules for '66, to see what class it belonged in. For some classes, it might not even need a rollbar, just the slicks. There were still classes for street driven cars, back then.

[RancheroSteve]

6 hours ago, Jim B said:

Thanks for the information, guys.  So, it is not out of the realm of possibility to turn the AMT Fairlane 500 into a race car.

There's a whole lot of NASCAR history involved in answering  in this question.

 

[keyser]

@Jim Bhttps://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/respect-ful-return-1966-ford-fairlane

[64Comet404]

13 hours ago, Robberbaron said:

I know I've seen pics of at least one or two post-66 Galaxie stock cars.  Can't be sure if those were actual NASCAR or one of the other competing associations at the time (USAC, etc.)

For many low-budget teams, it made more sense to update the bodywork on their Galaxies than it did to purchase a brand new 'half-chassis' racer from Holman-Moody or other fabricators. It wasn't until more used mid-size cars made their way into the system that you saw the move away from using the Galaxies. Most of those cars which started life as a '66-67 Fairlane ended their racing careers as -71 Torinos or Cyclones. As an example, the '67 Fairlane in Andretti's paint scheme is a recreation of the original car. The original chassis ended up under a '71 Cyclone, which was driven by Darrell Waltrip in 1972-73 (I believe DW still owns the car). 

The picture of the #26 Galaxie from 1966 is the extreme version of body mods. Other 1966 Galaxie NASCAR racers were much closer to stock appearance.

[Oldcarfan27]

On 4/23/2022 at 2:37 PM, keyser said:

 

On 4/23/2022 at 4:31 PM, keyser said:

This 66 Galaxie is not an ez project however. 

That Fairlane looks as though it's got a little "banana" in it's fenders too!

[RancheroSteve]

I dug out what I think is my original issue 427 from 1993. These are the door panels in that kit:

The plate near the top says "Fairlane 500".

Edited May 17, 2022 by RancheroSteve

[Robberbaron]

21 hours ago, RancheroSteve said:

I dug out what I think is my original issue 427 from 1993. These are the door panels in that kit:

The plate near the top says "Fairlane 500".

Steve, thanks for posting those.

Couldn't find a good pic anywhere, and I'm not sure which box/stack my original is hiding in (haven't looked at it since before my last move)

[Fat Brian]

I picked up one of these at Hobby Lobby last week and it has the correct interior with the wooden panel along the top. The date on the inside of the body us 8/10/22.