March 2023 from Round2

[Mark]

11 hours ago, pack rat said:

Being based on the '59 annual kit with a few updates for the '60 model year, this is the oldest surviving AMT kit.....a cool way to commemorate that would be a retro box based on the original '60 annual box design.

.

I'd argue that the '59 Imperial is the oldest AMT kit still in existence, as it was derived from the '58.  There was no SMP '58 Corvette kit, there may have been a promo but I'm not positive.

[SteveG]

12 hours ago, pack rat said:

Being based on the '59 annual kit with a few updates for the '60 model year, this is the oldest surviving AMT kit.....a cool way to commemorate that would be a retro box based on the original '60 annual box design.

.

I would say it's our longest running 3n1 Customizing kit.  The 57 T-Bird didn't become a 3n1 kit until 1962. The I959 Imperial was out of the lineup for 47 years and contains modern tooling chrome and glass, our first significant effort of cloning vintage parts.  The oldest functioning tool we have produces the AMT 1951 Pontiac Chieftan 4 door promo body shell, but the rest is gone so I don't see it ever coming back. 

-Steve

[pack rat]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

I'd argue that the '59 Imperial is the oldest AMT kit still in existence, as it was derived from the '58.  There was no SMP '58 Corvette kit, there may have been a promo but I'm not positive.

Ah yes...forgot about the '58/59 Imperial. 

I've seen '58 Corvette promos on the 'net...tough call as to their similarity to the SMP/AMT kits, some details very similar, some not.  

[Rob Hall]

Never seen one of the early SMP/AMT Corvette kits..did the '60 Corvette annual have an engine or was that added later?

[Don Sikora II]

2 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Never seen one of the early SMP/AMT Corvette kits..did the '60 Corvette annual have an engine or was that added later?

Yes, the SMP '60 Corvette annual had an engine. Of the 1960 annuals, SMP offered engines in the Corvette and Chevy Apache pickup. AMT had engines in the Thunderbird, Buick, and Ford F-100. SMP's '59 Corvette kit didn't include an engine, it was added for the '60 kit.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Don Sikora II

[Don Sikora II]

4 hours ago, Mark said:

I'd argue that the '59 Imperial is the oldest AMT kit still in existence, as it was derived from the '58.  There was no SMP '58 Corvette kit, there may have been a promo but I'm not positive.

Yes, SMP released a 1958 Corvette promo.

[Rob Hall]

7 minutes ago, Don Sikora II said:

Yes, the SMP '60 Corvette annual had an engine. Of the 1960 annuals, SMP offered engines in the Corvette and Chevy Apache pickup. AMT had engines in the Thunderbird, Buick, and Ford F-100. SMP's '59 Corvette kit didn't include an engine, it was added for the '60 kit.

Neat..wondered about that..I have a builtup '60 Thunderbird convertible that was missing the engine (and other parts)...I think I put a parts box 390 in it years ago...have a '60 Buick ht (engine missing) and a rough '60 Ford F100 (has the original engine).   

Edited March 5, 2023 by Rob Hall

[VW93]

On 3/3/2023 at 10:23 PM, mikemodeler said:

My wallet is safe this month

Same here !

[stavanzer]

On 3/4/2023 at 4:02 PM, Dave Darby said:

I don't know, they certainly could have done worse. Like this one with the upside down headlights. What would you have picked?

 

 

Well, Not That one.

This kit probably deserved new "Retro Box Art"

[Dave Darby]

On 3/5/2023 at 7:50 PM, stavanzer said:

Well, Not That one.

This kit probably deserved new "Retro Box Art"

It also deserves a good old fashioned open every gate in the tool treatment. Maybe the clear hardtop is still around. I see the skirts are still with us from the pre-paint issue.

[Robberbaron]

On 3/5/2023 at 8:47 AM, SteveG said:

The oldest functioning tool we have produces the AMT 1951 Pontiac Chieftan 4 door promo body shell, but the rest is gone so I don't see it ever coming back. 

-Steve

Now THAT is interesting!  It blows my mind that an item like that somehow managed to survive all of the tooling purges and ownership changes over the years.

Guessing it must have been benignly forgotten, tucked away out of sight.  There's no way it was deliberately saved during the big tooling purge of the late '60s/early '70s.  That's an obscure subject, even for the crowd on this board.  (Don't think I've ever seen a request for that subject)

Of course, you may have opened Pandora's box by admitting the body still exists.  That's the cue for all the crackpots to start posting ad nauseam about recreating all the remaining components, 'cause they would "buy a case", dontcha know...?

 

 

[Dave Darby]

Here's the SMP 1960 issue. The lift off hardtop is molded in clear plastic. It's also the only issue with the clear red taillights.

 

Those aren't kit wheels.

Here's a real 59 annual.

[stavanzer]

46 minutes ago, Dave Darby said:

It also deserves a good old fashioned open every gate in the tool treatment. Maybe the clear hardtop is still around. I see the skirts are still with us from the pre-paint issue.

Amen, Dave!

A whole lot of empty space on the chrome tree to my eyes.

The tires should be better. The version I owned, had those horrible two-piece hard-ish plastic tires, that no cement in the 1970's would glue. At least now it will have better tires and decals.

[ChrisBcritter]

On 3/5/2023 at 6:47 AM, SteveG said:

The oldest functioning tool we have produces the AMT 1951 Pontiac Chieftain 4 door promo body shell, but the rest is gone so I don't see it ever coming back. 

-Steve

Can I talk you out of one of the test shots?  I'd be happy to restore a junker/shrunken promo with a nice straight new styrene body, since that's the only part that really goes bad. AMT did a real nice job with it:

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by ChrisBcritter

[ss2000]

52 minutes ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Can I talk you out of one of the test shots?  I'd be happy to restore a junker/shrunken promo with a nice straight new styrene body, since that's the only part that really goes bad. AMT did a real nice job with it:

 

I was thinking the same thing. 

[SteveG]

2 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Can I talk you out of one of the test shots?  I'd be happy to restore a junker/shrunken promo with a nice straight new styrene body, since that's the only part that really goes bad. AMT did a real nice job with it:

 

Unfortunately, it's part of our hanger shot inventory which I'm free to look through, but I can't take anything.   After further discussion it's actually the '52 Chieftan body, but either way the chances of us doing anything with are very, very slim.  Still, I was as shocked as anybody to see it had survived. 

-Steve 

[Mark]

Aren't those Pontiac promos just a bit smaller than 1/25 scale?  I recall seeing info to that effect in the Bob Wingate promo articles in Rod & Custom in the mid-Sixties.  The odd scale would be the final nail in that one, on top of the trim parts and chassis plate being metal.

[Mark]

The hardtop isn't in any of the reissue '60/'59 Corvettes because the windshield in all of the reissues is different tooling from the annual kits.  AMT probably tooled only a windshield and not the top or custom windscreens.

[Motor City]

25 minutes ago, Mark said:

Aren't those Pontiac promos just a bit smaller than 1/25 scale?  I recall seeing info to that effect in the Bob Wingate promo articles in Rod & Custom in the mid-Sixties.  The odd scale would be the final nail in that one, on top of the trim parts and chassis plate being metal.

correct, it's probably 1/27th scale

[Daddyfink]

Dump truck for me! Otherwise, I am good to go! 

[Daddyfink]

[blizzy63]

When I was 11 yrs. old (1974), this box art had me drooling like it was made of candy...

but I wasn't a big enough a Corvette fan to shell-out my (parents') money for one.

Today, I appreciate it as the historical relic that it is: One of the first AMT/SMP annuals (1960) to feature an engine and an opening hood.

(I did eventually get one. Found one at a local antique mall.)

Edited March 8, 2023 by blizzy63

[blizzy63]

21 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

 

Love your museum, Dave.

Very cool...!

[ChrisBcritter]

15 hours ago, SteveG said:

Unfortunately, it's part of our hanger shot inventory which I'm free to look through, but I can't take anything.   After further discussion it's actually the '52 Chieftain body, but either way the chances of us doing anything with are very, very slim.  Still, I was as shocked as anybody to see it had survived. 

-Steve 

Well... please ask them not to destroy it, at least. (And there's always Atlantis.)

Any chance we could see a photo? It's been probably 60 years since anyone's seen an un-shrunken '52 Chieftain.

[stavanzer]