MPC 1981 Camaro Z28 ProStreet reissue.

[Mark C.]

Thanks for the update, Steve, muchly appreciated!

Quick question, since I’m not familiar with this version:  is it a full on tubbed pro street kit, or more of a modified street machine style?  I recall when the pro street fad came about, some model kits were called “pro street” when they were more like modified stock versions with the pro street look.  Not that this is a bad thing, as I am much more of a fan of street machine type cars than full on pro street cars.

Secondly, is there a possibility that this will also lead to a stock version?

Thanks again!  I am always interested to read your announcements and insights as to what’s happening at Round 2, so please know how much your posts here are appreciated!

Edit: From looking at the box art on page 1 it appears to be a stock version with street machine parts thrown in, so I may have answered my own question!  😉

Edited March 14 by Mark C.

[SteveG]

1 hour ago, Mark C. said:

Thanks for the update, Steve, muchly appreciated!

Quick question, since I’m not familiar with this version:  is it a full on tubbed pro street kit, or more of a modified street machine style?  I recall when the pro street fad came about, some model kits were called “pro street” when they were more like modified stock versions with the pro street look.  Not that this is a bad thing, as I am much more of a fan of street machine type cars than full on pro street cars.

Secondly, is there a possibility that this will also lead to a stock version?

Thanks again!  I am always interested to read your announcements and insights as to what’s happening at Round 2, so please know how much your posts here are appreciated!

Edit: From looking at the box art on page 1 it appears to be a stock version with street machine parts thrown in, so I may have answered my own question!  😉

It's better described as a Street Machine.  After the initial run, assuming it does well enough for us I'll work on additional versions.  I can foresee a 2n1 kit that includes restoring the stock wheels and tires back into the kit.   

-Steve

   

[Stef]

6 minutes ago, SteveG said:

...I'll work on additional versions...

Yes yes yes! Please bring back the NIGHT PROWLER and THUNDER Z Camaros!

[Mark C.]

51 minutes ago, SteveG said:

It's better described as a Street Machine.  After the initial run, assuming it does well enough for us I'll work on additional versions.  I can foresee a 2n1 kit that includes restoring the stock wheels and tires back into the kit.   

-Steve

   

Thank you! That sounds great!

[mikos]

5 hours ago, SteveG said:

The MPC 1981 Camaro tooling is finally on its way to a new factory that does a very good job with running our older tooling.   With luck we'll have out in late 2025.  

-Steve

Thanks for the update Steve.   Better late than never.    Hopefully, it will sell very well to do a stock ‘80-‘81 Z28 someday.  

[Luc Janssens]

1 minute ago, mikos said:

Thanks for the update Steve.   Better late than never.    Hopefully, it will sell very well to do a stock ‘80-‘81 Z28 someday.  

Ditto, and if yes please with clear headlamp lenses 😉

[mikos]

3 hours ago, SteveG said:

It's better described as a Street Machine.  After the initial run, assuming it does well enough for us I'll work on additional versions.  I can foresee a 2n1 kit that includes restoring the stock wheels and tires back into the kit.   

-Steve

   

Will the stock ‘80-‘81 air-induction style hood be included in that future 2n1 version?   The Pro Street is a hybrid of sorts because it has the later style ‘80-‘81 fender vents with the older ‘78-‘79 NACA style hood.  Since the fender vents are molded with the body, I don’t see those being changed to go along with the current hood.  The easiest fix would be tooling up a new ‘80-‘81 air-induction style Z28 hood.   That is, if the original tooling for the ‘80-‘81 hood is no longer available.  It seems the stock ‘80-‘81 air-induction hood vanished sometime after the original ‘81 annuals were released.  All of the subsequent Camaro Z28 street machine versions after that, the “Thunder-Z” and “Camaro Pro-Street” had the earlier ‘78-‘79 style Z28 hood in them.  

Edited March 14 by mikos

[stavanzer]

Yes!

Bring On the Thunder-Z!

The hardest of the MPC Camaro kits to find & get. I've been outbid on about 5 of them, in the last few years.

[Can-Con]

7 hours ago, SteveG said:

  I can foresee a 2n1 kit that includes restoring the stock wheels and tires back into the kit.   

-Steve

   

How about the '80/'81 hood, Steve? 

The hood in the "Pro Street" box art version of the kit is the '78/'79 style.

[mikos]

3 hours ago, Can-Con said:

How about the '80/'81 hood, Steve? 

The hood in the "Pro Street" box art version of the kit is the '78/'79 style.

It’s been like that since the original release of the Camaro Z28 “Pro Street” in the early ‘80’s.  Every issue released after the original 1981 annual, “Thunder-Z” and “Pro Street” Camaro Z28 had the ‘78-‘79 style hoods in them.  This makes me speculate that shortly after the original 1981 annual was done, MPC somehow lost the tooling insert for the “air-induction” style hood.  So, they just swapped in the ‘78-‘79 style hood since the tooling was still available.

I’m thinking Steve G. will not comment on the exact details of a stock 2 in 1 version before the “Pro Street” version is reissued.  A stock version, if there is one, will probably depend how well the “Pro Street” version sells.  Still, the stock ‘80-‘81 style hood will be the most difficult part to duplicate unless you just want to make a hybridized ‘78-‘81 Camaro Z28.  The correct steel wheels can be found in the AMT ‘70.5 Camaro Z28 kit (or if you prefer the RPO N90 aluminum wheels) you can find them in Revell’s ‘80’s Monte Carlo SS kit.

Edited March 15 by mikos

[Can-Con]

16 hours ago, mikos said:

It’s been like that since the original release of the Camaro Z28 “Pro Street” in the early ‘80’s.  Every issue released after the original 1981 annual, “Thunder-Z” and “Pro Street” Camaro Z28 had the ‘78-‘79 style hoods in them.  This makes me speculate that shortly after the original 1981 annual was done, MPC somehow lost the tooling insert for the “air-induction” style hood.  So, they just swapped in the ‘78-‘79 style hood since the tooling was still available.

I’m thinking Steve G. will not comment on the exact details of a stock 2 in 1 version before the “Pro Street” version is reissued.  A stock version, if there is one, will probably depend how well the “Pro Street” version sells.  Still, the stock ‘80-‘81 style hood will be the most difficult part to duplicate unless you just want to make a hybridized ‘78-‘81 Camaro Z28.  The correct steel wheels can be found in the AMT ‘70.5 Camaro Z28 kit (or if you prefer the RPO N90 aluminum wheels) you can find them in Revell’s ‘80’s Monte Carlo SS kit.

"the stock ‘80-‘81 style hood will be the most difficult part to duplicate"

Not for me. I have an old '80 rebuilder in the stash and a fully built '81.

I also have almost full supply of resin and latex to make a mold and cast as many as I need from either hood I have so I'm good. 

Just wondering as he didn't mention the hood but did mention the stock wheels and tires.

[mikemodeler]

For those looking for a stock hood, there is this option from Harts Parts Resin.

 

https://hartspartsresin.com/product/mpc-78-camaro-stock-hood/

 

I am looking forward to this kit, have a set of period correct rally wheels and whitewall tires, that hood from Harts Parts and a resin L-6 to build a basic Camaro.

[mikos]

On 3/15/2025 at 12:24 PM, Can-Con said:

"the stock ‘80-‘81 style hood will be the most difficult part to duplicate"

Not for me. I have an old '80 rebuilder in the stash and a fully built '81.

I also have almost full supply of resin and latex to make a mold and cast as many as I need from either hood I have so I'm good. 

Just wondering as he didn't mention the hood but did mention the stock wheels and tires.

I have a few rebuilders and an extra hood as well.  However, for those that don’t have rebuilders or the ability to cast small parts, the hood will be a major setback. There is/was a resin kit of the ‘80-‘81 Camaro Z28 available, but I don’t think the hood was offered separately.  The recent AMT “Cheverra” snap kit could work since it’s 1/25th scale and has the stock air-induction style hood.   Unfortunately, you would have to cut it out and sacrifice that kit to make the Pro Street into an accurate ‘80-‘81 Z28.  Even if you wanted to make a Pro Street ‘80-‘81 Camaro, you would need the stock hood since the later style fender vents are molded on the body in the MPC kit.  The ‘78-‘79 Z28 had different style front fender vents than the ‘80-‘81’s.

He didn’t mention the hood because the “Pro Street” will be a straight reissue of the original version from the early ‘80’s.  If they do a stock version, they would need to tool up a new hood unless they can find the original tooling mold.   This makes me wonder what happened to the original tooling mold after the ‘81 annual was released. It must have gotten misplaced or damaged somehow and they just borrowed the ‘78-‘79 style hood because they had that tooling mold insert laying around in the tooling bank.  
 

Some might say, who cares about the hood.  However, if you’re building one of these kits, you would know.  The ‘78-‘79 NACA style hood would look out of place with the later style front fender vents.  Tooling up a flat hood wouldn’t work because those models(base, LT, Berlinetta) did not have the front fender vents.  Of course, they could tool up a flat hood and then make the air-induction style scoop as a separate add on part.  That would be great, but I don’t see them spending that much to convert the Pro Street into a stock Z28.  New wheels and tires is probably the limit in what they would want to spend after the Pro Street is reissued.

Edited March 18 by mikos

[mikos]

1 hour ago, mikemodeler said:

For those looking for a stock hood, there is this option from Harts Parts Resin.

 

https://hartspartsresin.com/product/mpc-78-camaro-stock-hood/

 

I am looking forward to this kit, have a set of period correct rally wheels and whitewall tires, that hood from Harts Parts and a resin L-6 to build a basic Camaro.

You can use the AMT Z28 hood as well, but there’s no scoop.  So, only non Z28’s can be made like the base, LT and Berlinetta models. To make a Z28, you need the unique “air-induction” style hood that was only available in ‘80-‘81.  The Cheverra snap kit has it, but you’d have to sacrifice that kit (or body) to make the MPC kit.  Also, you’d have to find a Chevy small block for the engine since the Pro Street still had the old big block from the early ‘70’s.  MPC never changed it even after the big block was no longer available in the Camaro after ‘72.

[Can-Con]

47 minutes ago, mikos said:

I have a few rebuilders and an extra hood as well.  However, for those that don’t have rebuilders or the ability to cast small parts, the hood will be a major setback. There is/was a resin kit of the ‘80-‘81 Camaro Z28 available, but I don’t think the hood was offered separately.  The recent AMT “Cheverra” snap kit could work since it’s 1/25th scale and has the stock air-induction style hood.   Unfortunately, you would have to cut it out and sacrifice that kit to make the Pro Street into an accurate ‘80-‘81 Z28.  Even if you wanted to make a Pro Street ‘80-‘81 Camaro, you would need the stock hood since the later style fender vents are molded on the body in the MPC kit.  The ‘78-‘79 Z28 had different style front fender vents than the ‘80-‘81’s.

He didn’t mention the hood because the “Pro Street” will be a straight reissue of the original version from the early ‘80’s.  If they do a stock version, they would need to tool up a new hood unless they can find the original tooling mold.   This makes me wonder what happened to the original tooling mold after the ‘81 annual was released. It must have gotten misplaced or damaged somehow and they just borrowed the ‘78-‘79 style hood because they had that tooling mold insert lying around in the tooling bank.  
 

Some might say, who cares about the hood.  However, if you’re building one of these kits, you would know.  The ‘78-‘79 NACA style hood would look out of place with the later style front fender vents.  Tooling up a flat hood wouldn’t work because those models(base, LT, Berlinetta) did not have the front fender vents.  Of course, they could tool up a flat hood and then make the air-induction style scoop as a separate add on part.  That would be great, but I don’t see them spending that much to convert the Pro Street into a stock Z28.  New wheels and tires is probably the limit in what they would want to spend after the Pro Street is reissued.

Um, yea, I'm not gonna bother reading all that, Mike. 

I was just trying to state that I was just asking about the hood because Steve mentioned the wheels and tires but not the hood in his post. Simple as that.

If I had seen that you had asked the same question right before I did I wouldn't have bothered making a post at all as you are obviously much better versed in these cars and know more about them then I've ever wanted to know. 

[Sledsel]

Not being a big Camaro guy, normally I'd be a no on this, but with all the work R2 has been doing I'll be picking one or two up for support. I have the '67, '68 and 70 1/2 Camaro's, so why not the 81? LOL

Edited March 17 by Sledsel

[bobss396]

On 9/7/2023 at 3:46 PM, Mr. Metallic said:

 

My company is involved with manufacturing in China. Once the mold enters their border it will not leave again, at least in working condition.

This was a big fear when molds, etc were first shipped to China. 

If something hairy went down politically between them and us, we would never see product or the molds ever again.

This spiked a lot of kit hoarding... not like I know anyone like that.. 🙄

[mikos]

On 3/15/2025 at 4:49 PM, Can-Con said:

Um, yea, I'm not gonna bother reading all that, Mike. 

I was just trying to state that I was just asking about the hood because Steve mentioned the wheels and tires but not the hood in his post. Simple as that.

If I had seen that you had asked the same question right before I did I wouldn't have bothered making a post at all as you are obviously much better versed in these cars and know more about them then I've ever wanted to know. 

No problem.  I’m not a huge fan of the Pro Street model kit.  I’d only be interested in the parts that could be pirated to make a stock Z28.  My dream is to make every color/stripe variation offered in ‘80-‘81.  I’m thinking it’s basically the same as the annual without the stock wheels/tires and decals.

I don’t know if any special parts were included for the “Pro Street” issue, but I do know that the annual kits had a ton of race car parts in them to make a custom street machine or oval track racer.  

When the Thunder-Z and Pro Street came out, I wondered why they used the old ‘78-‘79 style hood.  I figured MPC must have somehow lost/damaged the tooling for the later style hood.  There seemed to be no other major change in parts between the ‘79 and ‘80 annual except for the remolded front fender vents, new style hood, and the addition of rear wheel fender spats/flares like on the Trans Am.  
 

 

Edited March 17 by mikos

[Can-Con]

4 minutes ago, mikos said:

No problem.  I’m not a huge fan of the Pro Street model kit.  I’d only be interested in the parts that could be pirated to make a stock Z28.  My dream is to make every color/stripe variation offered in ‘80-‘81.  I’m thinking it’s basically the same as the annual without the stock wheels/tires and decals.

I don’t know if any special parts were included for the “Pro Street” issue, but I do know that the annual kits had a ton of race car parts in them to make a custom street machine or oval track racer.  

When the Thunder-Z and Pro Street came out, I wondered why they used the old ‘78-‘79 style hood.  I figured MPC must have somehow lost/damaged the tooling for the later style hood.  There seemed to be no other major change in parts between the ‘79 and ‘80 annual except for the remolded front fender vents, new style hood, and the addition of rear wheel fender spats/flares like on the Trans Am.  
 

 

Yes, a '80-'81 "rainbow" would be really cool. 

Oddest factory color combo I ever seen in person, on a Z was a '78-'79 in that light puke green with the green stripes. Kinda revolting and fascinating at the same time. 

[mikos]

10 hours ago, bobss396 said:

This was a big fear when molds, etc were first shipped to China. 

If something hairy went down politically between them and us, we would never see product or the molds ever again.

This spiked a lot of kit hoarding... not like I know anyone like that.. 🙄

A smaller fear could happen, though.  Trump is proposing tariffs on goods coming from China.  In what way that could affect prices on model kits, I don’t know.  However, if he goes through with it, expect your wallet to be a lot lighter as prices go up significantly.

[Can-Con]

2 minutes ago, mikos said:

A smaller fear could happen, though.  Trump is proposing tariffs on goods coming from China.  In what way that could affect prices on model kits, I don’t know.  However, if he goes through with it, expect your wallet to be a lot lighter as prices go up significantly.

I'm Canadian, Mike, I'm not going there. 😆👿

[mikos]

1 minute ago, Can-Con said:

Yes, a '80-'81 "rainbow" would be really cool. 

Oddest factory color combo I ever seen in person, on a Z was a '78-'79 in that light puke green with the green stripes. Kinda revolting and fascinating at the same time. 

For a second there, I thought my screen was going bad. lol!   Wow!  I never knew they made them in that color.   Looks like a ‘79.

[mikos]

1 minute ago, Can-Con said:

I'm Canadian, Mike, I'm not going there. 😆👿

No, you’ll pay the same tariffs as the rest of us.  Remember, you’re soon going be the 51st state.  (just kidding) lol!

[Can-Con]

1 minute ago, mikos said:

No, you’ll pay the same tariffs as the rest of us.  Remember, you’re soon going be the 51st state.  (just kidding) lol!

That is something you definitely do not want to joke about Mike. Trust me on that. 

[bobss396]

1 hour ago, mikos said:

A smaller fear could happen, though.  Trump is proposing tariffs on goods coming from China.  In what way that could affect prices on model kits, I don’t know.  However, if he goes through with it, expect your wallet to be a lot lighter as prices go up significantly.

I have enough kits to keep a few of us going for a long time.

I tend to buy at Hobby Lobby when they are 40% off or at shows. I wheel and deal with people in the club.