AMT DOUBLE DRAGSTER SET! Twin Blown Rail AND Injected Fiat Altered.

[Dennis Lacy]

The AMT Double Dragster was never on my radar until all of the hype ensued around its retro reissue back in 2009/2010. Another forum had a build-off to celebrate the Double Dragsters long-awaited return, which I participated in building the twin engine rail. Whereas most folks building the dragster opted for flashy paint, lots of chrome and the visually impactful dual supercharger setup I went low budget with no chrome and the basic looking Hilborn injection. The rail turned out nice but it was plain. About 5 years ago it suffered some glue failures and fell half apart. It was put in a box to be “fixed some day” and forgotten.

Two weeks ago I was going through boxes under my bench, rediscovered the model and decided to fix it up with a host of upgrades. These included:

Replacing the entire front axle and suspension with a full chrome assembly.

Replacing the painted headers, valve covers, magnetos and fuel tank with chrome pieces. 

Replacing the basic injection with the dual supercharger setup. 

Fixing up the interior with chrome hand brake, tachometer with gauge decal, chrome axle shield and detail painting the molded seatbelt detail. 

American 12-spoke and 5-spoke wheels from AMT’s 32 Vicky. AMT “Gasser” parts pack Pirelli front tires and printed M&H piecrust slicks. 

The 14 year old Tamiya Chrome Yellow and Black were polished and waxed to restore their shine. 

After finishing up the dragster rebuild yesterday and having so much fun I decided to give my Fiat a quick facelift today! I had built this one about 13 years ago and deviated from the Chrysler engine to one of the Chevy’s from the dragster with the Hilborn injection detailed with fuel plumbing and Venturi tubes. The engine also got the chrome front cover, chrome oil pan and valve covers from AMT’s parts pack Chevy engine. 

Todays upgrades include:

Chrome front radius rods, tie rod and drag link. 

The same wheel and tire setup as the dragster except different print on the slicks.

Chrome headers. 

A fresh polish and wax of the 13 year old Tamiya Mica Silver paint. 

To say I’m happy with the updates of both cars would a huge understatement. It’s amazing what a fresh set of wheels and tires and some shine will do! I also love how the new front wheels and small tires very closely match the box and instruction artwork compared to the thicker spoked wheels and giant tires given in the kit. Not only do they look far better proportionately, the smaller tires vastly improve the stances, especially the dragster. ?

Edited September 16, 2024 by Dennis Lacy

[Stef]

Fantastic rebuilds, Dennis! I picked up this exact kit this weekend, and now, thanks to you, I MUST build the tandem rail in yellow with black and miles of chrome. And your Fiat matches its intensity. Copying you would be a crime, so I'll have to put my own spin on these beauties. Particularly loving your downturned headers; very clever, and looks devastatingly more menacing. Thank you for your insane inspiration!

[Bullybeef]

Both restorations are killer! 

[Kit Karson]

ADL! Awesome rebuilds of one of my longtime favorite kits! -KK

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[Nitro330]

Great job refreshing both of these Dennis!  They both look like new builds after your upgrades.  I love this kit because of all of the options.

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Great everything! So much fun to see what you have done. I built this double kit when it was a brand new offering in the 60's. Nostalgia. Yes ? 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Really really cool. Double cool.  

I've always loved this kit, but haven't built one for decades. Time to bump one to the top of the list.

Thanks for the inspiro. 

Edited September 17, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy
TYPO

[bondo bill]

Very cool racers

[ChrisR]

Looks great.

[papajohn97]

Great job on both of these restorations, love ‘em both but that yellow rail is a real standout. I remember my older brother building this kit in 1961! I was seven years old and I just turned 71 last week! ? It’s amazing how good these 63 year old molds are, this double dragster kit is still a real bargain for old-school parts for kit bashing. 

[M W Elky]

They both look great of all the double dragster kits I sacrificed for parts over the years I’ve never built one box stock. The yellow dragster is my favorite. I still have the ones my dad built in the early sixties he said it was one of those kits you couldn’t wait to get your hands on.

[Rattlecan Dan]

Pair of beautiful builds right there. Clean and nicely done. Great job!

[larman]

Outstanding work as usual! I liked the original builds, but the upgrades really look great!

[Andrew McD]

Very impressive transformation of the models with the recent work!  Really double cool.  Did you do anything in particular with the chrome on the dragster as it looks very impressive?

[deuces wild]

??

[dragsterguy]

In my opinion the best era of drag racing. 1955 to 1968. VARIETY and experimental cars, no cookie cutters!

Twin Chevies, altereds., comp coupes and roadsters, no end of variety. Your era here is 60-63, an exciting time for racing!

Theses old kits are time capsules!

[SpeedShift]

On 10/5/2024 at 9:07 PM, dragsterguy said:

In my opinion the best era of drag racing. 1955 to 1968. VARIETY and experimental cars, no cookie cutters!

Twin Chevies, altereds., comp coupes and roadsters, no end of variety. Your era here is 60-63, an exciting time for racing!

Theses old kits are time capsules!

Have to agree, back in those days there was a lot of individuality, family teams, classic match racing etc.

Today's scene is totally corporate and while the technology and safety are great, everything looks the same to me except for the advertising logos and paint. 

 

Edited October 12, 2024 by SpeedShift

[dragcarz]

Really cool builds! Great work! Very clean!

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Not sure how I missed this thread. Chrome brightens any day!!! -RRR

[Ragtop Man]

They pop, big time. And it shows what great kits they were that now, 60 years later, they still look like the tools were cut yesterday. 

Like many under-appreciated AMT Trophies, if they had never existed and were released today, we would be blown away.