1965 & '66 Thunderbird kits

[Falcon Ranchero]

Currently have no kits to build so I was considering ordering a kit in the future; just wanted to ask what's the 1966 AMT Thunderbird kit like? Is it good to build, does it look nice when completed? I'd like to see a photo of a built example if anyone has one. Back in 2022 we went to look at a '66 'Bird for sale that needed restoration, so I had this cool idea of how I'd want it to look, but we decided not to get the car. So I want the kit so I can build the 1966 Thunderbird that I saw in that real prospect buy.

Also, the 1965 AMT Thunderbird kit; I've only seen original '60s kits online so I can imagine AMT hasn't got a new cast out yet, if they ever will; unless does anyone know if in the near future the '65 will come back? Was hoping to build it just like my Great Uncle's '65 'Bird.

[NitroMarty]

The 65 Thunderbird annual kit was updated for the 66 kit, so no, it's not likely that you will ever see it backdated to a 65 again.

[1930fordpickup]

The 1966 kit is not a kit that is up to todays standards but not a horrible kit if I recall right. The chassis is old school. This is the first kit I put together by myself in the 70s. 

[slusher]

Built the 66 Thunderbird at 12 and again in around 96 at 31 with Boyd’s Cheezom Teal. Still looks good in the case..

[ncbuckeye67]

I have a 66 kit if you're interested.

[Falcon Ranchero]

1 hour ago, ncbuckeye67 said:

I have a 66 kit if you're interested.

I am planning on ordering the kit; a hobby shop in southern Ontario has the '66 I can order, or if I'm ever out St. Ignace, MI way, the hobby shop downtown as like 9 of them in stock. But thanks man.

[Falcon Ranchero]

13 hours ago, NitroMarty said:

The 65 Thunderbird annual kit was updated for the 66 kit, so no, it's not likely that you will ever see it backdated to a 65 again.

So I guess it's "try to find the original release" type thing for the '65. Not an impossible task per say, but challenging i'm sure.

[stitchdup]

wouldn't the back end of one of these look great on a bulletbird for a custom build

[johnyrotten]

23 hours ago, Falcon Ranchero said:

So I guess it's "try to find the original release" type thing for the '65. Not an impossible task per say, but challenging i'm sure.

I was curious, and checked ebay, and the prices were crazy. I seen almost 200 dollars for a kit, and old promos at 50, not so bad. I'm not well educated in the value/cost of rare kits, so there's that.

[Falcon Ranchero]

42 minutes ago, johnyrotten said:

I seen almost 200 dollars for a kit,

Yeah those old kits in general are extremely pricey; I managed to score an original 1970 Bonneville kit ($40) and 1966 casting of the 1958 Thunderbird ($50) at our local vintage junk shop; but there's also a '68 JoHan Eldorado kit; $300! Spied a 1961 Tempest kit at the hobby shop downtown Traverse city, $245 or something like that. Definitely unfortunate that the model makers aren't really bringing back old kits, or even that JoHan isn't being resurrected somehow.

[johnyrotten]

The subject I would most like to build never existed, so I've been told, and the closest one avaliable has been modified into a dirt tracker kit, so I'm in a similar situation. Maybe one day I'll build it. Good luck with your search, I hunt flea markets and the like, if I ever see one, I'll grab it up. 

[Force]

I believe the 1964 and 1965 are long gone, the 1966 is the only one left from those years.
AMT did a 1964 Convertible and a 1964 Hard Top, a 1965 Convertible and a 1965 Hard Top and a 1966 Convertible with a separate Hard Top section you glue on so no Hard Top body for the 1966, the bodies on these were different as the 1964 and 1965 had a separate body for the Convertible and Hard Top wich were sold as separate kits and the 1966 a Convertible with a separate Hard Top roof section as I said wich the others doesn't have, the 1966 has been reissued about 7 times over the years since it first came out, the others were only issued once.
I have one 1965 Hard Top annual kit in the stash, not for sale, and I bought it on ebay some years ago, there are also promotion models of the 1965 HT in 1:25th scale, a friend of mine has one.