Any word on a Revell 73 Mustang Mach 1?

[Dave Toups]

Way back before the 71 kit was even released there were some teaser test shot sprue pics of a 73 grill,front bumper and flat hood from Revell. Word was that they were planning the 73 "Elanor" from the original "Gone in 60 Seconds" movie. Nothing has been mentioned of it since. Does anyone know anything about it? My first car was a 73 Mach 1 and I've always wanted a decent kit of it. The Round2 kit is total garbage in my opinion.

Edited December 23, 2024 by Dave Toups

[vamach1]

I have no inside info but I hope we see an Eleanor/Sportsroof and  73 Mach1 version in 2025.  The standard hood would be ideal for a Sprint edition.  My wish which I doubt will ever happen is to see a 71-73 convertible version.

[StanGlover]

I second that wish for a convertible ’71-‘73! 

[stavanzer]

Revell seems to move very slowly these days. But, if they tooled parts for the '73 car, you will eventually see the kit. But, don't hold your breath waiting. They don't waste tooling dollars, but sometimes it looks like they wait a very long time between versions of a kit.

[64Comet404]

I'm hoping for the '73, but the body style I really want to see is the notchback coupe. 

[Radretireddad]

Yes, yes, yes! Must have this!

[rickcaps55]

On 12/25/2024 at 9:04 PM, 64Comet404 said:

I'm hoping for the '73, but the body style I really want to see is the notchback coupe. 

Yes i would love to see any of the 71 or 72 or 73 in a notchback and with the in-line 250 6cyl.

[bbowser]

On 12/25/2024 at 10:04 PM, 64Comet404 said:

I'm hoping for the '73, but the body style I really want to see is the notchback coupe. 

Then I could build mine!

[64Comet404]

19 hours ago, bbowser said:

Then I could build mine!

And mine! 😁

[vamach1]

On 12/24/2024 at 10:22 PM, stavanzer said:

Revell seems to move very slowly these days. But, if they tooled parts for the '73 car, you will eventually see the kit. But, don't hold your breath waiting. They don't waste tooling dollars, but sometimes it looks like they wait a very long time between versions of a kit.

Although the 70 and 69 Shelby’s have very little difference it took a few decades for a 70 GT500 to be repackaged with the hood decals and front spolier so you might be right.  I’m sure there are also be licensing issues as Denice Halacki has the rights to the original Eleanor movie.

[1972coronet]

IMO, Round2 should retool that ancient 1970 Challenger to include the 1972-1974 clips (maybe the old Lindberg would be a better starting point ?) and make a "Jill" ! 

[Radretireddad]

The turn signal lenses for the ‘73 are included on the clear sprue in both ‘71 kits so I imagine it’s only a matter of time. Hopefully this year! 🤞🤞🤞

[niteowl7710]

Gotta remember the two 1971 kits were released back-to-back fairly quickly in an under 6-month period. Gotta let things breathe for a while and get inventory sold off before the next variant comes out. You'd ideally want to see one (or both) of the 1971s to sell out so then when you run the "new" 1973 kit, you can run a small quantity of the 1971(s) for re-stock at the same time while main tooling inserts are racked to combine costs into one production run.

[Ragtop Man]

Speculation, here, but I will guess that Revell doesn't want to dump all the product at once, and they are still working through the initial allocations of the Boss / 007 boxings. Licenses may be a thing, here, too, as long as they are paying for 007, they will want to run 007 items. 

At some future point, I can see more iterations that do not require capital investment beyond current ante ... '71 CJ Mach 1, for example, or perhaps a Sprint edition with the flat hood and a 351. They would be done just by swapping inserts and printing new art, which would be very bold and have a lot of shelf 'pop'. 

Much as I would love to see a convert - I doubt it is in the cards from Revell, but I could EASILY see it from the 3D aftermarket, along with the interior bits to dovetail with the existing kit.

Free advice and worth every cent...

[Chuck Kourouklis]

^^x2^^, 'vert AND hardtop, in case any of the 3D folks is listening...

[Ken Hart]

4 hours ago, Ragtop Man said:

Speculation, here, but I will guess that Revell doesn't want to dump all the product at once, and they are still working through the initial allocations of the Boss / 007 boxings. Licenses may be a thing, here, too, as long as they are paying for 007, they will want to run 007 items. 

At some future point, I can see more iterations that do not require capital investment beyond current ante ... '71 CJ Mach 1, for example, or perhaps a Sprint edition with the flat hood and a 351. They would be done just by swapping inserts and printing new art, which would be very bold and have a lot of shelf 'pop'. 

Much as I would love to see a convert - I doubt it is in the cards from Revell, but I could EASILY see it from the 3D aftermarket, along with the interior bits to dovetail with the existing kit.

Free advice and worth every cent...

I think a non-Bond Mach 1 kit with a full stripe package and the wheels, deck lid spoiler and front air dam from the Boss kit is probably inevitable, too. 

[iwantmodels]

Yeah I'd love a non-Bond Mach 1 with the full stripe etc.  X2

[tim boyd]

6 hours ago, Ken Hart said:

I think a non-Bond Mach 1 kit with a full stripe package and the wheels, deck lid spoiler and front air dam from the Boss kit is probably inevitable, too. 

Sure hope you're right about that, Ken!  Cheers....TIM  

[Ragtop Man]

J/S... but I would bet/hope Revell did all three Mustang yearly grille iterations.

We've seen the '71 which is if Ed is reading this OUTSTANDING in finished appearance... and the '73 hiding in the tool somewhere.

'72 is the only outlier at this point as far as we know. The grille could be a 3D item from aftermarket, but, Revell adding '72 appearance would expand the range of release possiblities. The Mach 1 was still very popular, we have yet to see a street machine version, and the R/W/B Sprint is a layup. 

 

[vamach1]

Reading the comments I guess one thing stands out.  Unlike Round2 recycling old AMT and MPC kits with a lot of parts to build perhaps a drag car or road racer or street racer or Mach1 etc, the reality is those kits never had a 351C or 429CJ engine or correct exhaust system etc.  As most of you know I have a soft spot for 71-73 Mustangs having owned five 72s and one 73 in the last 47 years.  With aftermarket decals available the only key item missing is the “flat” hood to make a non-Boss/Mach1 version and we have seen a 73 grille is in works.  I have not tried to see if various parts from the MPC/AMT kits will fit the Revell Boss/Mach1 kit but I’m sure it would not be a huge problem.  Finding a suitable replacement engine for represent a 302 2bbl engine should not be too difficult either as again the aftermarket decals for various Ford engine sizes are available.  Ideally Revell would make a half a dozen different variations of the Boss/Mach1 kit and I would be over the moon but I’m not going to hold my breath.  I’ve built a lot of AMT/MPC 71-73 Mustangs and always had to deal with a lot of compromises and source parts from other places so if I can start with a Revell where only a little parts swapping is needed I will take that any day.

Edited January 23 by vamach1

[fairlane1320]

No idea what version they're releasing, but this will be my first build... the REAL Eleanor.

 

[Radretireddad]

23 hours ago, fairlane1320 said:

No idea what version they're releasing, but this will be my first build... the REAL Eleanor.

 

That’s obviously not a Mach 1 and the test shots at the top of the thread match it so if they don’t have the licensing rights to use the movie in their product line they could still offer it as a simple ‘73 sports roof and let us modelers make the choice. Since the optional 351 CJ was a Cleveland variant, that’s most likely what’s going to be in this kit. A ‘73 Mach 1 version would only require the ram air hood and taillight panel from the 71 Mach 1 kit with a correct decal sheet. I have a shotgun powered road race/land speed version in mind using parts from all the old 90’s nascar kits I still have.

[Bainford]

On 1/29/2025 at 10:46 AM, fairlane1320 said:

No idea what version they're releasing, but this will be my first build... the REAL Eleanor.

 

That's a great picture. The pensive look on his face suggests a man who wishes he had read his horoscope that morning.

[ChrisBcritter]

Here are the license plates for Eleanor; download and print to size.

[vamach1]

Well there’s a 73 Mustang in the 2025 catalog but what version is still a mystery.