AMT and Revell 1959 and 1960 Corvettes.

[Junkman]

Pretty sure this must have been discussed before, but I did not find a thread about it.

I dug up my 1959 AMT Corvette (not telling yet why) and something struck me as odd. It is a 1960 Corvette! To double check, I looked at my 1960 Revell Corvette (the old flatpack one) and lo and behold, it is a 1959 Corvette!

I cannot believe both companies got it wrong coincidentally! So did AMT call their 1960 a 1959 because Revell called their 1959 a 1960, or did Revell call their 1959 a 1960, because AMT called their 1960 a 1959?

[ChrisPflug]

Nope, no idea here why the years were swapped (although wasn't the "Riptide" release of the AMT labelled a '60 even though it contained the same kit that's been sold forever as the '59?)

The AMT kit was based on the annual,so it makes sense that it would have the later updates

The Revell kit came out in the early 60s and probably just not engineered to be 100% accurate (all the engineering effort going into the multi piece body )

Might actually be by coincidence rather than sinister conspiracy- but you never know

Maybe now that we have a modern, detailed kit in the Revell '58 and '59 it's less of an issue anyways

[Junkman]

Does anybody out there own a Riptide '60? Can this person please confirm, whether the contents are the same, as in the kits, that were labelled "'59 Corvette", for decades?

Not an 'issue' at all. Just for the sake of styrene archeology.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Junkman

[robertw]

Yes I have the Riptide kit and it is marked as a '60 but it is from the same mold that has popped out so many labeled 1959's.

I remember hearing the story behind this mislabeling a number of years ago but don't recall much, I recall that it may have had something to do with the 1959 Reggie Jackson Collector Series Corvette. Please don't quote me because its just a vague recollection. Hopefully someone has a better memory.

Rob W

[JT]

What is it about the kits that makes them swapped? I probably have both of the kits, but I haven't looked close enough to see the problems. I know the differences are mostly cosmetic.

[ChrisPflug]

Pretty much just the pattern of the seat upholstery in regards to the model version

The real cars also used more aluminum pieces on the 60 model (radiator, heads on some optional engines) which in turn had problems. The '60 also had "traction bar" links added to the rear suspension

[Junkman]

What is it about the kits that makes them swapped? I probably have both of the kits, but I haven't looked close enough to see the problems. I know the differences are mostly cosmetic.

The easiest way to tell whether a Corvette is a 59 or a 60 is to look at the seats. The 59 seats are pleated side to side, the 60 ones front to back and the pleating is much finer, i.e they have a lot more pleats per seat.

The wheelcovers were a running change during model year 1959, so some 59s have the 58 style wheelcovers, whereas no 60 would have them.

All other changes are under the skin and can be neglected when modelling models of this vintage.