AMT '71 Charger R/T

[Mr. Moparman]

It's here! I havent seen it in my LHS but the Round2 website says its here.

AMT '71 Charger R/T

Edited October 2, 2010 by Master Modeller

[Chuck Most]

It won't be molded in orange! Thank Gawd! Only problem is I've already got enough of the last reissue in my stash to tide me over for at least a decade.

[Blake Rogers]

nice what motor is it coming with ????

[Chuck Most]

nice what motor is it coming with ????

The good old 440 Magnum, I'd assume. That's what the original kit came with, and it doesn't look like there's any new tooling for this reissue. It's a nicely detailed engine and has the 727 automatic with a separate pan.

[fury3]

Yes, this kit is one of the better offerings that "AMT/Ertl" released, prior to RC2's influence . It is fairly accurate to the 1.1 vehicles, but does suffer a easily correctable condition involving the front wheels positioning in the wheel wells. Another minor accuracy issue that very few have ever noticed or mentioned....the cloth & vinyl split back bench seat with center armrest included in the kit was NOT available on the Charger R/T...only on the Charger 500 model. (The S.E. model had a similar seat, but with it's own exclusive upholstery and door trim panel design. (Reference: factory "1971 Dodge Color and Trim Selector".) Glad to see this one back. Fury3

[Harry P.]

The website says "Created from 'Modern Era' tooling."

So... does that mean a more-or-less accurate kit (besides fury's observation on the seat)? Exactly how old is this "modern era" tooling?

[Harry P.]

The hood decal is also inaccurate & Tim covered how to correct that with paint.

This might be the place to cover that aspect again.

[Chuck Most]

The website says "Created from 'Modern Era' tooling."

So... does that mean a more-or-less accurate kit (besides fury's observation on the seat)? Exactly how old is this "modern era" tooling?

1996-ish, if I recall. Mid 1990's for sure.

[ChrisPflug]

1996-ish, if I recall. Mid 1990's for sure.

Actually a bit later, I'd guess around '01

Newer than the '71 Duster but older than the Chrysler 300 kits

Great parts kit- I've got a couple dozen just for the chassis

Wish it had a bucket seat version and that they all came with the exhaust tips found in the "street machine" issue

[Chuck Most]

Actually a bit later, I'd guess around '01

Newer than the '71 Duster but older than the Chrysler 300 kits

Great parts kit- I've got a couple dozen just for the chassis

Wish it had a bucket seat version and that they all came with the exhaust tips found in the "street machine" issue

Ah- right before RC2 started giving us useless color charts, 'exploded view' instrution sheets, and exhaust manifolds on the block, not the head!

[pack rat]

Round2 has modified the decal sheet...the hood decal has been modified for a better fit and the sheet now includes black inserts for the hash marks on the doors.

[Bruno]

Wish it had a bucket seat version and that they all came with the exhaust tips found in the "street machine" issue

Yeah along with the ramcharger hood option found in that "street machine" issue.

But the exhaust tips, ramcharger hood and seats are available in resin now.

[charlie8575]

I had wondered about the bench seat. Does anyone make a bucket/console for a more commonly-correct R/T? Perhaps I'll just build mine as a Charger 500. What are the differences?

A Charger S.E. would be cool, too. That's what I probably would've ordered.

Charlie Larkin

Edited October 3, 2010 by charlie8575

[ChrisPflug]

Charger SE has a "canopy" vinyl top (without seams), hidden headlights, non-louvered taillights

To be completely correct there also are additional moldings (belt, trunklid, between fender front and bumper, etc.) The door panels and upholstery are also different from those in the kit as well as the other obvious details (hood, door vents, etc.)

The Charger SE was, however, the only model other than the R/T in which the 440 4 barrel was offered in 1971

[charlie8575]

Charger SE has a "canopy" vinyl top (without seams), hidden headlights, non-louvered taillights

To be completely correct there also are additional moldings (belt, trunklid, between fender front and bumper, etc.) The door panels and upholstery are also different from those in the kit as well as the other obvious details (hood, door vents, etc.)

The Charger SE was, however, the only model other than the R/T in which the 440 4 barrel was offered in 1971

Isn't someone making the non-louvered taillights in resin? That seems to me to the be the worst of it. The rest can be acheived with Evergreen and some photo-etch for the Scripts.

Charlie Larkin

[Bruno]

Isn't someone making the non-louvered taillights in resin? That seems to me to the be the worst of it. The rest can be acheived with Evergreen and some photo-etch for the Scripts.

Charlie Larkin

It's the same rear bumper/taillights as the Superbee. I think missing link has the '71 Superbee rear bumper. I think they also have a bucket seat/console set for this kit.

[Sport Suburban]

It's a great kit and I'm glad to see it come back. I have purchased about 10 of them. Six are still unused but I have plans for all of them. They make great donor kits for other kits. I have a 74 GTX that had this chassis and engine compartment kitbashed into it.

Here are three finished kits of mine.

This 71 Charger RT was modified with hide-a-way grills. That was the only mod to this one. It has the wrong seat still and I may fix that.

71 Super Bee. I used Keith Marks decals and AFX N Scale parts to convert this one.

This one is an original MPC 72 Roadrunner. I rebuilt it using the chassis, engine compartment and engine for this. I have many more projects like this in mind for that kit.

[Bruno]

Nice builds! I need to get that Road Runner

[charlie8575]

I like those hide-away headlights. Where did you find that grille? If you didn't, how did you make it?

Charlie Larkin

[1972coronet]

Sport Suburban : those are some gorgeous builds there ! How I wish that the 1972 Road Runner would be reissued ... or at least the '71 , so it could be combined with the ModelHuas '72 reproduction bumpers / grille / tail lights *sigh*

I'm so freakin' happy about this reissue !! I'm planning to stock-up on a few of these ; the excellent TorqueFlite and its mate , the righteous 440 Magnum , are worth the price-of-admission alone !

Not all cars came with the coveted exhaust tips ; certain counties in California required that cars be sold with the Noise Reduction Package , and therefore , no tips ; just the turndown exhaust .

Wish I still had the Street Machine version which I built as a Super Bee 340 ( motor from one of the '71 Duster kits that was otherwise incomplete ; and the trans from the Charger kit ) .

Certainly , it wasn't a 'correct' representation , but impressive nevertheless .

I gave it to a friend for his birthday back in 2003 .

A 1:1 Charger S/E with the 440 Mag is a fairly rare piece , as the 383 Mag was supposed to be the top engine choice . I've subsequently seen :

- '71 S/E with the factory-installed 440 Mag ( from the L.A. plant ! )

- '71 Super Bee with the 440 ( a small batch of those were run-off as well )

- '71 Super Bee press-release vehicle ( in a magazine from Octobre 1970 )

[mikelo]

I went back and checked to make sure my memory was correct. Tim's article talks about the bad placement of the square on the decal. It is not wrong, just in a very inconvienent place as they could have made it go all the way to the square around the factory scoop. Now you need to paint the area around the scoop, and feather the edge so it doesn't show up under the decal.

I am sure this is a reissue as I would think it could still be considered modern tooling as I don't know the last time tooling for injection molded plastic has seen a major change. lol It would be really nice if they would reissue the Bee version as well. The box art was not great, and the wheels are totally hideous, But it does come with the correct tips on the exhaust as well as one of, if not the best looking Hemi motors I have seen. It also included an air grabber hood in place of the standard R/T louvered hood. The part that caught my eye was while it had the stripe delete package, it had a rear stripe that is really close to the one I had on my 72.

Mike

[Jon Cole]

I wonder if Round 2 would be willing to send correct decals sheets to those of us with the older kit?

Sure! Send them about $25. plus s&h, and they will send new decals, and throw in everything else in the box for free!

[horsepower]

Charger SE has a "canopy" vinyl top (without seams), hidden headlights, non-louvered taillights

To be completely correct there also are additional moldings (belt, trunklid, between fender front and bumper, etc.) The door panels and upholstery are also different from those in the kit as well as the other obvious details (hood, door vents, etc.)

The Charger SE was, however, the only model other than the R/T in which the 440 4 barrel was offered in 1971

Having worked in an upholstery shop that replaced quite a few of these tops, due to the width of the material that was available the tops that were put on these didn't have the usual seams on each side of the top, but a center seam that ran down the center of the top from front to back, these seams were not the usual "overlap" style seam, but were a "french seam" that had the two halves sewn together, then folded back on each other at the seam, & then sewn down each side of the center (from the backside), resulting in a slightly raised double stitched seam in the center of the top, these were sealed with a bead of silicone over the resulting stitching on the backside of the seam.

Edited October 5, 2010 by horsepower

[tim boyd]

If Tim doesn't mind then, when I find which mag had it I'll write out what he did.

Mark...no worries here....TIM

[tim boyd]

Charger SE has a "canopy" vinyl top (without seams), hidden headlights, non-louvered taillights

To be completely correct there also are additional moldings (belt, trunklid, between fender front and bumper, etc.) The door panels and upholstery are also different from those in the kit as well as the other obvious details (hood, door vents, etc.)

The Charger SE was, however, the only model other than the R/T in which the 440 4 barrel was offered in 1971

Chris is correct on all counts. The just reissued Round 2 AMT (nee MPC) '74 Road Runner kit has the correct sew style front buckets and rear bench for the '71 SE.

Of all the muscle era cars. the '71 Charger SE with the 383 4 barrel or 440 Magnum has been my "holy grail" ever since it was new. Back in the day, had a chance to buy a two year old, former factory exec car = gunmetal gray with a 383 Magnum 4 speed manual but bought a new '73 Duster 340 instead (college guy had to have a reliable car...). About a year ago I went looking again, found two cherry examples (complete with those extra moldings Chris mentions), they were both in the high $30k range which was to rich for my blood given the econmony right now. May have been my last chance ever to get one. Time will tell....TIM

Edited October 6, 2010 by tim boyd