What's the deal with Johan

[lordairgtar]

There is no such thing as a "NASCAR" , they're either Grand National, Busch, Winston Cup ( or "Cup" ) Nationwide or Sprint Cup cars..NASCAR is an acronym, not a type of car ...

We all knew what Edsel Dan meant.

[KingSix]

We all knew what Edsel Dan meant.

It's a pet peeve of mine ...

[Edsel-Dan]

OK, I will Correct it.

At the Time Penski & Donahue ran the Jav/AMX in Cup.

It was call the "Winston Cup Grand National" Series

Remember that??

Winston came in to Sponsor the series and changed the name from just Grand National!

What is not the Nationwide series, and recently the Busch & Grand National,

was at that time still the "Late Model" series!

The trucks did not exist at that time.

Did you know they Tried Pickups in the 80's??

They only ran a Few events and folded. They were Not fully a Nascar division at

the time, though they did take older Cup cars and convert them!

I Might have pictures of one of these Javelin/AMX in Pitt Panther Markings.

The College actually Had a Race team in 79/80!!

And No I am not talking a Model!!!!!

[KingSix]

It's not that big a deal, it was more or less tongue in cheek ....

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Getting a JoHan '67 Eldorado in original condition is such a revelation. While JoHan's engraving sharpness can generally be made out in later releases where the molds are more worn, it's almost heartbreaking to see how clean and flash-free the kits once were, and how much more plainly competitive with their contemporaries.

Alas, fotki puked out all my other shots. Who knows how much longer this one has, come to think of it...

[Harry P.]

As a kid I loved JoHan kits. I wish I still had all of those models I built back then.

[Casey]

Getting a JoHan '67 Eldorado in original condition is such a revelation. While JoHan's engraving sharpness can generally be made out in later releases where the molds are more worn, it's almost heartbreaking to see how clean and flash-free the kits once were, and how much more plainly competitive with their contemporaries.

Yup.

JO-HAN kits always had beautifully engraved details, too, as seen on this '69 Roadrunner:

[Sport Suburban]

Here are some box art pics of the 68 and 69 Javelin kits. These are the thin boxes they used back then. I searched for years before I finally got the 68 Javelin kit pictured. It is so hard to find a built one that was not built as the funny car!!

This is the 69 kit.

This is the 68 Kit.

I thought the interest was there for these kits but as much as I love them. I think the collectors want them more than the builders do.

[Eshaver]

I still have a built 1967 Eldorado . I agree, the old molds were beautiful as was the real car then . I've never been a fan of anything Front wheel drive . However BOTH the Toronado and the subsequent Eldorado cars were way over engineered as were the original kits !

[ChrisBcritter]

... once the "USA Oldies" kits started trickling out circa 1980.

Art

Actually the first batch came out in '74; it was announced in Car Model magazine shortly before they quit publishing.

[ChrisBcritter]

My experience in the old days was that JoHan interior tubs were poorly detailed and unrealistically shallow, unlike AMT and Revell. Did anyone else see this?

Weren't the interiors shallow through '63 but deeper in '64-onwards?

[dh1908]

On 7/14/2012 at 12:35 PM, Rob Hall said:

MPC's '65 Monaco ht and Custom 880 convertible were molded in a gold plastic...

Revell had kits with molded metalflake.

[Luc Janssens]

On ‎26‎/‎10‎/‎2013 at 2:53 AM, Casey said:

 

Yup, Jo-Han kits always had beautifully engraved details, too.

Yet they lost the promo contracts, I guess quality lost to cost per unit, afterall they're kids toys....

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2018 by Luc Janssens

[OldTrucker]

One would think that some reverse engineering could be done on the Johan kits.

I'm sure there are people out there that have mint kits that they would consider letting be used for that purpose.

Lord knows they would have customers for them!

[Casey]

They're back. ? Looks like someone using the official JOHAN (newest) logo from Covington, KY is selling genuine. N.O.S., leftover(?) JOHAN parts on ebay. Assuming this is Okey Spalding or someone related?: https://www.ebay.com/sch/pirate200867/m.html?item=224358455209&hash=item343cce57a9%3Ag%3AW8QAAOSwBS5gJuyl&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

[Dave Van]

Those listings look like the same stuff Okey has been taking to model meets for years and he does own the JoHan logos from what I understand......he used them when he ran the Rambler and Turbine promo. Okey has grand plans...........but.....

[peteski]

Interesting. That user has been on eBay for 13 years (with over 1000 feedbacks), but it appears (from the feedbacks) that they just started selling now.

That seller is shipping from Covington, Kentucky (if that is a clue).

Edited February 23, 2021 by peteski

[Tom Geiger]

That is Okey. He said on Facebook that he’s once again selling on eBay

[PowerPlant]

The ebay vendor in question is actually a gentleman named Chuck Varney who is in fact selling mr. Okey Spaulding’s official Jo-Han parts. I recently communicated with him about 64 caddy taillights, but unfortunately they do not ship internationally. 

Edited February 23, 2021 by PowerPlant