Flashback 1976 - MPC '76 Monza 2 + 2

[Erik Smith]

...with inspiration from Casey's Chevette flashback...

MPC's annual Monza kit from 1976

Three building options! Road racer, street rod, or stock!

"Wild" options:

Decent looking body - I am no expert...

Typical annual chassis and tub:

Sweet sidepipes:

[Erik Smith]

More:

That's a 262 V8

Is it just me, or do A LOT of parts fall off the trees on these old MPC kits?

"Rubber"

And a very nicely preserved set of patriotic decals!

I highly encourage feedback, memories, random stories about parking lots, pictures of Monzas, etc

My plan is a stock, boring, Sunday driver...

[Ben]

Cool! It would be neat to see more old kits reviewed like this for those that have never seen them!

[2000-cvpi]

Cool! It would be neat to see more old kits reviewed like this for those that have never seen them!

I completely agree. These kits are nice to see what actually is in the box. I have a gold promo of this kit, the promo and kit share many of the same parts.

[TooOld]

Nice looking kit . I really like the tires , were they in any other kits ?

[Luc Janssens]

And to think it was a Buick first.

[W-409]

Thanks for the pictures of this kit. It's always nice to see these H-Bodies. You're correct, the body looks good from the pictures, but can't say the same thing from chassis and interior, especially the backseat doesn't look real. The AMT kit with that horrible box-art is better, especially the interior and chassis are better in that kit.

This was sold in Spring 2012 ( ), it was very fun car with Chevy SmallBlock.

Well, it's a '79 Skyhawk, but mostly they are same cars.

[Mark]

And to think it was a Buick first.

MPC issued it as the '75 Monza first, then as the Buick Skyhawk (not 100% stock; no stock wheels and had a Chevy engine). I don't know how MPC did that, and then issued it as the Monza again for '76.

[Edsel-Dan]

The 'stock' tires have been in MANY MPC & AMT kits since.

They were in the modern tool 71 Duster, 86 El CAmino SS

I think they were also in the 74 GTX kit (checkerboard box{Wally's issue})

I have several of them. I like th eOLD MPC Goodyear Custom Wide TRack F70-14 'Speedway' better.

The wide tire is the OLD MPC Nascar Blue-Streak Race car special.

[Joe Handley]

Thanks for the pictures of this kit. It's always nice to see these H-Bodies. You're correct, the body looks good from the pictures, but can't say the same thing from chassis and interior, especially the backseat doesn't look real. The AMT kit with that horrible box-art is better, especially the interior and chassis are better in that kit.

Did they nick name that version of the car Bucky by chance?

[zenrat]

Doyusha Nostalgia Heroes "1/24" kit.

1/24 in quotes because with this series they used the same motorised chassis for all cars and adjusted the scale to make the body fit.

However, in this case it's probably pretty close to what they claim. The Nissan Cherry X1R in the same series on the other hand is probably closer to 1/20.

Because of the motorised chassis the Nostalgia Heroes series have vey shallow interior tubs to make space for the batteries between the bottom of the tub & the chassis.

Bodies are very crisply moulded however.

I plan to kitbash this one with a Monogram Firebird to give me all the detail I crave.

Edited December 16, 2012 by zenrat

[Luc Janssens]

MPC issued it as the '75 Monza first, then as the Buick Skyhawk (not 100% stock; no stock wheels and had a Chevy engine). I don't know how MPC did that, and then issued it as the Monza again for '76.

Interesting, how does the engraving from the bodies (and related parts) compare between the '75 & '76 Monza?

I have a few of the Builck's and one Monza, don't remember the year, only that it's molded in yellow.

[Mark]

Interesting, how does the engraving from the bodies (and related parts) compare between the '75 & '76 Monza?

I have a few of the Buicks and one Monza, don't remember the year, only that it's molded in yellow.

I have the MPC 1975 and 1976 Monza kits, and one Buick. The Monza bodies look identical, not as though the nameplates were reworked between one and another. The 1:1 nameplates did not change from 1975 to 1976. Besides the decals, the only thing changed was the rear license plate. The 1975 rear pan has an Ontario license plate (though without "Ontario" at the top), the 1976 has a "1976" plate like the promotional. Perhaps MPC was asked for a Buick promotional model, and it was later cancelled, so MPC made use of the body side tooling. To produce a stock Buick kit would have required tooling a Buick V6 engine and stock wheels, so the non-stock version saved them some money.

The yellow Monza is probably the 1980 "Pro Street" issue. The only other MPC Monza kit I know of that was molded in color would be the 1979 "Black Max" annual.

[Guest]

I have an MPC "Spyder" (same kit with the goofy looking fender flares) and an AMT stock Monza. The AMT kit's chassis, interior and engine are much better than the MPC kit. The MPC gets a very slight edge on the body. I've been after the "Black Max" Monza for quite a while with no luck yet. I built one waaay back in the day.

[Don Sikora II]

I have the MPC 1975 and 1976 Monza kits, and one Buick. The Monza bodies look identical, not as though the nameplates were reworked between one and another. The 1:1 nameplates did not change from 1975 to 1976. Besides the decals, the only thing changed was the rear license plate. The 1975 rear pan has an Ontario license plate (though without "Ontario" at the top), the 1976 has a "1976" plate like the promotional. Perhaps MPC was asked for a Buick promotional model, and it was later cancelled, so MPC made use of the body side tooling. To produce a stock Buick kit would have required tooling a Buick V6 engine and stock wheels, so the non-stock version saved them some money.

The yellow Monza is probably the 1980 "Pro Street" issue. The only other MPC Monza kit I know of that was molded in color would be the 1979 "Black Max" annual.

I built the only mint MPC Buick Skyhawk I had, but I remember comparing it to an early Monza and I thought the Buick had to have come first. it didn't include as many optional parts as the Monza and those areas on the trees were just empty...no runners, no number tabs, nothing. it's like they hadn't been tooled yet, or if they were cut the runners weren't cut in so there was no way to mold them. The Super Hawk box in my collection has two built ups in it, so i can't compare it to the Monza trees.

This picture shows my MPC H-Body kits. The left column is the "Super Hawk" Buick, '75 Monza annual, '76 Monza annual, and '77 Monza annual. Left column is the "Street Spyder" (based on the '78), "Black Max" '79 annual, "Long Shot" '81 annual, and the Pro Street reissue from 1984. I'm missing the '78 annual and the '80 annual "Hot Streak." The "Black Max" is molded in black, "Long Shot" is orange, and "Hot Streak" and the "Pro Street" kits are yellow. The Buick and remaining Monzas were molded in white.

The Street Spyder was the first MPC Monza I had as a kid. Built this one several years ago for NNL Milwaukee when the theme was "That '70s NNL." The front spoiler is from the Pro Street version.

Here's the not-quite finished Street Spyder with my built Skyhawk.

Edited December 16, 2012 by Don Sikora II

[Erik Smith]

Nice collection Don.

One interesting thing about the Monza is all three big kit makers (MPC, AMT, and Revell) had them in the line up. Add the Doyusha kit too.

Something not too many cars can claim besides the given Camaros, Mustangs, etc.

[1972coronet]

Nifty H-Special collection you've got , Don .

There must be more of these left in kit form than in 1:1 form !

It's too bad that the H-Body (Vega) and H-Special (Monza , Skyhawk , Astro , and the Oldsmobile version --can't remember its name) were engineered and built so poorly , as they really are neat little cars !

If I could truly afford to do so , I'd like to relive my youth through building one-or-more of these kits again . At one time or another , I had each and every one of the MPC Vega and other variations , none of which survived .

Some day I'll find an affordable kit via ePay or where ever

[Mark]

I built the only mint MPC Buick Skyhawk I had, but I remember comparing it to an early Monza and I thought the Buick had to have come first. it didn't include as many optional parts as the Monza and those areas on the trees were just empty...no runners, no number tabs, nothing. it's like they hadn't been tooled yet, or if they were cut the runners weren't cut in so there was no way to mold them. The Super Hawk box in my collection has two built ups in it, so i can't compare it to the Monza trees.

The Superhawk kit I have has numbered parts. The plated tree is missing an area at one end, that area is rather large but in the Monza contains only four wheels and two fog lamps. The Monza has the custom wheels in that area, and the stock wheels elsewhere. In the Superhawk, the Minilite wheels (the only ones in the kit) are in the area where the Monza's stock wheels were, while the corner area where the Monza's optional wheels are, is blocked off. The only other part blocked off on the Superhawk plated tree is the custom "fly-eye" air filter. One part was added to the plated tree for the Superhawk. More on that later...

There really aren't that many fewer parts in the Superhawk as opposed to the Monza. These would include the stock exhaust manifolds and crossover pipe, stock carburetor, intake manifold, and air cleaner, and four-barrel intake, carb, and chrome air filter mentioned earlier. Also, the fog lamps and stock wheels. The Superhawk has a custom front air dam, quarter window overlay pieces, and Trans-Am Firebird style rear "wheel pants" that aren't in the Monza kit. Everything else (rear spoiler, rear window louver, roll bar, gauges, front fender "waste gates", and other accessories are in both kits.

Back to the plated tree: the Superhawk's tree has on it a racing-style fuel filler (part 116) that is NOT in the '75 Monza, but IS in the '76. This would indicate that the Superhawk was issued after the '75 Monza annual, but before the '76. The part number engraving for # 116 is done very poorly (hastily?).

The decal sheet in my '75 Monza kit is date coded "974" (9/74), the Superhawk "275" (2/75). Both boxes have a 1974 copyright date, though. I distinctly remember the Monza as being part of the first handful of '75 annual kits. This was unusual back then; often the least changed stuff was released first, with the all-new or heavily revised kits coming later. The Superhawk appeared in early '75 along with the flip-front Datsun pickup (which also appeared first as a '75 annual, though the 1:1 first appeared as a '72 model).

[Mark]

Wait, there's more... Besides the part # 116 fuel filler, the '76 Monza kit has a few more parts that weren't in the '75 annual. Namely: the front air dam, quarter window overlay pieces, and rear wheel "pants" from the Superhawk...

[gray07]

They also had one that on the box it was painted blue and white and it has a mouse decal, i think it was called monza mouse, i built that one when i was lot younger. Keep the old flashbacks coming.

[Deathgoblin]

I'd like to get ahold of one of these eventually. Always thought the Monza was a pretty little car. Same for the Vega.

[Erik Smith]

I'd like to get ahold of one of these eventually. Always thought the Monza was a pretty little car. Same for the Vega.

The Monzas are pretty easy and not expensive. Vegas go for some money.

[ssroczyn]

I do like Monzas and I really wish I could get a hold of a couple of those kits

that I saw. When I was a kid, my dad had a 81 Monza and I liked that car

even though it had a 4 Cylinder in it.

I have a general question for the group here. Does anyone ever feel guilty

about building "old" kits? I like the original review of the old kit in this post

and I think he said he was going to build this kit. I have a old kits that I want

to build myself but sometimes wonder if I shouldn't. They aren't in that great

of shape so I don't mind.

What do others think about building older kits?

[azers]

In my opinion. Kits were meant to be built. I have no qualms about building old kits. One of the things i enjoy is building a old or rare kit and seeing the reaction of people when i put them on the contest tables.

[Erik Smith]

This is my kit and I will build it. No qualms building kits - I have a few early 60s kits that I also plan on building.

I thought for a second about keeping an older kit. I got over it pretty fast.