Promotionals , Anyone collect Vintage promos

[robertw]

I collect Corvette promos but can't afford the ones prior to the mid '70's. The prices on the early ones are often outrageous. I also don't have the normal distaste for curbsides that many modelers have so have bought lots of C4 -C6 Vette promos for the purpose of re-building.

[AzTom]

This was my first Promo, my uncle gave this to me when I was in eighth grade. He got it buying the real car.

I do have a few of those good Corvette packed away somewhere. The silver ones are 66 & 67, the black one I think was a 64, I sold it a few years ago as it was the old type plastic that warped although that one was pretty nice. The silver one were actually painted, not sure how many years they did that before going back to molded color.

[Edsel-Dan]

I thought AMT Painted their Promos due to Duller Plastic used in 61 to avoid future warping!!
The last year most still warped was 60, Though Jo-Han might have taken

another year or 2 for the plastic formula change over.

Molded color returned with the 62 model year.

They Might have Painted Silver & Gold promos due to the Swirl patterns

that Can Not be avoided Even Now!!

[gtx6970]

I collect Mopar promos so I can only vouch for them.

They were made of acetate up till 1963 , then as a far as I know after that all were produced in styrene.

Solid colors were molded in color with metallics were painted bodies ( body only btw )

As an example a 1969 GTX promotional was avail thru the typical dealer network as a coaster style chassis. These had like color interiors and a non friction chassis with detail.

A puesdo promo style car was avail in the aftermkt.

These cars were avail thru some of the secondary markets ( dime stores , retail stores etc etc )

These cars had the same body detail but had a smooth chassis plate with a friction motor and typically the interior was a different color than the exterior of the car. The one's that I've had over the years were blue car with white int, White car with red int. Red car with grey int.

The friction cars were hit and miss as far as what was avail and what wasn't . 1970 GTX was dealer network promotional only , no friction car was avail

[The70judgeman]

I'd like to collect more, but what I want are usually in the high $200 to $400 range and I'm not willing to spend that much on them. So, I only have one that I managed to get for less than $50...the 1970 GTO in red. It's definately not a 10, but it's in really good shape. Maybe a 6 or 7(1-10 scale) with very minimal chrome fade, no scratches or cracks, and clear glass.

[von Zipper]

Very nice set. Is it just the promos that had 'MUSTANG' on the licence plates? I've got a white coupe in rough shape and a convertible with that. Seemed to me the kits all had the year in the plate area.

mike

Both of them say Mustang where the license plate goes-I don't think I have ever seen an annual of the 1/25 scale first gen. Mustang.

1972 Gan Torinos are my favorite 1:1 cars-the promos are pretty much the same as the Johan snapper kits

My Grampa had a brand new 1967 Ambassador like this promo but my Gramps car was dark brown metallic

[AzTom]

I collect Mopar promos so I can only vouch for them.

They were made of acetate up till 1963 , then as a far as I know after that all were produced in styrene.

Solid colors were molded in color with metallics were painted bodies ( body only btw )

That makes sense, my black one may have been a 63. I can't find my other photos. I did noticed my gold 66 impala is molded in color.

[Austin T]

Both of them say Mustang where the license plate goes-I don't think I have ever seen an annual of the 1/25 scale first gen. Mustang.

1972 Gan Torinos are my favorite 1:1 cars-the promos are pretty much the same as the Johan snapper kits

Cool Torino's there. I never understood why revell or AMT never tooled up a 72' Torino to compete with Jo-Han's Snapper kit. I think it is one of the most Iconic and beautiful years for the Torino.

[LongRoofNut]

I don't go out of my way for promos but when I find something of a deal or a resto piece I jump on it. I am still looking for late '70s Chevettes, ElCos, and a dark blue Monte Carlo from 1979 (my birth year). But the last few years people spiked the prices it seems like.

[Tom Geiger]

The only expensive promo I own. A 1966 Valiant Signet. I think I paid $450 for it a few years ago. This is one of the rarest Mopar promos.Why? What I believe to be the explanation.... since I've seen them in several colors, I believe AMT did a full run of these. Notice that the rear of the roof would be correct for a 1965, but wrong for a 1966. The flat part on the trunk lid is just wrong. I believe that Chrysler might have changed that roof line after supplying AMT with blueprints. Then since the car was wrong, Chrysler probably ordered the entire run destroyed. I have found the ones I could track back all came out of former Chrysler employee's stashes, so I think the few that exist were shipped to Chrysler as samples and people kept them.

I know that the body mold for this one doesn't exist today because I've inquired of knowledgeable resources. Knowing that the body from the 1963-65 Valiant promos and kits went through the usual annual updates, this promo is the end of that line. Note that there was no Craftsman kit of this one. I believe that the body was modified into the Fireball 500 kit since the original '66 Barracuda mold still exists as the Hemi Under Glass. The '66 Valiant body shape was 'good enough' to create the Fireball body shape.

[von Zipper]

That is a real nice Valiant-Looks to be in great condition. There was a time when I bought running and driving 1:1 Valiants for less than you paid for your promo

I have a couple of 1971 Maverick promos made by Johan, the gold one has a piece broken off the A pillar, but other than that it's in "good' condition

[von Zipper]

I got this 1965 Rambler American 440 off of eBay for $27.00

So far I have taken it apart, polished out the glass with Novus and now the glass looks as good or better than new, the bumpers and grills have been de-burred/de-chromed and ready to get sent out to get re-chromed. When the chrome parts get back I will test fit them before I paint the body a stock color.

Then I went thru an early Olds. Toronado phase, Now I have kits of a 1966-1970 Toronado so when I found this mint 1969 Toronado promo I had to have it-

[Ramfins59]

Lately I've been buying promo's of 1950's cars that were not made in kit form or in resin. I find the ones that fill in the missing "marques" for my 1950's build missions. I don't collect them, I take them apart and repaint and foil them, add interiors and rechromed bumpers/grilles if I can get them and will sometimes change the wheels and/or modify the headlights/taillights to be more realistic looking.. I search through the various vendors at model shows and so far, the most I've paid for a promo is $75.00.

[mrknowetall]

I have a handful of no value promo's from the nineties, mostly. AMT, and some from Brookfield (?). None are on display (all boxed) and I'll probably unload them (or try to) one day.

[Tom Geiger]

Lately I've been buying promo's of 1950's cars that were not made in kit form or in resin. I find the ones that fill in the missing "marques" for my 1950's build missions. I don't collect them, I take them apart and repaint and foil them, add interiors and rechromed bumpers/grilles if I can get them and will sometimes change the wheels and/or modify the headlights/taillights to be more realistic looking.. I search through the various vendors at model shows and so far, the most I've paid for a promo is $75.00.

I do have a bunch of promos that were part of a collection someone once gave me. I've kept them since they're cool and cost me nothing. I don't have an interest in collecting them, and really don't like the warped ones. As Rich said, the promos I've purchased have been beat up ones bought right for conversion to models that weren't tooled any other way. For instance Johan Ramblers of the sixties. Past the warp era, I have a '63 4 door sedan and wagon, and '66 4 door sedans and wagons. These are cool main streamers I want in my built model collection. I've bought these in the 'less than $25 category'.

[ChrisBcritter]

I have some, not a lot; '60s Ford fullsize cars were my favorites. That's fortunate for me because they're easy to find and not too expensive. So far I have a really nice coral styrene PMC '59 Ford wagon (no interior), a red styrene PMC '59 Ranchero that is being combined with a Revell Skyliner to make a nice early '60s style cruiser (the Revell parts fit it almost perfectly), an ivory '62 Galaxie, a beige '62 Country Sedan, a red '63 convertible, and an aqua '65 Galaxie hardtop. Also have '61-'63 and '65 T-bird coupes (AMT must have made ten jillion of them!) plus a '67 T-bird radio car that works when it wants to. In non-Fords I have a pale blue '64 Barracuda friction, a '64 Riviera in some odd metallic terracotta color and a '66 Chrysler in dark turquoise with a white interior, plus '58 and '62 Lincoln sedans. Not a huge collection but it's what I like.