Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits. Tim Boyd
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits - Tim Boyd страница 5
Название: Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits
Автор: Tim Boyd
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Автомобили и ПДД
isbn: 9781613254851
isbn:
Starting with the 1958 model run, AMT decided to use its sliding mold tooling to produce unassembled versions of its 1/25th-scale promotionals, using styrene as the molding medium. These “kits” were then packaged for sale directly to the public via department stores, hardware stores, drug stores, and hobby shops. With the new one-piece bodies and easily glued parts, these AMT model car kits, which later became known as annual kits, were perfectly timed for the automotive-centric climate of the late 1950 United States.
AMT’s 1958 annual kit debut included the Buick Roadmaster, Edsel Pacer, Fairlane 500, and Pontiac Bonneville. Another company by the name of SMP, very closely related to AMT, offered a Chevy Impala and Chrysler Imperial. The above kits were manufactured in convertible and (except for the Imperial) two-door hardtop form. Needless to say, these kits were a huge hit with boys, teens, and young adults back then.
For 1959, the AMT/SMP lineup grew with replicas of the Corvette, Thunderbird, Lincoln Continental, and Mercury Park Lane joining the latest Buick Invicta, Impala, Imperial, Edsel, Galaxie, and Bonneville kits. Another promotionals manufacturer joined the unassembled kit fray when JoHan introduced kits of the 1959 Dodge Custom Royal, Cadillac Fleetwood, Oldsmobile 98, and Plymouth Fury. A year later, JoHan’s offerings added a 1960 Chrysler New Yorker and DeSoto Adventurer to its kit catalog. Revell, an early pioneer of assembly model kits who had previously offered a few 1/25th-scale kits with multi-piece bodies in the late 1950s, joined the 1/25th-scale annual kit competition in 1962. Its kit lineup replicated nearly the entire Chrysler Corporation lineup, including the Plymouth Fury and Valiant, Dodge Dart and Lancer, and Chrysler Newport and Imperial; this time these kits included the now-expected one-piece bodies.
The breadth of 1/25th-scale kit coverage of the American Automotive Marketplace grew each year through the mid-1960s, with AMT and JoHan leading the charge. A new company, MPC, founded by George Toteff, the same engineer who created AMT’s three-piece sliding kit molds, introduced its first kit in 1964. By 1968, MPC was producing kits of many of the auto industry’s most desirable nameplates, including the new GTO and Charger. Meanwhile, Revell’s 1962 kit lineup was not a success, so it did not return to annual kits until 1969 with a new kit of that year’s Mustang hardtop and convertible.
These are among the first modern-era 1/25th-scale model car kits. Shown are examples of the 1958 (upper left), 1959 (center and lower left), and 1960 (center column) annual kits from AMT. On the right are 1960 and 1961 annual kits from AMT’s primary annual kit competition in the early years, JoHan Models. Note the “SMP” labeling on some of the AMT boxes.
Until AMT began producing model kits using its multi-piece sliding tool molds, most model kits were made up of separately molded front, rear, top, and side pieces that retained easily visible seams even if assembled with exceptional care. Here a Revell multi-piece Corvette body is compared to the AMT one-piece Corvette body. While far more expensive to engineer, these new kits with one-piece bodies fueled the exploding popularity of model car kits starting in the late 1950s.
The 3-in-1 Customizing Kit
Beyond the pure appeal of being able to build a very accurate replica of your favorite showroom spectacular, AMT’s new 1958 model kits included another feature that would become tremendously important to the growth of the model car kit hobby. Each kit offered three different ways to be built by the hobbyist. In addition to the showroom stock version, parts were included for a mild custom and a race car version. (Note: SMP actually pioneered the 3-in-1 idea one year earlier in 1957, with kits of the current year Chevy Bel Air and Pontiac Star Chief, but these were packaged as bagged kits and sold in much smaller quantities than the AMT 1958 kits.)
At first, these additional 3-in-1 parts were very generic and limited in scope. But by the mid-1960s, each model 3-in-1 model car kit now included highly developed and application-specific custom and race versions, often replicas of the latest brand name parts from the rapidly developing hot rod, custom, and racing parts business. AMT’s 3-in-1 versions were frequently credited to the leading builders of the custom car movement, including George Barris, Bill Cushenberry, the Alexander Brothers, Gene Winfield, and Dean Jeffries.
This 3-in-1 feature engaged the model-building public, allowing each hobbyist to become his or her own “car designer.” Model car kit coverage became very prominent in national magazines including Rod and Custom and Car Craft, and soon several magazines dedicated solely to the model car hobby debuted. Contests recognizing the builders who crafted miniature masterpieces from these 3-in-1 kits became commonplace, eventually reaching a series of national competitions that at their height awarded real cars to the national champions!
Opening Hoods with Engines
Starting in 1957, Revell’s very limited series of 1/25th-scale kits with multi-piece bodies had also included opening hoods with rudimentary representations of engines.
For its 1960 lineup of annual kits, AMT revisited the idea by adding opening hoods combined with its one-piece bodies, placing replica engines underneath. First announced in three kits (the Buick Invicta, Thunderbird, and Corvette convertibles), by 1961 engines and opening hoods were added to a number of its annual kits, including all nine of AMT’s convertible kits, and its Chevy and Ford pickup kits.
For 1962, every single AMT annual kit except for one (the Valiant) included parts for engines. (It should be noted that in some cases, primarily the slower selling compact car kits, the engines were to be displayed separately alongside the model, rather than under the hood as with most kits.) Engines quickly became the base expectation for purchasers of 1/25th-scale kits from that point forward.
This AMT sell sheet from 1962 was targeted at hobby shop owners and model kit distributors, and explains the consumer appeal of the 3-in-1 format of its 1962 annual kits’ lineup. Typical 3-in-1 kits featured parts to build models in showroom stock, competition, and custom versions. Note the paragraph at the lower right, which reads “All builders of AMT 3-in-1 customizing kits are assured the latest ideas and innovations in the field of customizing by Car Craft magazine and George Barris (King of the Kustomizers), Consultants to AMT.”
These AMT 1960 and 1961 convertible annual kit sell-sheets convey the added appeal of scale engines. The 1960 catalog (left) calls out its three “1960 Special Edition convertibles … with engine and operating hood.” The 1961 catalog (right) states, “Now – Each [convertible] kit contains a completely authentic and detailed engine just waiting to be customized to fit the car the way you want to build it.”
AMT’s Trophy Series and Revell’s Speed and Show Kits
In late 1959, AMT took an additional step with a new 1/25th-scale model kit lineup that proved the appeal of model car kits stretched well beyond Detroit’s current model year lineup. AMT’s 1932 Ford Roadster 3-in-1 Trophy Series kit became a monstrous hit. AMT is reported to have sold 5 million copies of this kit in just its first five years on the market. Starting the following year in 1960, AMT rapidly expanded its Trophy Series kit lineup through the next eight years. Beyond the appeal of the varied kit subjects, these kits featured a greater level of detail throughout than the annual kits, typically including detailed chassis with separately molded СКАЧАТЬ