Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits. Tim Boyd

      Jumping several decades ahead, in 2002 AMT-Ertl introduced a new kit of the 1958 Plymouth Belvedere two-door hardtop. This kit was considered fairly undesirable, in part due its generic V-8 engine (neither a correct Polysphere V-8 nor the new-for-1958 B Wedge-head V-8). Instead of the mid-line Belvedere, ideally the kit should have replicated the sporty Fury equipped with the optional 350-ci version of Chrysler’s new V-8 engine family. AMT-Ertl’s kit also had various body inaccuracies, the most obvious being a strange, segmented execution of the Belvedere side trim engraving versus the smooth sweep of the original car. (To the car modeling community, these mistakes were interpreted as one of the negative outcomes of then-owner Racing Champion’s May 31, 2000, layoff of virtually all the remaining AMT-Ertl kit development staff.)

       This image reveals several early 1960s JoHan Mopar annual kits, including its 1961 Dart and 1963 Polara customizing kits (Wave 1/***). During this period, JoHan also produced some showroom-stock-only versions of its annual kits (no customizing parts plus a lower suggested list price), including this 1963 Fury convertible kit (Wave 1/**). Revell kitted several 1962 Chrysler Corporation products, including the 1962 Fury (Wave 1/**).

       JoHan definitely upped the effort for the box art of its reissued early 1960s Mopar kits. The USA Oldies kits date from 1975, while the 1963 Fury kit came later (all: Wave 1/**). Be aware that some of these reissued kits included inaccurate, later model year interior components.

       There are few kits in this book that I absolutely recommend against purchasing, but this is one of them. AMT-Ertl’s 2002 tooling of a 1958 Plymouth Belvedere (Wave 4/*) has deformed side trim engraving and a generic engine that represents neither of the available V-8 engine families that year.

      The Dodge and Plymouth performance cars’ story for 1964 and beyond picks up in Chapter 7.

       1960–1963 Ford Galaxie 500

      Given the aforementioned mid-1957 AMA ban on manufacturer involvement in racing and the economic recession stretching into 1958, the emphasis on power lessened in the Ford product range. Not until the 1960 model year, with the FE series 352-ci 4-barrel and Starliner hardtop body style, did performance start to inch back into the lineup. This escalated with the FE 390 of 1961, and grew with the mid-year 1962 introduction of the Galaxie 500 XL series with its bucket seats and console. The concurrent introduction of a new high-performance 406 version of its FE engine family fully signaled the return of performance to Ford’s product range.

      AMT produced annual kits of the 1960–1962 Galaxie 500 in both hardtop and convertible forms, and a 1963 convertible. Most of these included basic engines and one-piece chassis assemblies, as did most annual kits of the time. AMT also produced a kit of the 1963½ Galaxie 500 XL fastback; that kit is covered in Chapter 11.

      Many of these AMT annual kits saw reissues in the mid- to late 1960s and beyond. The 1960 Starliner hardtop was reissued as a simplified Craftsman Series kit in the mid-1960s, and the 1961 Sunliner convertible kit saw two reissues in the late 1960s. The 1961 Club Victoria (formal roof) hardtop was reissued in 1969 as part of AMT’s Flower Power Series kits, and again in the late 1990s as part of AMT-Ertl Buyer’s Choice program. The 1962 hardtop was reissued just once, also in 1969. As were the JoHan kits previously referenced. Most of these kits are relatively basic in their execution, and anyone who wants an accurate version of the performance-themed versions of these cars will have to modify the kits to various degrees.

       AMT produced annual kits of the 1960 through 1963 Ford Galaxie 500; several are shown here (1960, 1961, 1963 kits: Wave 1/**; 1962 kit: Wave 1/***). With each subsequent year, the subject of each kit became more prominent on the box end, moving from a generic image with an ink stamped “1960 Ford” (far left) to a sticker with a 1961 Galaxie profile view (middle left), a corner snipe printed image (upper mid-right), and finally to fully personalized end panel treatments (lower center right and far right).

       Several of AMT’s early 1960s Galaxie kits saw reissues, mostly later in the same decade. A more recent reissue was AMT-Ertl’s Buyer’s Choice rebop of the 1961 Galaxie 500 styline annual kit (Wave 1/*). There’s only been one modern-era tool of early 1960s Fords, but it’s a winner: AMT-Ertl’s 1960 Starliner kit debuted in 2000 (Wave 4/*). The 2008 Round 2 reissue of this kit sports gorgeous, newly created box art, plus extra parts trees yielding two complete “FE” Ford engines with three different induction options.

      In the year 2000, AMT-Ertl introduced an all-new tool of the 1960 Ford Starliner. This was a highly accurate product, and the engine and chassis parts of this kit could be adapted to the AMT annual kits previously referenced for a far more accurate replica of the performance versions of the early 1960s big Fords.

       1961–1963 Chevy Impala/Impala SS 327/409 and Bel Air 409

      After increasing emphasis on performance with the 1955–1957 model run, Chevrolet placed performance largely on hiatus for the next three years. The larger, heavier 1958 Chevy emphasized room and luxury rather than more performance, and the 1959–1960 Impalas offered stunning styling with even larger bodies. Performance as a storyline began to return with the new, lighter 1961 Impala SS and the debut of the 409 version of the W-Block V-8. More powerful 409s followed for 1962, the fastback “bubbletop” persisted in the lighter and less expensive Bel Air series, while the Impala adopted a more formal roofline, and the revered Z-11 409 package debuted as the 1963 model year began.

       Modelers looking to build performance-themed early 1960s Chevys enjoyed these 1961–1963 Impala annual kits (all: Wave 1/**). By 1963, the AMT hardtop annual kit included two versions of the 409 V-8, adhesive-backed upholstery panels, one mild custom and two “advanced custom” building versions (the latter two with then-trendy asymmetric styling), and a slew of display accessories such as chrome tools, a record player, and even a scale drive-in tray!

      AMT produced Impala hardtop and convertible annual kits during this period. (The 1961 kits wore “SMP” branding while also mentioning the AMT Corporate name and business address on the lower side panel.) The degree of detail varied, but by 1963 the kits were well developed and included 409 V-8 with lots of optional engine hop-up parts.

      Among the AMT 1961–1963 annual kits, only the 1963 Impala SS hardtop has seen periodic reissues. It was originally in an unassembled promotional style release in 1967 as part of AMT’s Craftsman Series. It started in the late 1980s in a mostly complete kit form, but was still missing many of the optional/customizing parts as well as the engine compartment firewall of the original 1963 annual kit release. The engine of this reissue was also less detailed than the original annual kit version (which migrated instead to the 1964 Impala kit).

       AMT’s 1963 Impala SS annual kit saw a renewed place in AMT/Ertl’s kit rotation starting in 1987 with this Prestige Series release (bottom), followed by further releases in 1994, 1997 (shown), and 2002 (all: Wave 1/*). However, serious collectors strongly prefer the original 1963 annual kit because of the crisper molding and the deletion of some of the original kit parts for the reissue.

      For years, model kit builders and collectors had pined for a 1962 Chevy Bel Air bubbletop 409 hardtop. Some advanced builders even created