Looks like the new AMT car kit series is a GO.
Looks like the new AMT car kit series is a GO.
The inquiries and preorders that flooded in came as a complete, if very welcome, surprise to the "suits" at AMT whose eyes immediately filled with dollar signs and green lighted the project. Due to some work I had done back in the nineties for them and the work I had done getting Racing Collectibles Club of America (now Action Diecast) off the ground, it looks like I will be doing a lot of the developmental work on this series and maybe head the R&D Department.
I plan on getting dirty crawling around the tool storage areas for both AMT and the other kit manufacturers that have signed on to lease tools for the project. As I said, the first few releases will be straight reissues or modified tooling but don't be surprised if a totally new tool slips in from time to time.
I know that most movie tie in kits don't do that well but usually it is a matter of the kit being released so long after the movie buzz has died down and the "one trick pony" characteristics of most movie kits. Hopefully the next release in this series will bypass at least some of that. While most have already got the Lumina there will be others that might need one or two for a vintage project. Can you believe that I just mentioned "Lumina" and "Vintage" in the same sentence. LOL
But I think that the inclusion of a modfied reissue '64 Ford Holman Moody stock car may drive the sales of this kit enough to make it a mild success. The toolmakers are going to Darlington to crawl all over the Fireball Roberts car at the museum to get the measurements from the reskinned '64 to finally make an accurate depiction of the Holman Moody racing chassis. The kit will have new tires, wheels and all the subtle Ralph Moody "tweeks". This is a highly modified tool and the "Darksiders" will NOT be disappointed this time.
That's all I've got for now but look for BIG things on the horizon for race car modelers. One more thing, I forgot to mention the possibility of the Lumina being replaced with a blue and white '57 Chevy sedan with a #8 on the side and "Mitch Cooper" on the roof. Can you say "Thunder in Carolina", boys and girls? As before, kit series launch date is on or around April 1st 2009
