Have auto's caught up?

usps, I'm not sure of the subject you want to get into but the new tooling of today and aftermarket items for detailing is really pretty good.  Now, there are still the reissues of the old 40+ year old stuff in new boxes and its still the same old stuff.  Some of the newer AMT muscle car offerings are nice and also the ones from Revell.  Don't count out Tamiya or Fujimi for nice crisp detail on Automotive offerings. Autos have more choices and PE and aftermarket offerings now than ever.  Check out some of the ads in Scale Auto and Fine Scale and see what they offer.  Before you buy a kit, do your research and check SA, there are many kit reviews on new and old kits there with great information or just ask your question right here on FSM in the Auto section.  There are plenty here that can fill you in on a kit.  

It still varies by subject and manufacturer, but generally their new toolings are much higher standard than the old eighties stuff. as rommelkiste says, there are still lots of re-releases that are bad. eg 72 GTO is a horrible waste of plastic. If you have a specific subject in mind, we might be able to offer more exact response.

It's like I said. I like the mausel car stuff. I need to do as you advised and check out Scale Auto to get up-to-date on todays auto kits. I just don't understand why I can get a Tiger or Sherman tank from any point of production, throw a bit of glue in the box, shake and have a great looking kit. Admittedly it's been years since I have built a car so I'm hoping you guys are correct so I can start enjoying autos again

I'd say yes.  The detail and molding on recent kits like the Revell 50 Olds and the Mobius Hudson are beautiful, and the parts count is up there with aircraft kits. I remember when a car kit was complex if it had over a dozen parts. Last few cars I built were over a hundred pieces!

It seems to me that quality is not the issue, but subject. All I ever see on the shelf in the auto section is old Detroit iron like you mentioned, or hot rods and race cars. Auto appeals to sentimentality in a big way apparently. I myself wish there were more contemporary production or "stock" models that represented what you see on the road every day. You never see models of the city parks truck, or general contractor pickups with the big tool box in back or the utility conversion bed. It's even hard to track down aftermarket resin for stuff like this. What I wouldn't give for a set that contained modern camping tents like a dome tent, coolers, lanterns, camp chairs, etc.I suppose it wouldn't sell well enough to justify the expense of production, so I guess I'm left with honing my scratch build skills.

Dirkpitt, you plead your case well and I agree.  The latest offering that has all the car guys doing back flips is the Revell 70 Cuda.  A Hemi Cuda again, really?   Yeah, its nice and accurate and all and its a new tool but in 1970 I NEVER saw one on the street.  The Real ones I have seen since then I can count on one hand.   I would love to see some subjects like you mentioned in your post.  Mobius is going to release a Ford Pickup with a 6 cly. engine.  Now I did see those driving around!  It all comes down to $$$ and what will sell.  I guess guys like us really are left with honing our scratch building skills.

It's up to us. " Ask and you shall receive ". Let your voice be heard. E-mail the manufacture, comment on the "new kit wanted" poles. When enough of us make enough noise, the manufactures might actually listen

Rommelkiste , I agree with you. It would be nice to have a kit of the same Dodge Ram 1500 on my shelf as is my driveway, and let's not even get into the whole Harley Davidson issue.

I will second all the opinions here.  I have AMT's 70 1/2 Camaro Z28 sitting here and it appears to be new tooling and is FAR superior to the old one I built, which was so horrid it might not well of bothered.  Yes there are alot of kits of that body style so the argument can be made why bother?  Well it's rather simple, it's STILL a popular car, and the old one beared about as much resemblance to the real thing as anything from the movie cars bears to the real thing.  A vague representation.  Plus the tooling is old.

II also have their newish 71 Charger, also a great kit.  The 71 has a distinctly different look then the 67-69 Chargers.  I for one am happy to see both of them.

I too however would like to see more contemporary vehicles but the only ones you see are the ones the teenage kids drive around with the giant fart cans on them, or the top selling models, you can get alot of them from the Japanese manufacturers so most of those top selling models are not top selling models here.  

Aoshima and Tamiya have kits of more pedestrian cars.  Toyota Celsior, highlux, and 4runner.  Datsun 720 pickups, Mitsubishi Pajero, Isuzu Vehicross, OLD Datsun Skylines(not the new high performance ones but the ones that look like a 1978 Celica), Speaking of which in the last few weeks I did see a kit of the same body style as the 78 Celica.  I've built kits of the Toyota AE86 Trueno, a funky little rear wheel drive car, I believe was offered here as the Starlight or the mid 80's Nova.  I've seen Nissan Pathfinders, and Honda civics the old pedestrian ones not the newer ones that kids dump 50 thousand dollars under the hood.   I would LOVE to see a Honda Passport/Isuzu Rodeo kit though I am biased as I have one and want to replicate it.  There are some decent rereleases of a Chevy and a Ford van that could easily be built up stock.  As far as utility trucks look over on scale firehouse, there are some sources for some resin utility boxes there.  There are more out there including some Minivans.  It was Aoshima I believe has a Honda Odyssey minivan and Lindberg did a Chrysler minivan.  I'd love to see the G1 S10's released again, they would be GREAT for building either custom, hotrod, or utility.

Still be careful there are alot of reissues of older kits that are not big on detail and still use the metal axles, in which case I build them as curbsides, such as Daisy's roadrunner, and the Dukes Sheriff Rosco car.

One sub-genre that is certainly on the decline as far as kits is the racing car.  F-1 still seems popular, but Indy car kits are basically gone, Nascar kits are in serious decline, and dirt track cars are about in the same shape as NASCAR.

From what I have heard the racing organizations, like NASCAR, want BIG royalties from the model manufacturers, thus the decline in models of the race cars.

Yep, though it doesn't explain loss of dirt track and smaller sanctioning body subjects.  I have a feeling that auto racing is losing interest to younger folks.  Only dinosaurs like me interested.

I don't think the younger folks are interested if it don't have buttons and a joy stick.  Guys like Don and I had to learn to work books and pencils.

Besides vidiot games, I don't think except for the modified dirt track cars AMT put out years ago I don't think any of the major model producers ever put out very many dirt track race cars to begin with, or did they? But I guess the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, is the bottom line!!!!!  Oh I almost forgot the ASA cars I remember seeing yrs and yrs ago. I don't know how much NASCAR and related series like the truck series you gents watch on the IDIOT BOX, there is a general overall decline in interest in racing, next time you watch one look in the stands you'll see plenty of empty seats, besides how many times you need to build the same cars?

Monogram had two midget kits. One was the 1:20 scale one that was reissued several times.  The other was a 1:25 kit that was based on a slot car that they also offered.  They also put out the Edmunds Modified, a very nice kit that was reissued by Revel awhile ago.  AMT had the Grant King sprint car. Then there was the Revell-Monogram winged sprint car.

Actually I build some models many times, modifying them to represent different cars.  I have built three of the RM Kurtiss roadster indy cars, and have another unbuilt in my stash.  I have probably built a half dozen of the RM winged sprinters, and have an unbuilt Kinser BSH one in my stash.  Built a couple of the AMT Watson roadster.