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Seeking old kit manufacturer

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  • Member since
    November 2005
Seeking old kit manufacturer
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, June 25, 2004 5:46 PM
When I was a kid, there was a kit company called IMC or IMT or something similar, and I really got attached to their kits, though at two or three dollars, they were a little more than AMT or Revell (Not then really known for cars, other than hot rods and concept cars). Anyway, this company made a Ford GT, the first Shelby Mustang, a Lear Jet (I'm pretty sure this is the Lear that went from Hawk to somewhere to Testors where it remains today), and, the last one I remember is a 1949 (?) Ford which could be built stock, or customized in a way I do not remember, and as some sort of hippie car which I, considering myself a sort of junior hippie at the time, found a little corny. It was the stock kit covered in what I now know was a really cool decal set. It covered the entire body of the car in ivy. That's right -- creeping green ivy. So it was a three-in-one kit. "Three-in-One", for those old enough to remember, was a big marketing point in those days.
Can anyone give me any idea of the fate of these molds, such as who owns them or if these kits have been remade by anyone else. Or even the real name of the company and when it went under. If memory serves, some of these kits were OK even by modern standards. Many thanks, car guys. (I'll learn your language before you know it. For now, I speak airplane.)
  • Member since
    June 2004
Posted by hct728 on Friday, June 25, 2004 6:34 PM
It's IMC for Industro-Motive Corp. I have their GT-40 built, but now in pieces, their '48 Ford convertible un-built (which I bought for $2.99) and their Dodge L700 cabover tractor and flatbed trailer. I am rebuiding the tractor, possibly into a fire tanker, but it's low on my priority list. Don't know about the molds, MPC stuff is still out there as AMT I think. Thanks for bringing up those old memories...
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Friday, June 25, 2004 9:16 PM
I didn't know they made all those trucks, but you just reminded me of another of their kits: The famous drag strip exhibition van, Little Red Wagon, which was a van of make I have forgotten -- Dodge I believe -- and this monstrously overpowered machine could do a full, tire-smoking wheely for the entire quarter mile. It was a great kit, too, though, like a lot of the IMC kits, were a little advanced for a child. But boy, do I miss building a beautiful Ford GT from the 1967 season. What a masterwork of design. Oh, and if you run across any of these kits somewhere, you'll be struck by the modern box art design from say, 1967-69 or 70.
  • Member since
    June 2004
Posted by hct728 on Friday, June 25, 2004 9:35 PM
Yeah, the Little Red Wagon...I had one, I think it was molded in red metallic or am I just imagining it? I may have a piece or two of it like a roll pan or a wheel left in my parts box from the 70's, but the model is long gone. There was a re-issue, though, that is in shiny red. You stll see it a hobby show flea markets. There was a buzz going on in a forum about a Dodge cabover that was shown in the IMC catalog, but it was never produced. And there was a Chapparal racer too. Anyone remember any more kits?
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: East Bethel, MN
Posted by midnightprowler on Saturday, June 26, 2004 4:52 AM
They are long gone, but Lindberg has some of their tooling, the Little Red Wagon, and the Mustang II show car that was precursor to the Mustang, and another old Fors show car, The Cougar II, or something like that.
Lee

Hi, I am Lee, I am a plastiholic.

Co. A, 682 Engineers, Ltchfield, MN, 1980-1986

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 1 Corinthians 15:51-54

Ask me about Speedway Decals

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Third rock from the sun.
Posted by Woody on Sunday, June 27, 2004 1:01 AM
As of 1996 Testors owned all the mold and most likely still does. If anyone wants to know kit #'s or collector prices email me and I'll try to help.

" I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way." --John Paul Jones
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 11:04 AM
Just remembered another good lost kit from IMC and wonder if its being molded under another name: 1960s vintage VW Beetle. Or does anyone make a more state of the art kit of this auto? I'd like to build one, but need kit. I don't want the old Nazi version in 1/35th that recently appeared. I want a stock Beetle from the best years of its life.
  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: Shell Beach, California
Posted by mojodoctor on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 1:29 PM
The IMC company was the "high tech" model manufacturer for it's day featuring opening doors and such. Little Red Wagon was built as a 'wheel stander' exibition racer, much like the 'Hemi Under Glass' Barracuda and were balanced to wheelie the whole length of the drag strip. They were not serious competitors.
Both Gunze Sanyo and Hasegawa made pre 1965 VW bugs and a little searching should turn up a few. Revell made post '67 VW's in both cenvertible and hard top versions.
Matt Fly fast, fly low, turn left!
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 1:48 PM
Yes, and among the wheel standers of the 60s was "The Original Backup Pickup", a Dodge pickup with everything turned around so that the bed end was in the air as it wheelied the length of the strip. Don't know if it was ever kitted. Hemi under glass was, by Revell, I think. Those drag car kits would not look too primitive even today. Remember the Don Garlitts fuel dragster by Revell with the clear body. I must have built it a half-dozen times, putting the black body paint inside the clear body for a really smooth, glossy finish. I was maybe 11 at the time.
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Foothills of Colorado
Posted by Hoser on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 7:04 PM
I'm old so I remember the IMC kits, but it seems to me their Dodge wheelstander pickup was called the "Touch Tone Terror"; exactly the same as the LRW but the body was white on the box art and had phone company-themed decals. Can anyone verify this or did I have too much ... ah .... oregano when I was younger? Wink [;)] Big Smile [:D]

"Trust no one; even those people you know and trust." - Jack S. Margolis
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 9:46 AM
Don't remember that ramification of the kit, but then, that may have been about the time I, uh, discovered, um, oregano, and wasn't building much. Or doing anything else constructive other than collecting so-called "underground comix."
One thing that strikes me when I remember those IMC kits was the gorgeous, restrained box art, consisting of a subtly lighted shot of the built-up kit. The more we talk about them, them more I miss IMC. However, they are no doubt better kits in the memory than in fact. But where else can I find that Ford GT in 1/25, that famous white car with the double-blue stripe down the middle? My favorite of all the road cars. Oddly enough, I was reared in a tiny hamlet in northeast Texas called Pittsburg (pop 4,500), which was also the home town of Carroll (sp.) Shelby. Oddly enough, few people in town had ever heard of him even at his Cobra peak. When he retired (semi) he moved back and I hear lives there quietly. He markets a mean Bar-B-Q sauce too. It bears his name and is not hard to find, for afficianados of the smoked brisket.
  • Member since
    June 2004
Posted by hct728 on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 10:01 AM
Ahhhhh reminiscing...
http://pages.simscreekantiquemall.com/899/PictPage/1922272711.html
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Third rock from the sun.
Posted by Woody on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 12:35 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Hoser

I'm old so I remember the IMC kits, but it seems to me their Dodge wheelstander pickup was called the "Touch Tone Terror"; exactly the same as the LRW but the body was white on the box art and had phone company-themed decals. Can anyone verify this or did I have too much ... ah .... oregano when I was younger? Wink [;)] Big Smile [:D]


The 'Touch Tone terror" did indeed exist. It was kit # 119 1965 dodge PU.

" I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way." --John Paul Jones
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