AMT Double Dragster

Today I was looking through an old issue of SAE... it's the one with "The History of Drag Racing Models." Lots of cool stuff in there; it was Deja Vu all over again! To me, the AMT Double Dragster kit will always be one of the most fun kits ever produced.

My younger brother had one, and it was fantastic! This early issue was molded in blue plastic, and you could make two complete cars from the kit with plenty of left-over parts to add onto other AMT kits. See, in those days, AMT pretty much standardized the engine mounts in their kits to allow for easy engine swaps. The wheels and tires all interchanged, too.

The DD kit allowed you to build a Fiat coupe with any of a number of engine options, as well as either an open rail dragster or a closed-body streamliner. Extra frame rails were included, as one option allowed for a side-by-each arrangement of twin Chevy small-block engines equipped with front-mounted blowers! The instructions provided suggestions for all different engine and body combinations, and even included instructions on how to add ignition wiring for the Chrysler engine in the kit. To make this easier, the two-piece magneto had a separate cap and a hollowed-out body.

My cousin later got the same kit, but his version was molded in red plastic instead of the blue. The only problem with the colored plastic was the fact that the chrome trees were ALSO molded in color, and it seemed to bleed through in spots. This was a great kit; I believe it would still be popular today if AMT decided to reissue it. I did manage to get the "Blueprinter" version a few years back... someday I will sit down and savor every minute of building the way I would have if that blue kit had been mine.

Thinking about this kit and those days (I believe the kit came out in 1961) reminds me of so many other great kits that I'd like to try my hand at again... the AMT '34 Ford pickup with all those tools; the '53 pickup ("Noah's Arc Welding..."); the Revell '57 Chevy; the Monogram '34 Ford (pre-ZZ Top); Revell's Orange Crate and '41 Willys; Oh, yes: the AMT 289 Cobra was a VERY fine kit! Not to mention all the great AMT and Revell custom parts packs... I think I even still have a few of them around, untouched.

Anyone else remember that old Double Dragster??

FITTER