Where are all the newer kits of muscle cars?

I would say look in Scale Auto's "What's New" section, but not really any muscle cars in there.  Well Revell's 1969 Nova is coming out soon, that's all I can think of

the doog wrote:

...Anybody got any ideas?! ...

Contact the various manufacturers and ask them.  Tell them what you want.  You might get a nibble.

Yeah I could see that happening. Wishful thinking on my part

well I've been scrounging parts for a series of builds, and right now I'd say I'm 2/3rds there.

* 1964 Plymouth two door sedan with a street hemi all setup for the drive in wars

* 1963 Plymouth with either a Stage II or Stage III max wedge & aluminum front end

* 1967 GTX with a street hemi in it

* 1964 Plymouth two door hardtop with a 440 six pac in it (assuming I can find the right hood scoop). Otherwise I'll just build it as a 426" street wedge (four speed of course)

* a couple 1964 Dodges. Both are two door sedans with light weight front ends. Factory correct wheel base on both (although one may become a factory 2% car)

* a couple Chevys (one's a truck) and another really neat old Chevy truck

* 40 Ford flatbed push truck in very red primer

* and then there at least three different Bonneville projects. One is being held up waiting for the donor engine and transmission (NASCAR P7 hemi with a Richmond four speed). Another is a large scale Model A built to run in street roadster class. Motor for this one is still up in the air, but I'm think flathead Ford. Then there is the 34 Ford coup. No idea what I'm doing with it other than the frame.

I'm still in the hunt for a few parts to go with each kit, and really need to score a 64 Plymouth donor kit to finish out one of them. Also got round up two or the SBC Chevy engines.

     As for new stuff, I think we need a good Barracuda / Challenger kit, and then maybe one of the Challenger. I'd also like to see some Mustangs, and a really good Ford GT kit (big scale?) How about a kit of the CTS-V and the XLR?

gary

With the number of Mustangs, Camaro's etc that raced around the world I'm always suprised there aren't any plastic kits of the cars as raced (apart from one Mustang?). I've got some decals sets (Moffart's Australian Coke Mustang being one) but can't get any kits to convert and where do I get the minilite rims used by so many cars back in the 70's?

nicholma wrote:

With the number of Mustangs, Camaro's etc that raced around the world I'm always suprised there aren't any plastic kits of the cars as raced (apart from one Mustang?). I've got some decals sets (Moffart's Australian Coke Mustang being one) but can't get any kits to convert and where do I get the minilite rims used by so many cars back in the 70's?

in the world of muscle cars one usually thinks of drag racing or super street. This was completely dominated by Chevys and Mopars with maybe two or three exceptions. Most of the so called factory hot rods you see on the Speed Channel were never in the thick of things, but were just other also rans. The Mustang 428 Cobra Jet was the one exception in 1968. Boss 429 Mustangs were kind of rare, and really weren't all that fast (I've raced three in the past, and put them back on the trailer). Buicks were kinda rare, but were pretty fast. Always liked them. Problem with G.M. cars in the sixties was rear frame damage from the upper control arms. Used to have a really beautifull red 65 GTO that finally succomed to the "frame disease." Forsome odd reason Buicks didn't seem to do this much like Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles did. Chevys didn't have the massive low end torque to create this. But it was so bad that G.M. finally sold a repair kit.

     Mustangs really made their showing on the road race circuts right along with the Z28's. Then along came AMC and pretty much ran with whoever was the best out there at every race. GT350's were not as common as most folks thought they were on the street, but there were a few here and there. But not any faster than a good Z28. In that relm the Z28 was king till the Boss 351 showed up in 1970, but they were beatable.

     By this time everybody was moving to big inch motors in their cars anyway. There were 396 Cameros everywhere, and Dodge and Plymouth made a run of 440 inch cars that would run with ost anything. Then in 1970 Chrysler came out with a Cuda with a street hemi in it and the world changed. I actually hated to see this, but that's what the buyers wanted. Ford did a boss 429 Mustang and Pontiac finally came out with a 455 Transam. All were fast, but were no longer the nimble little cars we all wanted.

gary

Asking the manufacturer will only result in them telling what is being released, which won't necessarily be a new or updated kit, often just the same old reissues of 60's era kits.  Revells Dodge Dart GTS is VERY nice and VERY accurate.  The first run had an inaccurate body but Revell corrected it very quickly.  PRetty much nobody builds cars anymore, they "tune them" by just bolting on some external parts, and swapping computer chips.  People think Tuners are faster because of HP to weight ratio.  Sure 300 HP in a 2000 pound Honda is gonna be fast.  However they talk like msuclecars are 9000 pounds and such.  Try 600 horsepower or more in 3200 pounds of musclecar.  Then lets talk about HP to weight ratio.  Anyway it's this trend tht musclecars are going by the wayside, and many people are actually turning the real deal in for scrap to get "old polluting junk" off the road.  There are many government money breaks for doing that sort of thing.  Our last governer here tried to make it illegal to drive anything older 7 years.  Then when tht failed anything older then 15 years.  When that failed he tried to make every car have to pass the same emissions standards based around the newest model 4 cylinder econoboxes.  When that failed he was voted out of office.

fantacmet wrote:

Asking the manufacturer will only result in them telling what is being released, which won't necessarily be a new or updated kit, often just the same old reissues of 60's era kits.  Revells Dodge Dart GTS is VERY nice and VERY accurate.  The first run had an inaccurate body but Revell corrected it very quickly.  PRetty much nobody builds cars anymore, they "tune them" by just bolting on some external parts, and swapping computer chips.  People think Tuners are faster because of HP to weight ratio.  Sure 300 HP in a 2000 pound Honda is gonna be fast.  However they talk like msuclecars are 9000 pounds and such.  Try 600 horsepower or more in 3200 pounds of musclecar.  Then lets talk about HP to weight ratio.  Anyway it's this trend tht musclecars are going by the wayside, and many people are actually turning the real deal in for scrap to get "old polluting junk" off the road.  There are many government money breaks for doing that sort of thing.  Our last governer here tried to make it illegal to drive anything older 7 years.  Then when tht failed anything older then 15 years.  When that failed he tried to make every car have to pass the same emissions standards based around the newest model 4 cylinder econoboxes.  When that failed he was voted out of office.

I well remember the first time I took a drive with my brother in his Class three Conquors condition 69 Cornet R/T. It's a solid 3800 lb car with a 440 six pac that has 9.5:1 compression. We were over on highway 67 headed north when these two guys in a nice and pretty Z28 jumped on him right after we left the stoplight. He litterally drove along side of them thru first gear, and then floored it, and litterally drove away from them while they were going as fast as they could. About a mile up the road the guys pulled up along side of us at the next stoplight, and had the sullen look on their faces. Then the guy riding shotgun said he'd never seen a hemi run that good. That's when I broke their hearts by telling them they'd been hammered by a wedge (a detuned one at that). If it'd been the blue car the difference between them would have been wheatfields. But then again the blue car weighs in at about 3500lb. wet, and makes about a hundred fifty more horsepower.

    The reason nobody builds muscle cars anymore is that they don't know how. If you can't bolt the parts on the car to make it run they're lost! The 68 /69 Dodge Dart is one of my alltime favorite bodys, and have almost bought one a couple times to build a killer car. Chrysler sells an engine swap kit to put one of the new hemis in one, and now with the 392" crate motor your looking at a high eleven second car with a stock motor thru the mufflers. No nitrous, and just 93 octane pump gas. But if you really want to go fast then hunt up one of the old two seat AMX's, and put together a 437" motor using Indy Cylinder's new heads (nothing more than a W5 race head for the 340 Mopar engine). Now you have 3000 lb. wet and 550 hp on pump gas. This plus that short wheel base and an incredable hook up to the pavement tells you these cars can move into the high tens and yet stay together. I saw one with a 401 engine and those heads run 11.4's thru the mufflers.

gary

Well the long and the short of it, is that Revell is for the most part the only show in town. With AMT/RC/ERTL folding up tents, Revell is the only company still strong and creating new molds.

The 68 Charger, 57 Chevy 150, and 69 Nova are all new releases this year.

I know that the AMT molds are being leased by a cottage industry group, so we'll start seeing some re-issues from them, just like the Model King kits. And we'll be paying a premium as well I'm sure, but that's cool with me.

 

Jantrix wrote:

Well the long and the short of it, is that Revell is for the most part the only show in town. With AMT/RC/ERTL folding up tents, Revell is the only company still strong and creating new molds. The 68 Charger, 57 Chevy 150, and 69 Nova are all new releases this year. I know that the AMT molds are being leased by a cottage industry group, so we'll start seeing some re-issues from them, just like the Model King kits. And we'll be paying a premium as well I'm sure, but that's cool with me.

here's food for thought; Since the first of the year I've snagged three or four two door sedan 1964 Dodge kits of one various for or another. Plus another handfull of 1964 Plymouth kits, but all these are two door hartops. Then I see a two door sedan 64 Plymouth on Ebay (resin body) that the seller says you'll need a donor kit for the rest of the parts. That's pretty simple, and just picked up the old Petty Plymouth. Well the kits not even close to the resin body. So I then drag out a Dodge kit, as I know the doors, deck lid and hood are very similar in external deminsions. Best I can figure is that the Plymouth kit is somewhere around 1/28th scale. The roof is close, but then I find the lower half of the body to be about two inches too wide (all the while it's about 4 inches short).  I'm goona use it anyway, but not without a lot of rework! The frame will be the hardest part, and it may be easier to just cut the floor pan out of it than build the frame for it.

so much for the above

So we want muscle car kits, and we have these resin bodies showing up all over the place now. I have three different ones, and none impress me! Yet thinking back to the old AMT molds (as well as Johan), they were not anything to write home as well! I do find the Revell kits to be reasonably accurate, so like you said they may be the only game in town. Accurate Minitures did some Corvettes awhile back, and think I'll add one to my shopping list. I will build a couple Novas, and maybe the 57 Chevy.

gary

Ah the good old days where you had to actually bolt on parts that complimented each other, instead of slapping them on and letting the computer do the work.  Of course still if one were to setup parts to compliment one another on the tuners they can make even better HP, but that's not cool enough.  Besides each sticker adds 50HP right?  WE have fifteen thousand horsepower 4 cylinder honda's.

fantacmet wrote:

Ah the good old days where you had to actually bolt on parts that complimented each other, instead of slapping them on and letting the computer do the work.  Of course still if one were to setup parts to compliment one another on the tuners they can make even better HP, but that's not cool enough.  Besides each sticker adds 50HP right?  WE have fifteen thousand horsepower 4 cylinder honda's.

brother told me once that it's easier to get horsepower out of a small inch engine than a big inch one, but there's no torque! So you got a 156" engine that runs at 35lb. boost, and makes 1300hp (for real). Yet has less than 450lb. of torque. Takes forever to get to it's very narrow horsepower band, and is good for about six minutes (assuming you don't run nitrous oxide; then it's a minute and a half).

     The baddest four banger on the planet without a blower is the Dodge racing engine as seen in the midget cars. This engine will make 350 hp on pump gas without a blower! And shipped from the factory that way by the way. That's the motor that the Golden Fish Barracuda ran at Bonneville three years ago, and ran 283 mph to blast the record into oblivion (ran a turbocharged engine at 25lb. boost for about 950hp.) This same motor (to the S/N) also ran 194mph in a 32 Ford hi boy roadster dialed down to 700hp. It's nothing more than a NASCAR P7 motor made into a four banger on a dry sump block. You can't do that with a Honda! And they tried at about 30 mph slower speeds.

gary

nicholma wrote:

With the number of Mustangs, Camaro's etc that raced around the world I'm always suprised there aren't any plastic kits of the cars as raced (apart from one Mustang?). I've got some decals sets (Moffart's Australian Coke Mustang being one) but can't get any kits to convert and where do I get the minilite rims used by so many cars back in the 70's?

i believe i got my minilites from the AMT 73 mustang kit, which is pictured stock on the box, but actually has heaps of transam parts instead of stock parts! i build my moffat coke machine from the two kits (73 and a revell 69 mustang)

For some reason, car modellers are happy to accept 60's repops of cars rather than demanding re-tooling of them with more accuracy and detail. sad lot we are...

 

here's some of my american cars converted to australian racers.

Bob Jane's ZL-1.

Dick Johnson's 86 Mustang. i combined the roof of mpc with a revell convertable

i had to scratchbuild the super sedan fenders for the sidchrome mustang (driven by Jim Richards).