Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2009 20:32:48 GMT -5
In my prior post on the MPC 68-70 Charger kits & variants, I mentioned that MPC had been producing Dodge kits since 1965, & even produced the 65 Coronet for AMT. Now the reason MPC produced the kit for AMT is George Toteff, (founder of MPC), had been an employee of AMT, (designing the sliding cam tooling that created the one piece bodies), & when he left to form his own company, AMT & he had an agreement giving AMT first right of refusal on many of his tools & the Coronet was one of those.
Again, much thanks to Bob for the instructions site, source of most of the box art pics.
Here's a pic of the box art of the 65 Coronet:
MPC recycled the chassis, engine & drivetrain of the Coronet under their 66/67 Charger annual kits.
I don't have any pics of the 66 box art, but here's a pic of the 67:
This kit was a 4/1, with stock, custom, Funny Car, (not a very accurate one), & Nascar, (again not very accurate) options. The 66 annual kit even offered an option to convert the body for slot car racing.
Now this next version I'm not 100% sure was modified from the 66/67 annual tooling, but it looks like it from the instructions, (at least the body, the chassis was a very accurate Logghe style Funny Car chassis); Roger Lindamood's famous "Color Me Gone". Incidentally, Roger worked for AMT at one point!
Here's the box art for that kit:
The next version I know was modified from the original annual tooling:, the George Barris designed Thunder Charger, first seen in the movie "Thunder Alley"
Here's the box art:
Now, again I'm not sure of this, but from the instruction sheets, it looks like MPC also recycled this chassis under their 68/70 Coronet;
Here's the 68's box art:
Here's the 69 Coronet box art:
Either the 68 or 69 instruction sheets show how similar the chassis tooling is, as can be seen by visiting those pages.
In the mid 70's MPC restored the body tooling that was modified into the "Thunder Charger" back to stock, (any of the three reissues from the mid 70's on show evidence of this inside the body shell), & created a street machine version, with American mags & Mickey Thompson tires, (including a very nice pair of cheater slicks). This was the first version of the kit I ever built, almost copying the box art car exactly, with the exception of spray painting the body Testors Metallic Gold.
Here's that box art:
In 1987 MPC reissued this version with updated Centerline rims, different tire, decals, & an optional blower , but otherwise identical to the mid 70's version.
The box art:
In 2003 AMT did a straight reissue of the 87 version, (except for box art), in their "Buyer's Choice" series. I don't have a pic of that box art right now, but the parts, decals & instruction sheet are identical to the 87 version, (haivng had both I can verify that).
Now, what of the rest of that 65 Coronet tooling that was the catalyst for this series? According to Bill Coulter in Scale Auto Enthusiast issue 83, the body, chrome & window "glass" still existed for this kit at one point, but that was when MPC was still in Mt. Clemens Michigan many, many years ago, well before that article was published. I don't think Bill was aware when he wrote that article that the chassis, engine & drivetrain were in the 67 Charger kit.
If you have any additional info to verify whether or not the body was retooled into the "Color Me Gone" Funny Car kit, or the chassis was used under the 68/70 Coronet R/T kits, please post it!
Pics of the 68 & 69 Coronet instructions seem to show the same chassis as used under the 65 Coronet & 66/67 Chargers, & I've been told by someone with the kits that the chassis' look identical.
Again, much thanks to Bob for the instructions site, source of most of the box art pics.
Here's a pic of the box art of the 65 Coronet:
MPC recycled the chassis, engine & drivetrain of the Coronet under their 66/67 Charger annual kits.
I don't have any pics of the 66 box art, but here's a pic of the 67:
This kit was a 4/1, with stock, custom, Funny Car, (not a very accurate one), & Nascar, (again not very accurate) options. The 66 annual kit even offered an option to convert the body for slot car racing.
Now this next version I'm not 100% sure was modified from the 66/67 annual tooling, but it looks like it from the instructions, (at least the body, the chassis was a very accurate Logghe style Funny Car chassis); Roger Lindamood's famous "Color Me Gone". Incidentally, Roger worked for AMT at one point!
Here's the box art for that kit:
The next version I know was modified from the original annual tooling:, the George Barris designed Thunder Charger, first seen in the movie "Thunder Alley"
Here's the box art:
Now, again I'm not sure of this, but from the instruction sheets, it looks like MPC also recycled this chassis under their 68/70 Coronet;
Here's the 68's box art:
Here's the 69 Coronet box art:
Either the 68 or 69 instruction sheets show how similar the chassis tooling is, as can be seen by visiting those pages.
In the mid 70's MPC restored the body tooling that was modified into the "Thunder Charger" back to stock, (any of the three reissues from the mid 70's on show evidence of this inside the body shell), & created a street machine version, with American mags & Mickey Thompson tires, (including a very nice pair of cheater slicks). This was the first version of the kit I ever built, almost copying the box art car exactly, with the exception of spray painting the body Testors Metallic Gold.
Here's that box art:
In 1987 MPC reissued this version with updated Centerline rims, different tire, decals, & an optional blower , but otherwise identical to the mid 70's version.
The box art:
In 2003 AMT did a straight reissue of the 87 version, (except for box art), in their "Buyer's Choice" series. I don't have a pic of that box art right now, but the parts, decals & instruction sheet are identical to the 87 version, (haivng had both I can verify that).
Now, what of the rest of that 65 Coronet tooling that was the catalyst for this series? According to Bill Coulter in Scale Auto Enthusiast issue 83, the body, chrome & window "glass" still existed for this kit at one point, but that was when MPC was still in Mt. Clemens Michigan many, many years ago, well before that article was published. I don't think Bill was aware when he wrote that article that the chassis, engine & drivetrain were in the 67 Charger kit.
If you have any additional info to verify whether or not the body was retooled into the "Color Me Gone" Funny Car kit, or the chassis was used under the 68/70 Coronet R/T kits, please post it!
Pics of the 68 & 69 Coronet instructions seem to show the same chassis as used under the 65 Coronet & 66/67 Chargers, & I've been told by someone with the kits that the chassis' look identical.
It's an interweb thing.....