No Rushin' like Gold Rushin'!

[Faust]

By now, I’m sure anyone who knows me realizes that I do have a soft spot for MPC kits. The good folks at MPC seem to have been on the same wavelength as me when it comes to what makes a great car kit. Good interior detail, bizarre subject matter and a heaping helping of ‘zeitgeist’ are all essential.



They must also have known that I LOVE street vans, since they made a bus-tonne of them back in the day. Mind you, there were a lot of the real things back then too! More than any other maker, I think, MPC really seemed to embrace Vannin’, and that means there are a lot of good (well, interesting, at least) van kits out there.



Recently, Round 2 reissued one: Bad Company. This was the 1982 annual of the mid-‘70s Dodge van. However, there were many other Dodge street vans before Bad Company. One of the rarer ones seems to be Gold Rush, a completely crazy custom van that could only have arisen from MPC in the ‘70s. My brother managed to snag me a copy, and I present to you an out of box review for this wild roller at the link below.



For whatever reason, I don’t seem to be able to find many other reviews of this thing, so maybe it’s been forgotten? Well, I couldn’t let that stand! Check it out, and rest assured, THIS THING WILL GET BUILT!!



adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/mpc-124-gold-rush-custom-dodge-van-oob/

[harron68]

MPC was a "mixed bag" as to quality. It's just my opinion, but as AMT faded in at the end of the '60s, MPC accepted the challenge by coming out with both contemporary annual kits and off-the-wall wild creations. Your Gold Rush wasn't bad at all. Tho MPC appeared to cut corners in some areas where finer detail and separate parts became molded-in instead, at least the model industry survived. MPC was regarded as essential for builders. Thanx for sharing one I had forgotten!

[Faust]

I have some AMTs from the mid-late '70s that astound me with their cheapness (MONZA, I'm talking to YOU) but others, like the Scirocco and Capri II Ghia that are very nice. I just hate those damnable ungluable half-tires.

As for MPC, they don't always make great kits, but when they do, they're all over it.

I'm a bit of an MPC addict, I must admit.