American Muscle Car Kits, Help Needed

[Layla's Keeper]

Originally Posted by Okiemodelbuilder

In defense of AMT, the brand is currently owned by Racing Champions, the diecast company. The vast majority of the AMT kits on the shelves date back to the 1960s and 1970s. That is why the engraving on the interiors is poor and the mold lines are so prominent. RC also flunked with their 2F2F releases. The Supra is the best of the bunch but the Mitsu, Camaro and Charger are aweful.

But I will put any of the 1990s new AMT offerings like the 1971 Dodge Charger, 1970.5 Camaro Z28, 1960 Ford Starliner, 1958 Edsel and so on up against any Tamiya kit with the level of engraving, detail, etc.

I prefer the old kits myself but that is another story....Marc

Agreed, the days when AMT was owned by the diecast company Ertl were the second golden age of the company. John Mueller and his tooling department started a revolution in muscle detail starting in 1988 with the all new 1966 Nova in both factory stock (with 327) and Pro Street (all new chassis and interior) forms. That led to their many variations on the 1968-1970 Mopar B Bodies (1968 Plymouth Road Runner, 1970 Dodge Super Bee, 1970 Coronet Pro Street, 1968 Road Runner Pro Street), the excellent run of 1962 Chevies, the 1966 Ford/Mercury pairing, and of course their best run ever - the all new kits of 1998 to 2001 when the Racing Champions buyout also caused the liquidation of the tooling staff.

A good example of a standard AMT/Ertl kit under John Mueller's direction was their 1962 Pontiac 421SD Catalina. This kit had a frame that was separate from the frame rails, accurate injection molded fuel lines from the delicate fuel pump to the very well molded two piece pair of Carter AFB carbs, accurate triple Y "Super Duty" headers with correct exhaust dump cut-outs, and the list goes on.

AMT/Ertl was the market leader in detail, accuracy, and subject matter (for the muscle car builder) from 1988 to 2001. During that time, we received superb kits of some of the most desirable rare muscle cars out there. Kits of the 1968 El Camino, 1957 Chrysler 300C, and 1970 Monte Carlo SS454 made a lot of wishes come true and delivered some truly inspired kits.

It's one of the greatest travesties in our hobby that Racing Champions bought AMT/Ertl solely to incorporate the Ertl "American Muscle" diecast line into their own (as it was their direct - and more successful - competitor). The double shame is that it was through Ertl's diecast clout that AMT got the licensing rights and access to the specs and information they needed to produce the kits they wanted.