When I was a kid in the 70’s, it was common to find kits for classic cars such as Dusenbergs, Packards, Lincolns, etc.
Is there just no demand for these kits?
I’m just not very into what is offered today for model cars. I would get back into it if I could find some good kits of classic cars. Aside from the 57 chevy’s, etc.
Dear JohnTK
Have you tried ebay??.. Go into toys & collectables, then Model kits & then cars, Make sure your on the worldwide bit. Then click on show all items. No guaranties but its worth a try.
I collect the old glass insulators off telephone poles and they have insulator shows, just like baseball card shows or bottle shows where you can buy, sell and trade them. Once at an insulator show, I found an old MPC kit of a 1932 Chrysler Imperial and an old Johan kit of a 1934 Mercedes roadster. I built the Chrysler a couple of years back and I even had to rob the Mercedes kit of its chrome “wire” wheels because the Chrysler kit had plain gray wire wheels. I still haven’t built the Johan kit and probably never will get around to it; maybe I’ll give it to somebody or donate it to an IPMS raffle, but whoever builds it would have to get aftermarket wire wheels for it
Lindberg, Revell, AMT and Johan have been in a slump for many years, however Lindberg and Revell each came under new ownership in early 2007 and have really stepped up production.
Lindberg has re-issued the old Auburn, Cord and Lincoln kits however those kits are notoriously bad and take a lot of work to build decently. They also have a '40 Ford coupe, '34 Ford pickup, and several '53 Fords as well as some 60’s era cars, all of which are supposed to be pretty decent kits.
Revell has an all new tool '49 Merc custom & '58 Impala, as well as a number of '30-50’s Fords and Chevys. They also re-issued their 41 Chevy pickup and '50 Ford pickup with some new parts last year. Revell has the Monogram line so hopefully they will start to re-issue some of the high end cars from the 30’s like the Duesenberg.
AMT practically came to a screeching halt in 2007 but has new management this year, you won’t see much until late in the year but they are planning on bringing back a '49 Ford, '51 Chevy convertable, 'and 60 Ford Starliner as a start. 2009 should be when they really get up to speed and they say they intend to re-issue some of the stuff that hasn’t been available in many years. They had a nice 1930’s Lincoln and a 4 in 1 model T kit within the last few years so hopefully we will see those again.
Johan is basically on life support right now, it came under new ownership a few years ago but apparently was in much worse shape than the owner expected and releases have been pretty slim.
It’s been a little rough for model cars the past several years but it looks like its getting a lot better.