Messages In This Thread

• So I'm looking at my AMT 66 wildcat kit and was comparing the side trip to real 66 Wildcats. Well, I don't know where AMT came up with that trim, as it surely does not match real life! (PICS)
  • I have a couple of those kits and never looked that close. You're right about Randy Bodkin, all his builds are beautifully done and nearly all of them are factory stock. *NM*
  • so with the botched side trim and 65 wildcat interior, it's best to ignore reality and build it the way the kit came, unless you are Mr. Obsessive :-) *NM*
  • GM had to release drawings to AMT well ahead of actual production
    • Indeed. , , and it does show trim like on the model in some artwork in the '66 brochure. *NM* *PIC*
    • Makes me wonder about the '71 Impala convertible promo. Techinically, the windshield header is correct just like the air-brushed brochure pics, but the header and A-pillar shape were totally different on the real car when released. Makes me wonder if.....
      • (correction): technically.. No "edit" function on this board. Sorry. *NM*
        • Converts were tanking in 1:1 at the time, I can hear the meeting where they needed to cut costs...
          • Here's the pic Bob. *NM* *PIC*
      • Convertible kits seldom sold nearly as well as hardtops. AMT started not doing "all available convertibles" as early as '65 (passed on the big Olds and Pontiac), MPC hung in longer but eventually stopped doing many of them after 1970 *NM*
        • ... as annual kits. You can add the Bonneville to the list of promos that never made it to annual in '65 *NM*
    • Remember back in the day, my first Pilot, GM Europe's J-car
  • I don't like the undersize wheels in the kit either. I'm sure most of those big boats came with 15" wheels like on the white car. *NM*
    • Is that Buick style of wheel in a kit in a larger size? Electra, Riviera, GNs, other Wildcats, maybe? *NM*
    • That is supposed to be the 15" wheel. The wheels with the "seamless" face only came in 15" with the 5 on 5 bolt pattern. The smaller 14" and 15" with the 5 on 4 3/4 bolt pattern have a seam around the rim exactly like a Magnum 500.
      • Thanks for the info. *NM*
  • Is it possible there were 2 trim levels? *NM*
  • I googled 66 Wildcat and looks to me it could be had with either of those trims. *NM*
    • Yep, looks to me like either trim would be correct! *NM*
  • Think there were three trim levels in 1966, Wildcat, Wildcat Custom, and Wildcat Gran Sport *NM*