Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits (Tim Boyd)

In the 1960s, model kit building was a huge hobby. Kids built plastic kits of planes, tanks, race cars, space ships, creatures from scary movies, you name it. Before baseball card collecting, Pok mon, and video games, model kit building was one of the most popular hobby activities. Car and airplane kits were the most popular, and among the car kits, muscle cars, as we know them today, were one of the most popular categories.

Many owners of real muscle cars today were not old enough to buy them when the cars were new, of course. Yet kids of the 1960s and 1970s worshiped these cars to an extent completely foreign to kids today. If you couldn't afford or were too young to buy a muscle car back then, what could you do? For many, the next best thing was to buy, collect, and build muscle car kits from a variety of kit companies. Hundreds were made. Many of these kits have become collectible today, especially in original, unassembled form.

Although people still build kits today, there is a broad market for collectors of nostalgic model kits. People love the kits for the great box art, to rekindle fond memories of building them 40 years ago, or even as a companion to the full-scale cars they own today. Here, world-leading authority Tim Boyd takes you through the entire era of muscle car kits, covering the options, collectability, variety availability, and value of these wonderful kits today. Boyd also takes you through the differences between the original kits, the older reproduction kits, and the new reproduction kits that many people find at swap meets today. If you are looking to build a collection of muscle car kits, interested in getting the kits of your favorite manufacturer or even just of the cars you have owned, this book will be a valuable resource in your model kit search.

Pages: 176
Size: 8.5 X 11 (inches)
Format: Paperback
Illustrations: 412 color photos
Publisher: CarTech
ISBN: 9781613253953
Product Code: CT624

Table of Contents:

• Dedication 
• Acknowledgments 
• Introduction 
• Chapter 1: In the Beginning: The Origins of the Model Car Kit Hobby 
• Chapter 2: The Four Waves of Model Car Kit Evolution and the Envy Factor 
• Chapter 3: Laying the Groundwork for Muscle Cars: The Pre–Supercar Era 
• Chapter 4: The Supercar Is Born, Part 1: Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick 
• Chapter 5: The Supercar Is Born, Part 2: Chevelle and El Camino 
• Chapter 6: Dearborn Responds: Ford and Mercury Performance Intermediates
• Chapter 7: It’s All about the Packaging: Chrysler and AMC Supercar Intermediates 
• Chapter 8: The Pony Car Brigade, Part 1: Mustang and Camaro
• Chapter 9: The Pony Car Brigade, Part 2: Everything Else
• Chapter 10: Smaller in Stature, but . . . the Story of Junior Supercars 
• Chapter 11: Flash, Space, and Grace: The Family Supercar 
• Chapter 12: The Domestic Sports Car 
• Chapter 13: Today We Call Them Tuners 
• Chapter 14: The Model Car Kit Collector 
• Chapter 15: Afterword