AMT kits with Goodyear Rally GT tires?

[Fat Brian]

The new release of the AMT 77 Pinto with the green car on the box has 4 Goodyear Rally GT tires in the new small hollow tires. Do any kits have the next size bigger tires with the same branding on them? I'm building an 80s car so the usual Polyglas and Wide Oval markings wouldn't be quite in the correct time-line. 

[Don Sikora II]

Can you please post a pic of the tire in question? Does it have tampo for the Rally GT?

[Fat Brian]

5 hours ago, Don Sikora II said:

Can you please post a pic of the tire in question? Does it have tampo for the Rally GT?

Yeah, they're tampo printed.

[espo]

I don't recall ever seeing these tires before. I like the printing but wonder about the tread pattern. 

[Fat Brian]

1 hour ago, espo said:

I don't recall ever seeing these tires before. I like the printing but wonder about the tread pattern. 

The tread pattern is the basic squiggly lines in their new hollow tires. They're the same as the ones in the 71 Duster and Pinot wagon kits just with different lettering.

[Casey]

I'm guessing these are the smallest Goodyear Polyglas GT tires, with different RWLs. Can you post a pic of the tread area and a measurement or two, please? 

[1972coronet]

Thankfully they're NOT those horrible 'snow tyres' Rallye GT which AMT used as 'custom' tyres for far too many years. Unfortunately, those ugly things are still around; witness the optional tyres in the 1/16 scale fifties Chevy's and the Thunderbird. Yuck.

You're better off buying a set of tyres from Fireball.

[Don Sikora II]

Thanks, I don't remember seeing these before! Which issue of the Pinto are they in?

[espo]

38 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

Thankfully they're NOT those horrible 'snow tyres' Rallye GT which AMT used as 'custom' tyres for far too many years. Unfortunately, those ugly things are still around; witness the optional tyres in the 1/16 scale fifties Chevy's and the Thunderbird. Yuck.

You're better off buying a set of tyres from Fireball.

Sort of my concern as well.  Besides their appearance in scale the real deal was a cheap alternative to the Polyglass tires of the day, so for some there is a bit of a mental block, I guess.  

[Fat Brian]

2 hours ago, Casey said:

I'm guessing these are the smallest Goodyear Polyglas GT tires, with different RWLs. Can you post a pic of the tread area and a measurement or two, please? 

Here's a pic next to a standard size AMT tire.

[Fat Brian]

1 hour ago, Don Sikora II said:

Thanks, I don't remember seeing these before! Which issue of the Pinto are they in?

They're in the 77 Pinto with the green car on the box from maybe four years. This is the only kit I've seen these markings used in.

[Fat Brian]

I'm probably going to get some dry transfers from Fireball, they have some Copper Cobras that would be thematic on my early Mustang. 

[espo]

2 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

Here's a pic next to a standard size AMT tire.

Interesting note on these tires. They put the Rally name on them, but they do not represent the tire that Good Year marketed under the name Rally. This tire more resembles a tire they called Speedway and was a 4 ply tire usually seen as a 70 series. This was the predecessor to the Polyglass bias belted tire. At the time they were about as good as it got if you were looking for some extra traction for your streetcar. The Rally GT that Good Year offered latter with the tread that resembles an all-seasons design was also a 4-ply carcass and was an inexpensive alternative to the Ployglass tire. As for in scale tires some of the early '60's era Corvettes might have had them. These are a much better-looking tire for a model IMO. 

[Don Sikora II]

5 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

They're in the 77 Pinto with the green car on the box from maybe four years. This is the only kit I've seen these markings used in.

Thanks. I have that kit, but have no memory of these tires so I'll take a look.

[Oldcarfan27]

As much as I appreciate the kit manufacturers trying to improve the appearance of tire sidewalls with tampo printing, I really wish they would take more care in which tires they choose to print. 

Polyglass tire and radial tire shapes don't look the same and bias ply automotive tire production was pretty much phased out by the early 80s, in fact, most domestic new cars didn't even offer them by 1980.

Seeing standard bias ply polyglass tires with "Radial GT" printed on them is rather bothersome to me. As much as 4 lug wheels on a 5 lug car, or refill caps on a maintenance free battery on a modern car.

I'd be happy with the old lettering swiped off old tire tooling, and lettering or whitewalls applied to the correct type of tire.

These AMT tires are clearly Polyglas GTs

Compare to 1:1

Vintage Rally GTs, which Monogram actually got correct.

Good Year Radial GT

Which Monogram also got right. 

I'm not even strict that the tread has to be 100% accurate. But tread and sidewall shape should at least be close to the tire being represented. 

1960s and early 70s bias ply whitewall (redwall) tires.

70s and 80s radial whitewalls

Notice how the shoulder shape is squared on bias ply tires. The shoulder on radials is much more rounded. This is due to the way the belts (or cords) are wrapped when the tire is manufactured.

I may be the only one here to nit pick tire choices, but I like to choose correct tires for my builds. Tires should represent the same era the build does.

OK, Rant over.

Edited February 9, 2022 by Oldcarfan27

[peteski]

11 minutes ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

I may be the only one here to nit pick tire choices, but I like to choose correct tires for my builds. Tires should represent the same era the build does.

OK, Rant over.

Not at all. Your presentation is thorough, accurate, and makes perfect sense. 

I too would like kit manufacturers to pay more attention to the tires, but unfortunately they often just depend on existing molds for the tires for their kits, which are often incorrect for the model.  This is likely done as a cost saving measure.

But if they actually cut fresh molds for some new kit and they get the tires wrong, then there is no excuse.

One ray of hope is that with the 3D printing getting more and more popular in modeling circles, correct tires can be designed and printed by hobbyists, or cottage industry manufacturers.

[Casey]

The reissued AMT Monza 2+2 was, I believe, the first Round2 kit to include the Goodyear Rally GT tires in question:

[Fat Brian]

8 hours ago, Casey said:

The reissued AMT Monza 2+2 was, I believe, the first Round2 kit to include the Goodyear Rally GT tires in question:

Thanks Casey, I didn't pick this up but now it looks like I need to.

[Fat Brian]

9 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

As much as I appreciate the kit manufacturers trying to improve the appearance of tire sidewalls with tampo printing, I really wish they would take more care in which tires they choose to print. 

Polyglass tire and radial tire shapes don't look the same and bias ply automotive tire production was pretty much phased out by the early 80s, in fact, most domestic new cars didn't even offer them by 1980.

Seeing standard bias ply polyglass tires with "Radial GT" printed on them is rather bothersome to me. As much as 4 lug wheels on a 5 lug car, or refill caps on a maintenance free battery on a modern car.

I'd be happy with the old lettering swiped off old tire tooling, and lettering or whitewalls applied to the correct type of tire.

These AMT tires are clearly Polyglas GTs

Compare to 1:1

Vintage Rally GTs, which Monogram actually got correct.

Good Year Radial GT

Which Monogram also got right. 

I'm not even strict that the tread has to be 100% accurate. But tread and sidewall shape should at least be close to the tire being represented. 

1960s and early 70s bias ply whitewall (redwall) tires.

70s and 80s radial whitewalls

Notice how the shoulder shape is squared on bias ply tires. The shoulder on radials is much more rounded. This is due to the way the belts (or cords) are wrapped when the tire is manufactured.

I may be the only one here to nit pick tire choices, but I like to choose correct tires for my builds. Tires should represent the same era the build does.

OK, Rant over.

You're right, there's just a severe lack of good early 80s tires. That's what prompted my question to begin with, I knew the tire itself wasn't correct but I wanted the lettering to be feasible for the period. These tires are at least inoffensive compared to the snow tire looking junk we had previously. 

[stinkybritches]

10 hours ago, peteski said:

 

One ray of hope is that with the 3D printing getting more and more popular in modeling circles, correct tires can be designed and printed by hobbyists, or cottage industry manufacturers.

Tire files are the #1 thing that I have been searching for since I bought my resin printer a few months ago. Unfortunately, it seems like wheel files outnumber tire files about 500-1.

[espo]

11 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

As much as I appreciate the kit manufacturers trying to improve the appearance of tire sidewalls with tampo printing, I really wish they would take more care in which tires they choose to print. 

Polyglass tire and radial tire shapes don't look the same and bias ply automotive tire production was pretty much phased out by the early 80s, in fact, most domestic new cars didn't even offer them by 1980.

Seeing standard bias ply polyglass tires with "Radial GT" printed on them is rather bothersome to me. As much as 4 lug wheels on a 5 lug car, or refill caps on a maintenance free battery on a modern car.

I'd be happy with the old lettering swiped off old tire tooling, and lettering or whitewalls applied to the correct type of tire.

These AMT tires are clearly Polyglas GTs

Compare to 1:1

Vintage Rally GTs, which Monogram actually got correct.

Good Year Radial GT

Which Monogram also got right. 

I'm not even strict that the tread has to be 100% accurate. But tread and sidewall shape should at least be close to the tire being represented. 

1960s and early 70s bias ply whitewall (redwall) tires.

70s and 80s radial whitewalls

Notice how the shoulder shape is squared on bias ply tires. The shoulder on radials is much more rounded. This is due to the way the belts (or cords) are wrapped when the tire is manufactured.

I may be the only one here to nit pick tire choices, but I like to choose correct tires for my builds. Tires should represent the same era the build does.

OK, Rant over.

Excellent in-depth information on tires in general and Good Years especially. Many years ago, I worked for Good Year in their retail stores in SoCal. That experience along with several years in auto repair and service seems to make minor details even in scale, and it seems that tires especially I find frustrating when you see something so obviously wrong in its presentation. 

[Casey]

On 2/9/2022 at 7:09 AM, Fat Brian said:

You're right, there's just a severe lack of good early 80s tires. That's what prompted my question to begin with, I knew the tire itself wasn't correct but I wanted the lettering to be feasible for the period.

May want to check into the re-issued AMT Ford Courier, too, as the included tires have  period "Firestone Super Sports" in white lettering on the sidewalls, though they appear to be the same ol' Polyglas GT base tire. Good pics in Zach's UG topic here:

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Casey

[Don Sikora II]

I looked at my reissue '77 Pinto kit with the green box. My kit doesn't have the tampo-print Rally GT tires, and the only tires in my box are the BF Goodrich tires that I think were originally tooled for the lowrider version of the '70 Monte Carlo. Also have the Coke Pinto Popper, and struck out finding these Rally GTs there too. 

[Fat Brian]

2 hours ago, Don Sikora II said:

I looked at my reissue '77 Pinto kit with the green box. My kit doesn't have the tampo-print Rally GT tires, and the only tires in my box are the BF Goodrich tires that I think were originally tooled for the lowrider version of the '70 Monte Carlo. Also have the Coke Pinto Popper, and struck out finding these Rally GTs there too. 

Yeah, the Popper Pinto only has blackwalls in it. The version of the 77 I have is very recent, I think just before the Popper came out.

[Fat Brian]

2 hours ago, Casey said:

May want to check into the re-issued AMT Ford Courier, too, as the included tires have  period "Firestone Super Sports" in white lettering on the sidewalls, though they appear to be the same ol' Polyglas GT base tire. Good pics in Zach's UG topic here:

 

Ok, I'll have to look. I could swear I've bought this but I don't remember seeing it recently .