Dukes/ Hazzard Charger

[stavanzer]

I have questions about the details of the DOH Charger. Friend of mine has a built survivor from the first run. Looking at it the other day, noticed that it has a 4-spoke steering wheel, that is not in my DOH kit, from about 2006/2008 purchased from Michael's back in the day. Mine has the 3-spoke style. I assume mine has the corrected body, that was in later issues, as well. I have the Fast'n'Furious Charger from about the same time, and I am surprised what odd bits carry over from the DOH kit.

I'm just curious how I can get a DOH kit, and get the 4-spoke wheel? How can I know I'm getting the older boxing, and not someone claiming that it is an older (or original) boxing?

TIA, Alan

[Force]

I don't know when it was changed but the easiest way to be sure to get a older boxing is to look for the MPC lable on the box, mine from 1979 has the steering wheel you are looking for and it's molded in orange.
Here is a picture of a box like the one I have, the kit number is 1-0661 and the 1979 copyright date is on top of the box, the AMT/ERTL labled ones also have copyright dates on top of the box but they are later (1997, 1999 and so on), and the newer MPC labled kits does not have any copyright date on the box top.

[Rob Hall]

I remember building the original issue DOH kit as a kid..that 4 spoke steering wheel was odd--something left over from a previous NASCAR version of the tooling, maybe? 

[Daddyfink]

The original issue is indeed an ex stock car kit. It has the interior tub, cage, air cleaner and steering wheel from its racing heritage. 

And of course, the body issues of a Charger/Daytona flush rear window. 

[stavanzer]

Thanks Force! I now know what to look for to verify that it is an original kit. 1979 does not seem like that long ago.....

[Snake45]

The DOH glue bomb I recently "restored" had the 500 body, no cowl vents, no windshield wipers, no body emblems, molded in orange. Which issue was that? Were cowl vents added back at some point? 

I also recently finished a 500 kit I started in the early '90s. It had cowl vents, wipers, body emblems, and sharp-edge-vents on the hood. 

[Mark]

The earliest kits had no cowl vents, windshield wipers, or other trim.  They also had the gutted interior from the (first) NASCAR Daytona kit.

Most ERTL issue kits have the trim added because they were done after the stock Daytona and 500 issues.  All use the same body.

Only the Round 2 issue has the corrected rear window.  RC2 tooled that for the Fast & Furious version, but didn't think to include it in the Dukes kits they ran after that.  Both Rc2 and Round 2 have issued different kits with the regular rear window and the 500/Daytona flush window, so apparently the tool can be changed back and forth.  The Round 2 snap kit is unrelated, and has only the regular back window.

[bandit1]

I guess i have a corrected version being this is the repop prior to the Country Charger issue???

Since these pics were posted i do have the main body, hood, cowl and engine in paint color... HEMI ORANGE!!! 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2018 by bandit1

[Bob Ellis]

For whatever it is worth, this kit good for windshield, exhaust, and hemi engine to restore old mpc chargers

[Force]

It's not the best Charger kit on the market but it was the first Charger I built...and it was back in 1979-80.
Nowadays there are much better kits available.

[CapSat 6]

Mark is correct- the only issue of the General Lee to have that 4 spoke steering wheel is the original MPC issue, from around 1979. They were widely available, and there are still tons of them on the collector's market.

I think that steering wheel was actually the racing steering wheel from the original MPC 1968-70 Charger annuals. I never cared for it. I might have a few if you want them, just let me know.

The other unique features & parts from the first issue of the General Lee:

- "Racing" interior. This was a "stripped" interior bucket with a funky "fiberglass" texture all over it. It was originally used in the old MPC K & K Insurance NASCAR Daytona. Thankfully, they put the stock interior back in further issues of the kit (MPC Charger 500 from around 1987, Daytona from around 1989, all future General Lees, Fast & Furious cars after that had the stock interior).

- "Racing" body. The original MPC General Lee had a body that had no wipers or cowl vents, a 500 (flat) rear window, 3 hood pins on the hood, two hood pins on the trunk (which the real General Lees never had in any form), no emblems or trim moldings except for the window moldings. The hood was a 1970 / Daytona style hood, last seen in the K & K Daytona. Only the first issue Charger 500 from 1987 had the correct 1969-style hood. The 1968-69 and Daytona-70 hoods differ greatly in the shapes of the hood depressions. Hood and trunk pins disappeared after the MPC General Lee issue, and cowl vents were added back onto the body (poorly). After converting this body back from a Daytona (last seen in 1971, as the Richard Brooks car), they redid the front corners of the fenders back to stock 1969-style, but it wasn't a first rate job, and that funkiness still persists with the current issues of this tool. The door scoops were also restored back from having the 1970 style scoop covers, and they never looked right after that, either.  

So even those original MPC General Lees made a poor replica of the car as seen on TV, as the TV cars had mostly stock interiors, and mostly stock bodies.

The early MPC kits still make a decent basis for a race car. I last picked one up as a built (no paint) for $4 at the Philly NNL.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Snake45]

19 minutes ago, CapSat 6 said:

- "Racing" body. The original MPC General Lee had a body that had no wipers or cowl vents, a 500 (flat) rear window, 3 hood pins on the hood, two hood pins on the trunk (which the real General Lees never had in any form), no emblems or trim moldings except for the window moldings.   

 

IIRC, both the (apparently) original DOH I restored and the 1987 500 kit bodies had wheel opening moldings around the rear wheels, but not around the front. Kinda strange.

[CapSat 6]

9 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

IIRC, both the (apparently) original DOH I restored and the 1987 500 kit bodies had wheel opening moldings around the rear wheels, but not around the front. Kinda strange.

Correct- that, too! Such a weird miss that I missed it here, too! I do remember painting the front fender moldings on freehand on a few builds in the 80's!  

[Rob Hall]

13 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

IIRC, both the (apparently) original DOH I restored and the 1987 500 kit bodies had wheel opening moldings around the rear wheels, but not around the front. Kinda strange.

I suspect the original MPC body tooling ('70 Charger) had the front wheel wells opened up for the K&K Insurance NASCAR Daytona kit, then they revised the wheelwells and front fenders to 1969 style for the General Lee kit...?    Not sure...I have the MPC '68, '69, '70 annuals but not the NASCAR Daytona.  

Edited April 30, 2018 by Rob Hall

[Snake45]

25 minutes ago, CapSat 6 said:

Correct- that, too! Such a weird miss that I missed it here, too! I do remember painting the front fender moldings on freehand on a few builds in the 80's!  

Yup. I left them all "bare" on the resto DOH but on the Charger 500, my beloved Silver Sharpie made quick work of faking the fronts to match the rears.

[CapSat 6]

3 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

I suspect the original MPC body tooling ('70 Charger) had the front wheel wells opened up for the K&K Insurance NASCAR Daytona kit, then they revised the wheelwells and front fenders to 1969 style for the General Lee kit...?    Not sure...I have the MPC '68, '69, '70 annuals but not the NASCAR Daytona.  

Yes- the Daytona bodies I have seen have revised front fender openings, to clear the wide stock car tires in those kits. It makes sense that perhaps the fender openings were restored for the General Lee kits, but the trim was not.

[Force]

The real Daytona NASCAR race cars had much lower stance than the road going counterparts, especially in front, plus they had wider tires, so all of the NASCAR Dodge and Plymouth race cars back then had the wheel arches opened up.
So MPC probably tried to replicate that and the molding was missed when they revised the body back.

Here is a street Daytona and the K & K Insurance NASCAR race car nose to nose,  you see the race car is substantially lower and the top of the front wheel arch is way above the crest of the body feature line that runs along the side of the body, even the rear arch is opened up right up against the same feature line on the quarter panel, the rear arch is about an inch-inch and a half below it on the street car.

Edited April 30, 2018 by Force

[stavanzer]

Any Idea where the MPC-706 boxing falls in the tree oh DOH Kits. I found one, but can't tell what's in it. Is molded in white, if that helps. No Date on the boxtop.

[CapSat 6]

2 minutes ago, alexis said:

Any Idea where the MPC-706 boxing falls in the tree oh DOH Kits. I found one, but can't tell what's in it. Is molded in white, if that helps. No Date on the boxtop.

Molded in white would make it fairly recent. Most until very recently were molded in orange. Does the box bottom show the contents in silhouette? If so, then it's likely from 2011 or later. Also, a big tell would be the back window- tunnel back style or flat glass? If it's a tunnel back, it's one of the more recent versions.

[stavanzer]

I can't tell. The box is shown open, but all parts are sealed in bags, including the tires. The tire bag should have been my clue. It has to be a newer kit.

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/52143045

 

 

[CapSat 6]

39 minutes ago, alexis said:

I can't tell. The box is shown open, but all parts are sealed in bags, including the tires. The tire bag should have been my clue. It has to be a newer kit.

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/52143045

 

 

I was able to zoom the picture of the bagged parts- it looks like a tunnel back rear window. In any case, I'm fairly certain that any of these molded in white are the latest version, last available just a few years ago. I think all of the white Lees came with the tunnel back body, so it would be a bit better than any of the older issues. Most likely no banjo 4-spoke steering wheel, though...  

[stavanzer]

Thanks for the assist, Cap'n. It is really the 4 spoke and the older kit(wrong as the body may be) that I am looking for.

[Force]

The easiest way to be sure to find what you're looking for is to look for the first issue with the 1979 copyright date on the box lid, all were molded in orange.

There are some AMT/ERTL issues of the DOH Charger with copyright dates 1997 and 2001 on the lids kit# 8597 molded in orange, and a couple without dates on the lid with kit# 38372 from 2005 and 2007 with different boxart I think none of these are the same as the 1979 issue.

Round 2 reinstated the MPC brand, no copyright dates on the box lids on these DOH Charger kits and most of them are molded in white, the kit numbers are 706, 706/L12 and 754/12 for the "glo in the dark" Ghost of General Lee issue and 766/06 for the collectors tin version.

There is an Airfix version of the kit also from 1982 kit# 06430 or 9 06430

Here is a 1979 issue on ebay right now. https://www.ebay.com/itm/MPC-General-Lee-1-25-1969-Dodge-Charger-The-Dukes-of-Hazzard/202302163101?epid=1705140827&hash=item2f1a26089d:g:Y1AAAOSwuWha3naP

Edited May 5, 2018 by Force

[CapSat 6]

Here’s a buy it now for just the interior set up from an original Lee. This seller also has the roll cage listed seperately: 

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F112982062331