AMT's Speed & Custom Division

[Casey]

I thought there as an exiting topic concerning AMT's Speed & Custom division (subsidiary, in legal terms), but a search turned up nothing, so here we go.

There's plenty of info on the web, just a Google search away, detailing who ran the division (Gene Winfield) and what the shop produced, but they put out some interesting automotive related vehicles-- the Piranha, Get Smart Sunbeam, Chrysler 300X, and maybe Ford's '66 Fairlane GT-X show car? Neat stuff, at any rate, and worth checking out if you are interested in the history of AMT:

Chrysler 300X: http://www.carstyling.ru/en/car/1966_chrysler_300x/images/25830/

Found the blurb about the 300X here: https://books.google.com/books?id=g9QDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88&dq=amt+speed+and+custom&source=bl&ots=_wfUOz34lk&sig=ACfU3U1WpW_848eivLU4v5daMelBbym_UA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHy7_V7o7pAhXSGM0KHQlVD0oQ6AEwBHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=amt speed and custom&f=false

Ford Fairlane GT-X: https://journal.classiccars.com/2020/02/15/obsession-to-detail-brings-custom-ford-prototype-back-to-life/

Piranha info: https://www.c-we.com/piranha/index.htm

This envelope and letter, showing the then-current custom parts AMT's Speed & Custom division offered for '67 Camaros, found on eBay (and still currently available):

 

Yes, the building in Phoenix, AZ, still exists, and appears to be vacant...maybe Mr. Myers can take a cruise out there one day and check it out.

And lest you think the ideas and parts created by Mr. Winfield and others didn't bear fruit, I direct you to the AMT '69 Camaro kit, which included some intriguing custom parts, which look very familiar to those offered by the Speed & Custom shop:

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by Casey

[Jack L]

I have a full size flyer with the Camaro and parts with a price list. the scoops and small rear spoiler were in the AMT 69 Camaro h/t annual kit .also have a nice  catalog from amt speed & custom . 

[Casey]

13 minutes ago, Jack L said:

I have a full size flyer with the Camaro and parts with a price list. the scoops and small rear spoiler were in the AMT 69 Camaro h/t annual kit .also have a nice  catalog from amt speed & custom . 

Can you scan and post those, please?

[Jack L]

I can email  them to you 

 

[keyser]

Casey, yet again you shoot and score. Esoterica 'r Casey

[Casey]

23 hours ago, Jack L said:

I have a full size flyer with the Camaro and parts with a price list. the scoops and small rear spoiler were in the AMT 69 Camaro h/t annual kit .also have a nice  catalog from amt speed & custom . 

Thanks goes to Jack for scanning the catalog and flyer:

 

 

[Casey]

And the flyer, showing the custom vehicles built by the Speed & Custom division:

[Mark]

There's an article in Rod & Custom about another car built by AMT Speed and Custom.  It was built for a TV show, by swapping a number of lightweight parts it converted from a '31 Chevy roadster to a '68 Camaro convertible.  It obviously wasn't a runner but it did have an engine in it (no radiator as I recall).  All of the body panels just set in place, the Camaro wheels were discs that overlaid the roadster tires, things like that.  The conversion took place during a musical number on the show.

I remember seeing a photo of the AMT facility (maybe in that same article).  Winfield did have a yellow '40 Ford sedan delivery that was painted similarly to the first issue of AMT's kit.

The Ala Kart (owned by AMT since the early Sixties) was stored out in Arizona too.  The Rodders' Journal article mentions it having been sold when that operation was closed down. 

[Casey]

2 hours ago, Mark said:

I remember seeing a photo of the AMT facility (maybe in that same article).  Winfield did have a yellow '40 Ford sedan delivery that was painted similarly to the first issue of AMT's kit.

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/gene-winfield/

Edited May 1, 2020 by Casey

[Jack L]

the 69 corvette ht annual had the panel decals like the yellow vette the box had a pic on the side

[ChrisBcritter]

Note the '34 Ford sedan in the background - I recall a car like that was displayed in the mid-1970s at the Antique Auto Museum in Highland Park, IL as the "Bonnie and Clyde AMT Movie Car". Never understood the "AMT" connection until now. This is the only ad I have for it, but the description leaves out AMT:

 

 

[Casey]

3 hours ago, Jack L said:

the 69 corvette ht annual had the panel decals like the yellow vette the box had a pic on the side

[Casey]

32 minutes ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Note the '34 Ford sedan in the background - I recall a car like that was displayed in the mid-1970s at the Antique Auto Museum in Highland Park, IL as the "Bonnie and Clyde AMT Movie Car". Never understood the "AMT" connection until now. This is the only ad I have for it, but the description leaves out AMT:

AMT pulled a "close enough" with the kit, using a '32 Ford Victoria, but I can't say I blame them. Things have come full circle in a way, with Round2 now including die-cut backdrops with multiple reissues.

[ChrisBcritter]

Oh, that's right - and the real-life Bonnie and Clyde photographed themselves with a stolen '32 B-400, so again close enough.

[Richard Bartrop]

I remember seeing that '32 Chevy/ Camaro switcher at a Vancouver car show way back when.  Thanks for the article!

[Modelbuilder Mark]

hah, I have driven past this place soooo many times and no idea of its history. My daughter lives only a few miles from there.

 

 

[Casey]