T & T Productions Ala Kart ?

[Jon Haigwood]

A build buddy is looking for info on this kit

Thanks for any info.

 

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by Jon Haigwood

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm 98.7777235% sure it's a resin repop of the original AMT Ala Kart kit issued in the early 1960s (1962?)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-T-amp-T-Resin-Models-Barris-034-Ala-Kart-034-Resin-Kit-Mint-Boxed-/353119134000?nma=true&si=eq5COFb%2FQTLhLM4FjtC64DbX1XY%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

It is NOT the same as the 2002 completely retooled kit, which shares absolutely nothing with the original kit.

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy

[Greg Myers]

Wonder what licencing issues there are ?

[Jon Haigwood]

5 minutes ago, Greg Myers said:

Wonder what licencing issues there are ?

Not sure holds rights to it, AMT ? Another club member who also has this kit said it was approved by Barris  maybe 30 trs ago." There were several other different customs cast by T&T like the Dobie Gillis Coupe, The Car, and the Green Hornet."

Not guaranteeing  the accuracy of that information. 

[Greg Myers]

Thank you Jon. I always wonder about the licencing issues with resin casters

[Dave Van]

T&T kits are ROUGH....or my Mad Max Falcon is.......so rough it now has 'collector' status and will remain untouched!! 

[OldNYJim]

Huh, interesting - I had no idea Ala Kart kits were rare enough at one point where they got resin cast!  

[Ace-Garageguy]

9 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Huh, interesting - I had no idea Ala Kart kits were rare enough at one point where they got resin cast!  

I'm pretty sure the full original-tool Ala Kart double kit was only re-run once by AMT, so there was about a 30 year span (before the internet allowed model collectors to easily connect) when the AMT kits were hard to find. I imagine that was the justification for re-popping it in resin.

What's also kinda surprising is that the kit was entirely re-tooled for the 2002 release. That's a lot of money to spend considering most of the original tooling still exists, and most of the Ala Kart parts were included in the old AMT '29 Ford roadster kit (issued many times over the years).

                          

                  

[Mark]

All of the Sixties issues of the '29 double kit had the complete Ala Kart included.  There was the original issue, a second issue with different box art, from around 1965 (when the 1:1 car was restored following a fire), and two Mod Rod issues including one that Round 2 copied the box art from for their reissue.  All Sixties issues (but not the Round 2 issue) have all of the Ala Kart parts and decals, though the last couple of Sixties issues had a smaller decal sheet.  The smaller sheet lacks the scallops for the underside of the fenders.  The later issues de-emphasized the Kart on the box art in favor of other versions that used the optional parts.  Optional parts included a Deuce grille and shell, a fuel tank, and a dual quad intake setup.  Between using those parts and possibly leaving the fenders off, you could make it look quite different from the Kart.

The black Street Rods series version from 1973 is the one where the wheels and headlights got changed and many of the Kart parts were left out.  AMT no longer owned the 1:1 Kart (they sold it around 1970) so they probably felt free to change the kit.  The Street Rods issue was the last one with enough parts for two complete cars until the Round 2 issue.  Interim issues used some of the Kart parts as optional parts for the stock '29 roadster. 

[Snake45]

Couple years ago I picked up, in a "junkyard" lot, an apparently complete and rebuildable first-issue (I think) Ala Kart. Kind of a shame that I have little if any interest in Ala Kart. 

[Jon Haigwood]

This info from a Ala Kart expert. : 

" decals made by Fred Cady. However even they weren't correct. After you correct all the inaccuracies with the Ala Kart kit none of the decals fit. The Fred cady decals were the closest But I still needed three sets to decal it correctl" 

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, Mark said:

...All Sixties issues (but not the Round 2 issue) have all of the Ala Kart parts and decals, though the last couple of Sixties issues had a smaller decal sheet.  The smaller sheet lacks the scallops for the underside of the fenders.  The later issues de-emphasized the Kart on the box art in favor of other versions that used the optional parts...

Could you possibly post photos of those boxings?  If the entire Kart is in those kits, I'd like to get my hands on a few more "builders". I have a couple first-issue kits, and several of the '29 Ford kits where parts of the Kart are modified (fender unit missing louvers, for example), but if I can get complete, original Karts in other kits, I can save my virgin originals (for what I don't know).

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

...Kind of a shame that I have little if any interest in Ala Kart. 

I understand that it doesn't appeal to everyone. My particular fascination with it comes from having seen it at a show soon after it was built...when it blew me away, having seen it in the mags previously...and later getting a first-issue kit of the thing as a gift. I was a follower of Barris at the time, and read everything I could get my greasy little hands on about his work.

Say what you will about Barris, but over the years he did build some great looking stuff (and some real awful stuff too, of course), and contributed a whole helluva lot to the knowledge base of car-building hobbyists with all his in-depth tech articles in the real-car mags.

[Jon Haigwood]

I have always liked the Ala Kart and have a few kits in my stash. I wanted to build one until I saw the one built by a fellow club member known here as 38 Crush.

He spent years collecting photos and information to build the most accurate Ala Kart out there. I could never come close to this so I decided I would do some Phantom builds. AKA: Ala Delivery etc etc.

I'm happy just having a Barris signed photo of it.(he is the one that got the resin T&T kit)

Edited July 11, 2020 by Jon Haigwood

[Mark]

These two, plus the original (not the Round 2 copy) gold, fenderless Mod Rod pictured early in the thread, all have the Ala Kart version intact.

There is also a Collectors' Series issue '29 roadster that was issued in '67 or '68, but I don't think that one had the Ala Kart included at all.  It's not like you're going to trip over that one at a show or on eBay anyway.

If one of your originals isn't in absolutely mint condition, I'd go ahead and build it.  If I ever get to one, I'd start with the original kit but maybe use some parts from the newer tool kit.  The original kit's main faults IMO are the wheels and tires, and the "flow" (or lack thereof) between the hood side panels and headlamp pods.

[Snake45]

43 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I understand that it doesn't appeal to everyone.

I keep hoping someone would want it enough to offer me a halfway decent trade for it, but so far, not so much as a nibble. 

[Mark]

It was a great selling kit in its day, so there are a lot of them around.  As popular as the Kart was, based on the parts boxes I have sifted through over the years, the '29 roadster was the more popular of the two cars in the kit.

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 7/11/2020 at 2:31 PM, Mark said:

These two, plus the original (not the Round 2 copy) gold, fenderless Mod Rod pictured early in the thread, all have the Ala Kart version intact.

Thank you sir.

 

On 7/11/2020 at 2:31 PM, Mark said:

If one of your originals isn't in absolutely mint condition, I'd go ahead and build it.  If I ever get to one, I'd start with the original kit but maybe use some parts from the newer tool kit.  The original kit's main faults IMO are the wheels and tires, and the "flow" (or lack thereof) between the hood side panels and headlamp pods.

One original is mint, one very close, but I have several builders too. The mint one even smells new, and transports me back to a far better time with just one whiff.  

I've started exactly the kind of build you're talking about...mixing the best parts from both kits to get what I would consider a much more accurate representation of the real car than either kit builds on its own.

The stance of the original kit is horrible, and many of the proportions are a little off in the re-tool, most notably the ridiculous 1/32 scale engine.