AMT 1960 3-in-1 Ford F-100 Pickup Truck

[rekcirb13]

Hi guys,

Does anyone know if AMT ever re-released their great 1960 Ford F-100 Pickup kit which included parts for a stock, a custom, or a gas station service pickup? It had an 8 foot bed and included a single axle ramp trailer. I know that one of the  resin casters has cast a 1957-1960 F-100 kit with a 6 foot bed, but I am looking for the original AMT kit. I have written to AMT several times, always with no response. Anyone out there who knows if these molds are still around?

Thanks,

Bob

[Oldcarfan27]

Chalk that one and the 66 Chevy pickup as probably lost in the "Great Purge".

[leafsprings]

There is hope, they can reverse engineer from a complete old kit, as they have done recently with the IH 4070A. There is a strong market for it, old paint and glue bombs consistently sell for over $100 as long as I can remember. Maybe an insider can chime in if it's in the cards.

[Casey]

For context, John G works for Round2, who manages the AMT brand:

JohnG says:

July 31, 2014 at 7:40 pm

This is only a portion of the molds, but goes way beyond the latest catalog. Some tools were never sampled in this program. I can say without a doubt that the early 60’s Ford trucks are long gone, unfortunately.

[Oldcarfan27]

4 hours ago, leafsprings said:

There is hope, they can reverse engineer from a complete old kit, as they have done recently with the IH 4070A. There is a strong market for it, old paint and glue bombs consistently sell for over $100 as long as I can remember. Maybe an insider can chime in if it's in the cards.

Considering we already have both trucks as viable, currently available kits, I'd say chances of retooling these are pretty slim.

[tim boyd]

Given the popularity of the Moebius series of mid 1960's to early 1970's pickup kits, which have been very good sellers from what I hear, there will be added interest in filling the gaps in the late-1950's to late 1970's pickup kit tooling.  However, this would likely be from new tooling rather than reissues/modified reissues (and as indicated above, the tooling for the original 1960 F100 kit is long gone from what we know).  Personally, the 1967/68 Chevy pickup and the 1957 F100 would be at the top of my list, but with creative used of tooling components, if a 1957 F100 came along, a 1960 F100 (and 1958/1959 versions) would seem to be a logical extension. 

Just so we are clear on the above, I have no insider info to base this on, these are just my own personal thoughts and observations....TB 

[Mark]

Ertl did a halfway decent 1/25 scale diecast '60 pickup.  Unfortunately they chose to do it as a 4 x 4, and included the typical junk cast as part of the bed floor.  I've got one, might use the cab to build a ramp truck or a stepside.

[tim boyd]

17 hours ago, Mark said:

Ertl did a halfway decent 1/25 scale diecast '60 pickup.  Unfortunately they chose to do it as a 4 x 4, and included the typical junk cast as part of the bed floor.  I've got one, might use the cab to build a ramp truck or a stepside.

Somewhere in my stash I have an aftermarket 1960 F-100 that was cast in a metal-like material.   IIRC, I included a picture of it in the 3-part Pickup Kit History series I did for Scale Auto a few years back..   TB

[Mr. Metallic]

22 hours ago, Mark said:

Ertl did a halfway decent 1/25 scale diecast '60 pickup.  Unfortunately they chose to do it as a 4 x 4, and included the typical junk cast as part of the bed floor.  I've got one, might use the cab to build a ramp truck or a stepside.

Could do it as a stepside too since the beds and fenders didn't change between 53 and sometime in the 70's no?

[Mark]

5 hours ago, tim boyd said:

Somewhere in my stash I have an aftermarket 1960 F-100 that was cast in a metal-like material.   IIRC, I included a picture of it in the 3-part Pickup Kit History series I did for Scale Auto a few years back..   TB

I've seen that "metal" one; it might be resin with aluminum powder in it, similar to the "all metal" 1:1 auto body fillers out there.  I'd be extra cautious sanding or grinding that stuff.

I've got another '60 pickup, that I fished out of a junk box at a toy show.  Someone cut the thing in half with a wood burning pencil.  I only have the front half, thankfully the hood was still with it!

[leafsprings]

On 3/10/2022 at 5:58 AM, tim boyd said:

 if a 1957 F100 came along, a 1960 F100 (and 1958/1959 versions) would seem to be a logical extension. 

 

Thanks for your input Tim. IMO, the 57, 58, 59, 60 would be a great series,  improvements could be made with a  frame and suspension, and  cab and bed could be separate pieces. One other thing that could be improved,  a separate bench seat  not molded into the interior tub.  I believe Modelhaus covered the 57, 58 and 60 in resin, but never did the '59. ( shown below) IMO, the best looking of the series.

Edited March 14, 2022 by leafsprings

[espo]

As mentioned, maybe with Moebius interest in Ford pickups the '60 model and others could be their next project. 

[Tom Geiger]

1 hour ago, espo said:

As mentioned, maybe with Moebius interest in Ford pickups the '60 model and others could be their next project. 

Just piping in....  Back when this series was just a Dave Burket pipe dream, he had visions of creating the entire series. Dave is a Ford guy so this was his focus, not the other deserving brands.  He pitched the idea to Moebius and even self funded the versions you see as Model King releases.

If it was up to Dave, he would have done each and every year. In fact the work box that just came out first started with my model Pyrite's Paddler 53 Ford pickup. Of course business happens and times change.  Moebius changed hands and there were some growing pains there.  We didn't know the mindset of the new owners.  At least Dave Metzner is still involved and the trucks keep coming.  

For the Chevy guys, Round 2 has the 55 & 57 pickups.  Popping out a 56 would be nothing more than adding the different emblems from the 55.  The 58-59 trucks used the same chassis, and the interiors are even close enough.  With tooling of new bodies etc.  these could be brought to market fairly easy!

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by Tom Geiger

[espo]

29 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Just piping in....  Back when this series was just a Dave Burket pipe dream, he had visions of creating the entire series. Dave is a Ford guy so this was his focus, not the other deserving brands.  He pitched the idea to Moebius and even self funded the versions you see as Model King releases.

If it was up to Dave, he would have done each and every year. In fact the work box that just came out first started with my model Pyrite's Paddler 53 Ford pickup. Of course business happens and times change.  Moebius changed hands and there were some growing pains there.  We didn't know the mindset of the new owners.  At least Dave Metzner is still involved and the trucks keep coming.  

For the Chevy guys, Round 2 has the 55 & 57 pickups.  Popping out a 56 would be nothing more than adding the different emblems from the 55.  The 58-59 trucks used the same chassis, and the interiors are even close enough.  With tooling of new bodies etc.  these could be brought to market fairly easy!

 

Thankyou for the back ground info. I'm more of a GM truck type, but I do appreciate a good looking Ford pickup as well. My hope is that one or more of the model companies can find a business plan that would allow them to put out some of the pick up models we all seem to want. 

[tim boyd]

On 3/11/2022 at 11:41 AM, Mark said:

I've seen that "metal" one; it might be resin with aluminum powder in it, similar to the "all metal" 1:1 auto body fillers out there.  I'd be extra cautious sanding or grinding that stuff.

I've got another '60 pickup, that I fished out of a junk box at a toy show.  Someone cut the thing in half with a wood burning pencil.  I only have the front half, thankfully the hood was still with it!

I finally remembered...I think that the '60 Ford Pickup kit was ordered from Illinois Replica Conversions (or IIRC) in the mid 1980's....at the time he was providing a number of aftermarket conversion bodies, primarily for Class8 Semi-Truck modelers.   Mine has a crack in the body which was one of the reasons it was not built at the time....TB 

[Fat Brian]

On 3/11/2022 at 11:03 AM, Mr. Metallic said:

Could do it as a stepside too since the beds and fenders didn't change between 53 and sometime in the 70's no?

Yeah, 53 to mid 70s beds are the same. At some point they changed the top rails from being angled to flat for the later 70s beds.

[leafsprings]

The same Flareside bed ( stepside in GM )  was used from '53-'72.  The problem with the stepside conversion is the '60   Styleside bed ( fleetside in GM ) was molded into the cab. The separation leaves you with no back of cab.  Aftermarket  never offered a resin back of cab panel for this, or a small back window back of cab panel, probably because there was not enough interest because it was a low production kit. That should change if it was re issued thru reverse engineering and they become plentiful.

Edited March 14, 2022 by leafsprings

[afx]

For what it is worth the MPC Datsun 620 kit was molded with the front panel of the bed attached to the back wall of the cab.  I cut it free from the cab and attached it to the bed, then made a filler panel.

[leafsprings]

I did pretty much the same on a F 350 conversion, flat panel with some putty work, but the back of '57-'60 cabs really have a lot of detail that is hard to duplicate.

[Plowboy]

On 3/9/2022 at 8:36 PM, leafsprings said:

There is hope, they can reverse engineer from a complete old kit, as they have done recently with the IH 4070A. There is a strong market for it, old paint and glue bombs consistently sell for over $100 as long as I can remember. Maybe an insider can chime in if it's in the cards.

And the '63 Nova wagon. I would love to see Round2 do the same thing with the '60 along with the '61-'63s. I'd be happy with them just the way they were.

 

[Casey]

11 hours ago, Plowboy said:

And the '63 Nova wagon. I would love to see Round2 do the same thing with the '60 along with the '61-'63s. I'd be happy with them just the way they were.

I suspect this is exactly what Round2 has planned, paired with the reappearance of the full streamliner body for the re-tooled go-kart, just like the annual '63 F-100 kit:

[mk11]

17 hours ago, Plowboy said:

And the '63 Nova wagon. I would love to see Round2 do the same thing with the '60 along with the '61-'63s. I'd be happy with them just the way they were.

 

Amen 

[Plowboy]

Something else Round2 could with the unibodies (like they did with the Nova wagon) is do a second release with the uber rare camper top that extended over the cab. Another with a trailer and the AWB Falcon. 

[rekcirb13]

On 3/9/2022 at 5:53 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Chalk that one and the 66 Chevy pickup as probably lost in the "Great Purge".

Thank you, Patrick.

[rekcirb13]

Thank you, Patrick.