Why was the Supernatural 67 Impala 4 door kit discontued?

[GMP440]

Recently I read that the Supernatural 67 Impala 4 door discontinued.  Not enough sales?  Will this be reissued again in the future?

[Matt T.]

Being a TV license, maybe it expired? I fully expect to see this tooling again, probably in police, taxi, or fire trim. 

[Hondamatic]

3 hours ago, Matt T. said:

Being a TV license, maybe it expired? I fully expect to see this tooling again, probably in police, taxi, or fire trim. 

Yes something without those wheels and the licensing cost should be pretty good. Dog dish caps maybe?? 

[oldcarfan]

My guess is we'll see it as a family car, police car, etc. No doubt it will come out with stock steel wheels and hubcaps of some sort.

[Jordan White]

37 minutes ago, Hondamatic said:

Yes something without those wheels and the licensing cost should be pretty good. Dog dish caps maybe?? 

Honestly they just need to sell the wheels and tires as a parts pack since those are great for 4x4s, and the only other kit they are found is one of the 90s Suzuki Jimny kits.

[Stef]

Never got around to building either the Impala 2-door or supernatural 4-door; would love love love to build this kit up as a taxi, fire chief, or police car, poverty caps and all!

[Muncie]

I'm hoping there will be a future for this kit - with a stock front seat. (doesn't somebody make one?) I'll be patient.

[W-409]

Or even better, if they converted it into a four door sedan Bel Air.

Well, honestly I'm not holding my breath on that one. But, a re-release with stock parts would be cool.

[yellowsportwagon]

15 hours ago, Jordan White said:

Honestly they just need to sell the wheels and tires as a parts pack since those are great for 4x4s, and the only other kit they are found is one of the 90s Suzuki Jimny kits.

Monogram GSX has these wheels too

[thatz4u]

Hobby Lobby in the Dayton, OH area seems to have a bunch of these..

[stavanzer]

I remember some chatter at the time the 4 door Supernatural kit was announced, that the Car it represents was an Uncommon variant and not used for Taxi/ Police or light commercial service. A Neat car in it's own right, but not useful for much else in the 1 to 1 world.

There are probably threads discussing the kit and what exactly it is, but I'm not finding them.

Somebody with more interest could search for  those comments and prove (or disprove) my recollections.

Discontinuing the kit, may just mean the the market is currently saturated, and the kit sales have fallen off to the point where there is no need to keep it in the lineup.

Nothing sinister, just marketing. Even the H.L. in Bakersfield has a few of the kits.

[Stef]

1 hour ago, stavanzer said:

...the Car it represents was an Uncommon variant and not used for Taxi/ Police or light commercial service

I remember reading that awhile back too, @stavanzer. I'm no expert; maybe we builders adding B-pillar detail and changing a few other things up a bit might be sufficient-enough to serve as a decent representation?

[1972coronet]

Speaking only of the body style : the Supernatural version is a four door hardtop ( Sports Sedan in Chevrolet nomenclature ) , whereas the police/taxi (9C1 , etc.) models were four door sedans (framed door glass and "complete" B-pillar). 

[niteowl7710]

6 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

Speaking only of the body style : the Supernatural version is a four door hardtop ( Sports Sedan in Chevrolet nomenclature ) , whereas the police/taxi (9C1 , etc.) models were four door sedans (framed door glass and "complete" B-pillar). 

The police cars would have also been Biscayne trim level for the majority as well.

[niteowl7710]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:51 PM, GMP440 said:

Recently I read that the Supernatural 67 Impala 4 door discontinued.  Not enough sales?  Will this be reissued again in the future?

Licensing tends to run on three year terms, and that kit was produced in 2020, so the licensing is up. Sales of the kit vs. the cost of a future renewal would dictate whether it's ever reissued as the TV car in the future.

[Rob Hall]

14 hours ago, Stef said:

I remember reading that awhile back too, @stavanzer. I'm no expert; maybe we builders adding B-pillar detail and changing a few other things up a bit might be sufficient-enough to serve as a decent representation?

The roofline shape is different on a 4dr sedan...fixed B-pillar, more vertical C-pillar, slightly higher roof, different rear window shape, side window door frames...to do a sedan would require a new body tooling.   I am surprised we haven't seen a resin or 3d printed '67 Biscayne/Bel Air/Impala 4dr sedan conversion, would be popular w/ the police car builders.  

Edited April 5, 2024 by Rob Hall

[Robberbaron]

Comparison pics of 4-door hardtop vs. 4-door sedan:

 

[stavanzer]

On 4/5/2024 at 6:06 AM, 1972coronet said:

Speaking only of the body style : the Supernatural version is a four door hardtop ( Sports Sedan in Chevrolet nomenclature ) , whereas the police/taxi (9C1 , etc.) models were four door sedans (framed door glass and "complete" B-pillar). 

 

12 hours ago, Robberbaron said:

Comparison pics of 4-door hardtop vs. 4-door sedan:

 

These are the things I remember seeing. The Four Door Hardtop, and High Level Trim, make the car a hard sell for Light Commercial & LEO Modelers.

James Duff mentions something that I had net even considered, that with the probable end of the License it may be that the whole program is over.

All of those considerations aside, Round2 did not spend all that effort and cash for a One & Done tool, so something may happen to it in the future. I'm sure there were plans made to utilize the tooling in some form, someday. We just have no idea what they are. I'm content to wait and see.

 

[Rob Hall]

Reissuing it as a regular ‘67 Impala 4dr ht would need just some wheel covers and a correct bench seat, with some existing redline tires.  Not sure how well that would sell, pretty niche.  I’ve got the parts to do one like that, and a phantom 4dr SS parts w/ parts from a coupe kit.

Edited April 6, 2024 by Rob Hall

[niteowl7710]

7 hours ago, stavanzer said:

All of those considerations aside, Round2 did not spend all that effort and cash for a One & Done tool, so something may happen to it in the future. I'm sure there were plans made to utilize the tooling in some form, someday. We just have no idea what they are. I'm content to wait and see.

Time to bust out them Coke decals...

[stavanzer]

47 minutes ago, niteowl7710 said:

Time to bust out them Coke decals...

Fair Enough.

Coke gets a lot of grief here, but it sells lots of kits to collectors, and the decals don't hurt anybody.

(besides, maybe it will be Sprite, or Moxie or Mello Yello)  I'd pay for Moxie Decals. Do you hear me Steve G?  Bring us some Moxie Branded kits! Please?

[Mr. Metallic]

On 4/4/2024 at 8:40 PM, stavanzer said:

 

There are probably threads discussing the kit and what exactly it is, but I'm not finding them.

 

Found it for you, all 22 pages worth.

Admins- maybe combine this topic with the main one?

 

[Luc Janssens]

On 4/7/2024 at 1:48 AM, niteowl7710 said:

Time to bust out them Coke decals...

If this is what it takes to have a standard bench seat and OEM wheels, I'm all for it, besides think it will be nice in red.

Cheers!

[Matt T.]

6 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

If this is what it takes to have a standard bench seat and OEM wheels, I'm all for it, besides think it will be nice in red.

Cheers!

Yes! A Coca Cola salesman’s car. Put some big decals on the sheet that look like shop signage and 3-4 bottle boxes for the rear seat. Bring it on! 

[PintoKING]

Sure would be nice for it to be reissued as as Police/taxi!