AMT 1968 Chevy El Camino Street Machine Announced for Reissue

[Justin Porter]

Announced today with a TBA release date and no glimpse yet of the new box art, according to Stevens International we we will be seeing a reissue of the AMT '68 El Camino Street Machine. This is especially good news as far as I'm concerned because this kit's EFI supercharged Chevy big block was a really well done piece of modern in-scale hot rodding. Kit #1484 and here's looking forward to it returning to the line-up. Glad to see that this line of kits is experiencing enough success that Round 2 is continuing to reissue them. 

[Chuck Kourouklis]

The STREET MACHINE.

Very cool!

[tim boyd]

2 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

Announced today wthith a TBA release date and no glimpse yet of the new box art, according to Stevens International we we will be seeing a reissue of the AMT '68 El Camino Street Machine. This is especially good news as far as I'm concerned because this kit's EFI supercharged Chevy big block was a really well done piece of modern in-scale hot rodding. Kit #1484 and here's looking forward to it returning to the line-up. Glad to see that this line of kits is experiencing enough success that Round 2 is continuing to reissue them. 

I agree and I have had been privately advocating for this for this reissue for quite some time now.  Sure hope Stephens is correct with this info.  

In addition to the EFI setup which was an exact duplicate of a popular aftermarket EFI system from the mid to late 1990s, this kit has a separate rear pickup bed with mini-tubs (!) and engraved wood strips, and a very nice set of late 1990s (before the Dubs era) 17" style aftermarket mag wheels, tasty "big'n''bigger" tires, and a modestly tweaked (lower) ride height.  However, with AMT/Ertl's pathetic and excitement-omitting (sorry but true) box art treatments back then, few knew of all these great features that John M. and his team concealed inside the box for this kit variant.  (Hopefully that will be addressed in the new box art treatment.)  

The only drawback to the original (and to my memory, only) release of this street machine kit was that most of them had a sink mark in the lower c-pillar area, that given the engraved vinyl roof treatment, was difficult to fix.  Hopefully that is resolved in the new issue.  

Great news, Justin!  Thanks for sharing...TB 

Edited December 12 by tim boyd

[Can-Con]

I like the kit, mostly.

I do not share the others enthusiasm for the wood bed floor. Not really a realistic choice for an Elcamino

And while the fuel injection unit is based on a real aftermarket unit, I disagree with that particular setup being "popular". I've only ever seen it in one ad in the back of a magazine once and never on a car in a magazine, let alone real life. The "Heartbeat of America" billet valve covers really date the engine but they can easily be filled or sanded smooth.

But it does have a neat little B&M style blower.

BUT, the rest of the kit is really nice and sits right with the lowered suspension. 

I have one that I started when it was originally released but never finished, it's about 80% there. Black with an L-88 hood and the bed floor from the stock kit cut down to fit with the slightly tubbed rear wheel wells. 

I really should try to finish it up before the kit is re-released.

One last thing ,, how come at least 1/2 of the hopped up engines in the AMT kits from this era, while very nice, almost never have headers? 

Blown, fuel injected big block with stock exhaust manifolds?? 🤨

[tim boyd]

Steve, with all due respect, my recollection is that the EFI setup was all over the hot rod mags of the day, perhaps more so in advertisements than in car features. but very prominent, nonetheless.  I do acknowledge, however, that it did seem to have a very short shelf life. 

Still, much better in my view to have a scale replica of this unit rather than another simple four-barrel BB engine induction setup. 

Good point on the stock exhaust manifolds; I will be watching if anyone comes up with an idea for BB headers that would be drop-ins, as those were missing from a number of the John M. era AMT/Ertl street style kit derivatives, again if I am recalling correctly....TB 

 

   

Edited December 13 by tim boyd

[Mark]

The kit manufacturers usually put headers low on the priority list because they'd then have to rework the rest of the exhaust system to match.  The headers were often in a tight space and not readily seen on the finished model, and didn't show up well in box art photos.  Instead, they'd photograph other, more readily seen features for box art.  Heck, some of the Monogram multiple version 1/24 scale kits even had supercharger setups while still having exhaust manifolds.  I've got a built MPC early Seventies Mustang pro stocker (not an annual kit but the dedicated pro stocker) that has exhaust manifolds on the engine!  They were even illustrated on the box side panel.

[Can-Con]

4 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

Steve, with all due respect, my recollection is that the EFI setup was all over the hot rod mags of the day, perhaps more so in advertisements than in car features. but very prominent, nonetheless.  I do acknowledge, however, that it did seem to have a very short shelf life. 

Still, much better in my view to have a scale replica of this unit rather than another simple four-barrel BB engine induction setup. 

Good point on the stock exhaust manifolds; I will be watching if anyone comes up with an idea for BB headers that would be drop-ins, as those were missing from a number of the John M. era AMT/Ertl street style kit derivatives, again if I am recalling correctly....TB 

 

   

OK, so I did some digging and found that the unit is a B&M "Superjection" unit and an article on it, which Ill add a link to below. Although I've seen many throttle body injection units, this seems to be unique with it's air cleaner assembly which seems to have an air meter added to it?

But, yea, You would be a lot closer to the hot spots of rodding then I am, here up in N.B. nowhere so you'd see a lot more stuff then I would but I really don't remember seeing any more then that one ad in any magazine. Seems to me the hot setup back then would have been the Holley Pro-jection TBI units or a RamJet style setups , , and of course the factory style TPI units.

But, it certainly is different and id more interesting to look at then another 4BBL carb. Still, how cool would a nice RamJet 502 be in scale? 😉

https://www.hotrod.com/features/superjection-may-1985-982-1230-56-1/

[Can-Con]

Oh, and BTW, everything I've found on this unit dates back to '84/'85 not exactly "modern" being from 40 years ago. 🙂

[Mark]

Well, a modern (2024) build would most likely use an LS engine...

[1972coronet]

5 hours ago, tim boyd said:

The only drawback to the original (and to my memory, only) release of this street machine kit was that most of them had a sink mark in the lower c-pillar area, that given the engraved vinyl roof treatment, was difficult to fix.  Hopefully that is resolved in the new issue. 

The sink marques you're referring to were corrected some +/- 8 years ago with that reissue ; see link to your Fotki site : Photo: DSC 0038 | First Look - AMT 1968 El Camino SS Derby Champions II album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

[Ragtop Man]

So, how much of a lift to convert this to a '69  - maybe with new tool Revell parts?

I really like the '68-9's kind of the middle child of A-Body history. 

Am grinding my molars a bit, cos when I packed up for our  move, I couldn't find the excellent '67 Chevy street machine version parts  - with the RamJet intake that I got to see built and tested at GM Performance a jillion years ago. Not 100% sure, but I believe the M&M era Chevys had largely interchangable engines and accessories. 

[Zoom Zoom]

5 hours ago, Ragtop Man said:

So, how much of a lift to convert this to a '69  - maybe with new tool Revell parts?

I really like the '68-9's kind of the middle child of A-Body history. 

Am grinding my molars a bit, cos when I packed up for our  move, I couldn't find the excellent '67 Chevy street machine version parts  - with the RamJet intake that I got to see built and tested at GM Performance a jillion years ago. Not 100% sure, but I believe the M&M era Chevys had largely interchangable engines and accessories. 

The new-tool '68's are wider in front than the vintage kits and Revell's kits, some heavy lifting will be required. I was also comparing the new tool El Caminos with my extra '68 GTO and again the extra width of the Mueller-era Elky was going to make that conversion more complicated than expected. At some point IIRC (around 2016) AMT/Round2 fixed the B pillar sink mark issue that plagued the earlier runs when they also added back the vintage Soap Box Derby racer.

[Ron Hamilton]

I still have my original issue 68 El Camino street machine in the basement.  When the kit originally came out, I built a stock one in a factory correct color I ordered from MCW. Also, I have the version with the soap box derby car, and one more unbuilt one and a resin flat hood and photoetch emblems for the build.

[tim boyd]

13 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

The sink marques you're referring to were corrected some +/- 8 years ago with that reissue ; see link to your Fotki site : Photo: DSC 0038 | First Look - AMT 1968 El Camino SS Derby Champions II album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

Thanks John...I thought that might be the case but was not where I could check my Derby Car kits, and to be honest, had forgotten about my Fotki site post.  Thanks for doing my homework for me!!!  Cheers...TB 

[LDO]

16 hours ago, Can-Con said:

OK, so I did some digging and found that the unit is a B&M "Superjection" unit and an article on it, which Ill add a link to below. Although I've seen many throttle body injection units, this seems to be unique with it's air cleaner assembly which seems to have an air meter added to it?

But, yea, You would be a lot closer to the hot spots of rodding then I am, here up in N.B. nowhere so you'd see a lot more stuff then I would but I really don't remember seeing any more then that one ad in any magazine. Seems to me the hot setup back then would have been the Holley Pro-jection TBI units or a RamJet style setups , , and of course the factory style TPI units.

But, it certainly is different and id more interesting to look at then another 4BBL carb. Still, how cool would a nice RamJet 502 be in scale? 😉

https://www.hotrod.com/features/superjection-may-1985-982-1230-56-1/

Was that on the Hot Rod Magazine project car “240-Z28”? I’ll have to look it up. I’m also wondering if that was the car that had racing stripes that were a white/pearl white checkerboard. 
 

Edit: It is the same aftermarket EFI as the 240 Z-28 from the June 1985 Hot Rod Magazine. I did not look for info on the paint. 
 

https://www.hotrod.com/features/project-240z28-june-1985-982-1254-81-1/

Edited December 13 by LDO
Added info

[Justin Porter]

17 hours ago, Can-Con said:

OK, so I did some digging and found that the unit is a B&M "Superjection" unit and an article on it, which Ill add a link to below. Although I've seen many throttle body injection units, this seems to be unique with it's air cleaner assembly which seems to have an air meter added to it?

But, yea, You would be a lot closer to the hot spots of rodding then I am, here up in N.B. nowhere so you'd see a lot more stuff then I would but I really don't remember seeing any more then that one ad in any magazine. Seems to me the hot setup back then would have been the Holley Pro-jection TBI units or a RamJet style setups , , and of course the factory style TPI units.

But, it certainly is different and id more interesting to look at then another 4BBL carb. Still, how cool would a nice RamJet 502 be in scale? 😉

https://www.hotrod.com/features/superjection-may-1985-982-1230-56-1/

It's a nice and tidy set up that I certainly enjoy using on projects. It fit right at home on this Revell '67 Chevelle that I built. It may not necessarily have been that common or successful in the 1/1 hot rodding world but I definitely like it as a "something fresh and different" underhood accessory in scale.

[slusher]

Something new to look forward too..

[stavanzer]

That looks like a Rat Motor. The whole thing would make an Excellent Fenderless Engine. The headers can probably be obtained from one of the many 3D printers that are out there now.

[Luc Janssens]

For those who never saw the initial release...

[stavanzer]

Nice Kit.

The Wheels make the kit look Dated, but the engine is superb!

[Mark]

Wheels might be dated, but they look "right" to my eyes.  The larger diameter wheels tend to not leave much of the tire sidewall exposed, they're just "all wheel" with no really visible tire from a side view.

[Can-Con]

Not to mention, those wheels look right at home on other things. 😉

[mk11]

Speaking of other things, I've been wanting to try reversing the snout on that blower to see if I can make it work on a small block Ford.

[Bills72sj]

I like the differentness (is that word?) of the intake set up. I would buy it for that alone.

If you work at it long enough you can sand away the vinyl top. I did that when I made my Hot Wheels '68 El Camino which was a total parts box build.

[Motor City]

Maybe you could apply silicone caulk on a flat portion of the vinyl roof to make a vinyl pattern.  After the caulk dries, peel it off.  Apply a skim coat of Bondo over the depression on the driver's side of the roof.  Smooth it as well as you possibly can.  When the Bondo is drying but not too tacky, gently press the caulk blob over the repaired area.

Edited December 15 by Motor City