When I finished up the seventies, I mentioned how the centre of the model car hobby had changed. Whereas once the idea was for Junior to be able to build a model of Daddy’s hot new ride, (and maybe everyone else on the block’s), now Dad’s new ride wasn’t so hot and may not have been very inspiring to build. Times had changed, kits of regular family hardtops were out – pretty much along with family hardtops.
But there were neat kits, regardless, even if in smaller numbers. Let’s take a look.
Now the new annual kits made up a shrinking proportion of the catalog, while more and more were classic American cars from ‘the good old days’ – increasingly this meant the muscle car era. Monogram got stuck into historic muscle cars with a vengeance, MPC had a go at a hot Japanese car (Supra) or two, AMT did some VWs (Golf, Scirocco), while Revell seemed to be floundering at the start of this decade with no obvious game plan other than simplification and decontenting: not much fun to be had there.
Trans-Am Turbo (Monogram)
We begin more or less where we left off last time in the late seventies. This 1980 Trans Am used the facelift introduced for 1979, with a turbocharged version of the newly-shrunk 4.9 (301) V8. Fairly primitive as these early turbo setups were, it produced 210 hp instead of the normal 170. A fairly easy conversion for Monogram.
Also done in 1/16 scale, as an update of their large-scale Trans-Am annual.
Chevrolet Citation X11 (Monogram)
Once upon a time the X-car seemed the bright new wave of the future. So Monogram came out with a kit of the X-11 coupe. Not the sporty-looking hatchback with overtones of the Alfetta GTV, guys? Hmm. For this model I ‘Euro-fied’ the looks a bit, removing some of the excess chrome which looked so dated on a small(ish) car in 1980.
Oldsmobile ‘Cutlass Supreme’ (Revell)
This is one of my mainstream conversions. Revell came out with the Olds 442 about ten years ago (carrying on the Monogram legacy of muscle cars), only for me to turn it into a regular Cutlass Supreme, the sort of car that might have been kitted twenty years earlier.
Buick Grand National (Monogram)
Monogram led off a series of modern muscle cars with a Buick Grand National, which in turn eventually bred a kit of the GNX. This one’s just the regular GN.
Buick ‘Regal’ (Monogram)
That Grand National we saw above? I took it back the other way to make a regular Buick Regal – not at all what Monogram had in mind.
Cadillac Coupe de Ville (Revell)
Revell came out with a kit of the ’84 Cadillac coupe de Ville, with a later headlight conversion, available as a lowrider or as a donk. I split the difference with this one, using suspension and wheels from the parts box. Gotta have a pink Cadillac.
Let’s have a blue one, too.
1984 Camaro Z28 (Revell)
Revell came out with this Camaro Z28. Not a particularly well-detailed kit, with horribly crude square-section tyres, and almost no chrome. Kit development on a tight budget? Made me wish I’d searched for an MPC instead.
1984 Corvette (MPC)
MPC did much better with this Corvette. Mention was made on the box of the kit using actual factory blueprints, and you could tell from the underhood detailing that this was no idle boast. It was a bit cramped under there – not easy for fingers which weren’t as small as they used to be.
1984 Pontiac Fiero (MPC)
A very impressive MPC kit, with their usual multiplicity of little pieces. Monogram also did a Fiero. I avoided buying two versions of the same car.
1986 Monte Carlo SS (Monogram)
Monogram again. The SS grafted a more aerodynamic nose onto the regular notchback body – which made for some dissonance in the profile view. Later a sloped rear window would be added to improve aerodynamics further, with Pontiac introducing a similarly-themed GP – all the better to win NASCAR with.
1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe (Monogram)
Meanwhile, Ford made their already slick ’83 Bird even slicker for ’87, with a great representation of the turbo four in this Monogram kit (apologies for the blurry pic).
1989 Firebird Trans-Am (MPC)
MPC’s updated annual attempt at the Trans Am was a fantastic kit, with plenty of accurate-looking detail.
1989 Thunderbird Super Coupe (Revell)
Revell woke up and got serious again, bringing out this fantastic kit of the new-platform Thunderbird with the supercharged V6. A Cougar version followed, with a V8. Once upon a time, they would have compromised with one engine for both, but no longer!
Ford Probe (AMT)
Do we count this as a Ford or a Mazda? I’m being unkind, though Ford and Mazda did codevelop it. Regardless, this didn’t seem to be a particularly popular kit. I forget which year this one is. There was no kit of the second more attractive generation, which online sources credit as 40% Ford and 60% Mazda.
Ford Taurus SHO (AMT)
Could good times be back for the US family sedan? AMT produced a marvellous kit of the Taurus SHO both as an annual for the 1989-91 years, and as a police car, including a tie-in with the movie Robocop. And it’s just come back again.
1989 Trans-Am Turbo (MPC)
Pontiac tries again. This time, instead of the rather-primitive weak-sister fuel-saving turbo V8, they used a full-fat Buick turbo V6 from the GNX. Said to produce over 300hp, it propelled to TA to 13 second quarter mile times. I individualised mine with some pearl white paint.
Great work as usual, Peter.
My pick of this lot is the last car, the ’89 Trans Am. Your details on that model are fantastic. I did not know that Pontiac did one with a Buick GNX engine. With such a big stink in the decade before with Oldsmobile owners being all pissed off about the Chevy engines installed in their cars, I can honestly say if I bought this Pontiac and found that Buick engine under the hood, I’d have been thrilled!
Personal Connection Car: The Turbo Coupe. Those red ones were very popular, but my ’88 was a Sapphire Blue example.
Oh, and Chevy was SO cheating in NASCAR back then with that weird back window you mention on the Monte Carlos (and apparently the Grand Prix as well). What, did they sell like, 4 of them? It was only done because they couldn’t keep up with the contemporary Thunderbirds! LOL. Notice that Ford never fielded a Mercury Cougar of that era due to the formal backlight’s aerodynamic disadvantage.
Thanks Rick. You’d have known what engine was in that Trans Am by the price premium – GNX power didn’t come cheap! That was a limited edition halo model not what the average T/A customer would have sought, but certainly brought back the glory days of horsepower.
I seem to recall those Monte and GP NASCAR specials wound up riddled with compromises like a mail-slot trunk, not to mention looking rather awkward in street form. Kits of them were made, but didn’t appeal to this foreigner.
There was an attempt by Cale Yarborough’s team to run a Cougar body for the 1994 season but reportedly is was way too loose in turns because of lack of downforce – apparently air would essentially skip the spoiler and there just wasn’t time to dial it in
I had a feeling you’d chime in, Matt, thanks.
I hadn’t realized they actually tested this. Talladega or Daytona would have definitely been a good test of the Cougar at nearly 200MPH for those tracks.
’94 would have made it your generation of Cougar, the MN12. I wonder if they ever considered it for NASCAR with the previous Fox body XR-7?
Peter, how many models do you have in your collection? You have a good selection over multiple decades!
I don’t know exactly, Gianluca, but it’s somewhere around the 1200 mark. I started building them about sixty years ago. My interests have changed some over the years; less hot rods, more standard cars as I age, fewer race cars and more street cars. And fewer new cars; latest I have is a ’13 Toyota Crown. Then there are a few other models – steam engines, trams, trains, buildings, the TARDIS…..
These are, again, very cool. I really like your practice of building more workaday examples of souped-up versions from the original kits. It’s so much more representative of what many of us saw on the road back when these cars were new. Seeing your Regalification of the GN reminded me of sitting in a half-completed Regal (no front clip yet) during a tour of Fisher One in Flint as it was being built.
The Firebirds are particularly impressive. .I always liked the ’79 restyle.
And it seems impossible to find many decent scale examples of the Ford Probe these days, particularly the second generation cars.
A great assortment, as always.
Third time lucky? We’ll see. I’m having trouble with ‘proving I’m a human’, and it’s twice eaten my comments (not in trash or spam, I checked) and chucked me out of the site!
Here goes…
I’ve always been attracted to ‘ordinary’ cars. Back in the sixties car like the Regal and Cutlass would have been available as kits. I guess sales projections showed kids didn’t want ordinary cars any more. Fortunately they’re not hard to convert. Just takes imagination (check) and determination (sometimes).
I got a bit confused with some of today’s group – it was a busy time in my life (marriage, kids, career change…) and I wasn’t paying as much attention to cars as I had. Fortunately I could check the net for info on, Firebirds, for example.
No luck with that second-gen Probe? I knew there wasn’t a kit, but ‘d have thought a diecast might have been available; they certainly do more obscure subjects.
Now let’s see: am I human yet? – hit Post Comment, and…..
Thank you for your persistence, Peter! You are indeed a human! 🚫🤖
I had more to say; this was like the TL/DR version.
As someone who made themselves a little kit for a Rootes ‘Arrow’ saloon it’s good to hear your appreciation of the more ordinary everyday vehicles, Peter. You did a fine job on converting the Regal and that Taurus is a handsome thing; I think I had a Duplicolor spray can of car paint that looked like that.
Your models here also reflect the change form the angular designs from the start of the ’80s to the smoother ‘aero’ style at the end of the decade.
Thanks Bernard. The Regal is – interesting. The GN seemed to have no chrome at all, a step too far in my opinion. I wasn’t working from a photo, like I normally would for a project like this. Instead my approach was ‘where do I think the chrome should go?’ I added the lower body moulding because I thought it gave a dash of European-ness to the result.
You made your own Arrow – wow! Some trivia for you – in Australia the base model early round-headlight version was sold as the Hillman Arrow, and had an Arrow script on the front door. A friend had one back in the seventies.
The only second-generation Probes in 1/24 or 1/25 scale are diecasts of NHRA Pro Stock drag cars. Action did one of Bob Glidden’s cars, and for Roy Hill (his car had his Drag Racing School as a ‘sponsor’)
Thanks for helping out, Jason. I guess Joseph can stop looking then.
The 80 Turbo TA and 89 Turbo pace car are a great pair to bookend the decade. I love the look of the Turbo hood/screaming chicken that now spat fire on the 80, it was very disheartening to find the turbo V8 wasn’t quite as awesome in real life as it sounds. The Buick powered 89 almost seems like a make good of of the 80, it’s just too bad it was a limited edition.
Love the Tbirds of course, I’ve got the Revell 1992 Cougar kit but haven’t done anything with it yet, I want to make my 94 out of it which will require some kit bashing
Thanks Matt.
Those Firebirds do bookend things nicely. I remember reading the Car and Driver test of the turbo V8, and thinking how disappointing it was. Their test of the turbo Buick-powered ’89 really delivered what you’d expect. I realise that knowledge of how to set up a turbo engine was increasing exponentially during that decade,but I wonder if Pontiac’s engineers ever had a second go at turboing that 301? Oh that’s right, they weren’t making their own V8s any more…
Always glad to show Tbirds, Matt.
Now THAT looks like the Turbo Coupe I had!
Rick, when you said you had a blue one, I tried posting that pic before, but it triggered that ‘not human’ thing. (Some weird intermittent fault? Maybe it’s my old clunker of a computer)