CC In Scale: The Cars Of 1968

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– Posted on May 29, 2025

The writer in me doesn’t like just saying. “Here is this group of models”. There needs to be something of an introduction, a link to something, a hook to hang it from. This time it’s easy. 1968 was something of a watershed year for me.

A year of changes. Most life-changing was that it was the year I got my first pair of glasses – now I could see things like everybody else did, I thought. So that’s what I’d been missing – wow! I revelled in my newfound sense of vision, put away the comics and started getting car magazines – and reading about cars I never saw on the street. Drifted out of Matchbox cars and into 1/32 scale Airfix models. Being able to see properly was truly life-changing for me.

And we saw the last of our trouble-ridden 1962 Falcon, as Dad traded it for a 1967. The new car seemed so much bigger, as Dad found out – the hard way. I remember the garage doors had to be tied shut at first, until we freed up some room at the front of the garage. The new Holden and Valiant were much the same size, so there’d have been no help there. Dad ‘had to’ have six cylinders for those long country journeys; I didn’t ask how come he drove four-cylinder Morrises for fourteen years.

We’re a bit light on for numbers for the 1968 model year, so I’ll show multiples of some cars. As often happens, our pickings are irregular.

We have plenty of Mopars for 1968 – and about time, some of you might be thinking. Let’s start with the Dart. We’d see this hardtop body in Australia the next year as the Valiant hardtop. Young me thought it was weird the hardtop was on a longer wheelbase than the sedan (which was on the shorter Valiant wheelbase). The 273 and later 318 V8s had long been available as upgrades from the 225 six, but we never got a big block. To most folk here, a 318 was already ‘too much engine’. There was no performance Valiant model yet. That would follow. You won’t mind seeing another one, I hope?

Or two?

And as a sort of homage to all the modified Darts out there, I built this colourful Hemi car. Yes, I put subframe connectors under it.

I’d heard of the Charger, but didn’t see one for many years. This was way before that infamous TV show which killed so many of them – but we didn’t get a decent model of the Charger until Monogram brought out their Pro Modeler 1969 Charger in 1997. They helpfully backdated it to this ’68 two years later. This one’s supposed to be a Dick Landy drag car, but I built it mainstream.

Several times.

I’d heard of the Road Runner too, not just from the TV cartoons. Funny how the Mopar muscle cars got known among kids down here, but the Ford and GM cars not so much. Not that we ever saw any of them outside the TV or movies. But we’d heard the names.

The big Plymouths were sold here, kind of, badged as Dodge Phoenixes. They weren’t common, but you’d see them occasionally. This one was a police car kit, repurposed to civilian duty in a fairly common colour scheme back then. From down here in Australia, it’s hard to imagine a police car that big.

There’s no big Ford or Chevy though, they’re long out of production and ultra-rare, but could I interest you in a Chrysler? We didn’t see these. That’s a pity. There was a nice LHD ’68 wagon outside the doctor’s surgery last year, but I’ve only ever seen it in town once, so it was probably passing through. I’m just entranced by the lines of this 300. It’s kind of timeless; not particularly modern for 1968 but without looking old-fashioned either. That’s a neat trick to pull off. It says Luxury without rubbing your nose in it. Premium detailing, I think, without looking corny.

Moving on to Ford, I have plenty of Mustangs. Revell brought out a kit of the ‘Bullitt’ car in 2000, and later modified it to this GT.

From Mustang, it’s only a small step to Shelby, of course. They were certainly beginning to look more visually distinct. AMT’s kit dates back to 1968, so it’s a bit primitive.

Now the Corvair has always fascinated me. That goes way back to reading about it in a magazine Dad bought. On paper the General seemed to do the right things – bigger than a VW, still a reasonable size, six cylinders, modern styling – but folk kept on buying the Beetle, and in ever increasing numbers. Hmm. A lesson there. Maybe several.

AMT’s Corvair is boxed as a ’69, but I’ve heard it wasn’t updated from the ’68 kit. I’ve got others I can show (update: have shown) for ’69, so I’ll call these ones ‘68s.

We can put in a couple of Firebirds here too. These are from Revell’s 2001 kit. No Trans Am yet, but I’m sure that 400’s no slouch.

Better have one of these to make the Chevy boys happy. This AMT kit dates back to 1981.

And the Chevrolet ute, sorry, El Camino. Another kit from AMT’s last Golden Age, they must have used a fully-optioned SS396 for reference: vinyl roof, bumper overriders…

Slightly detrimmed.

That’s it for 1968. Join me next time for something completely different. It won’t be 1969; that would be just too predictable. Besides’ we’ve been there already.