1955–1964 Chrysler 300 Letter Series
When the 1955 Chrysler 300 debuted, it was a sensation. It was to the 1950s automotive world, in many ways, what the 1964 GTO was to the decade that followed. Not surprisingly, it followed the earlier Olds 88 formula of a top-of-the-line, most-powerful engine inserted in the body of the smaller, lighter body of the nameplate’s entry-level series. In this case, however, the addition of the Imperial front grille and premium components throughout, including a real leather interior, added a sense of supreme exclusivity for anyone who had the good fortune to be able to purchase and drive the 300. Moreover, as you saw earlier with both the 88 and the Hudson Hornet, a successful competition record only added to the reputation.
The current state of the model car kit industry is well represented by these 1955 300 and 1956 300B kits (both: Wave 4/*) and 1957 300C (Wave 3/*) kits from Moebius Models and AMT-Ertl, respectively. Inside the boxes are intricately detailed engines even including draft tubes and transmission dipsticks. Separately molded frames and underbody floor pans enable easily executed detail painting.
Since the first Chrysler 300s debuted before the advent of the modern 1/25th-scale assembly kit, modelers went for decades without models of these influential pre–muscle car era icons. Fortunately, recent years have brought highly detailed kits of all three of the initial Chrysler 300 products. After years of customer requests, AMT-Ertl finally took the plunge and debuted a meticulously engineered 1957 Chrysler 300C kit in 1999. It soon added a Pro-Shop 300C kit with all the parts pre-painted, and overall the level of detail and execution of this painting effort was a sight to behold. However, the pre-painted body replicated 1957 Chrysler Code F Forest Green, whereas the regular production 300C was limited to just five factory colors, including the much lighter Code E Parade Green Metallic (the other 300 colors were Copper Brown Metallic, Gauguin Red, Cloud White, and Black). Moebius Models completed the early Chrysler 300 model family album with kits of the 1955 300 and 1956 300B, introduced in 2011 and 2013, respectively. The Moebius kits include comprehensive full-color assembly manuals with highly detailed photos of assembled kit components and the completed models.
A gap appears in 300 kit coverage stretching from the 1958 to 1961 model years. (JoHan produced annual kits of the 1960 and 1961 Chrysler products, but chose to base them on the top-line New Yorker series instead of the 300). JoHan moved its Chrysler annual kit offering to the downsized (shorter wheelbase) 300 H as part of its 1962 lineup, and produced it in both hardtop and convertible versions. These kits had the correct four-bucket-seat interior and a modestly detailed engine, along with a faintly engraved H in the rear deck alongside the 300 badging.
JoHan issued annual kits of the 1962–1964 Chrysler 300 letter series kits in both hardtop and convertible form. Shown here are the 1963 hardtop and convertible and 1964 convertible annual kits (all: Wave 1/***). The 1962 hardtop was reissued in the mid-1970s (Wave 1/**). Depending on the kit, builders found scale replicas of the single 4-barrel, dual inline 4-barrel, and/or ram induction dual 4-barrel ram letter-series 413 V-8.
JoHan followed with 300 series hardtop and convertible annual kits in 1963 and 1964. JoHan did not produce a kit of the 1965 300L, but it did manufacture non-letter series 1965–1968 Chrysler 300 kits. Coverage of these kits is found in Chapter 11.
In the mid-1970s, JoHan reissued the 1962 300 as part of its USA Oldies kit series, but an inaccurate, circa 1964 300 interior tub makes this kit considerably less desirable than the original annual series release. This version is fairly easy to locate, while the original 1962–1964 annual kits are difficult to find and very expensive.
1957 Ford Custom and Fairlane 500
For a brief period in the late 1950s, Ford developed an engine family that might have presaged the muscle car genre, but the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) racing ban in 1957 stopped it in its infancy. Of course, I am referencing the E-Code dual 4-barrel and the F-Code McCulloch supercharged 312 Y-Block V-8s offered in the 1957 Ford Custom and Fairlane car lines. Model builders now have all they need to replicate miniatures of both cars.
AMT’s 1957 Ford Fairlane kit was first introduced in 1963 as part of its Trophy Series (upper and lower left). The kit could be built in showroom stock, custom, and two different advanced custom versions. The 1966 Portrait Series (upper right) and the 1969 All American Show ‘n’ Go Series (lower right) were essentially identical to the original kit inside, except for the freshly updated decals in each reissue (all: Wave 1/**).
Revell’s all-new 1957 Ford kit series features the 111-inch Custom/Custom 300 wheelbase body and chassis (versus the 118-inch Fairlane/Fairlane 500 body and chassis in AMT’s original 1957 Ford kit). By choosing various parts found in these four kits (all: Wave 4/*) model builders can construct single 4-barrel Y-Block, dual 4-barrel E-Code, or McCulloch supercharged F-Code pre–muscle car era scale replicas.
Following the overwhelming success of AMT’s original 1957 Chevy Bel Air kit, AMT quickly added a companion kit of the top-of-the-line 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 to its Trophy Series premium kit catalog. Reflecting the rapidly advancing hobby, this kit added steerable wheels and opening doors to the content. A supercharger option for the kit’s Y-Block engine was of a custom configuration, not representative of the real factory option. This kit has been reissued many times, but only the pre-1973 releases include all the advanced customizing parts.
For several years, there were rumors of an all-new kit topic from Revell, and it was under development for several years, but in 2012 an all-new 1957 Ford Custom two-door sedan kit finally debuted. This highly detailed kit even included scale fuel lines running from the fuel pump to the single and dual 4-barrel carb options under the hood. Several unused parts in the kit broadly hinted at a future kit with an F-Code supercharged engine. That kit did indeed follow in 2013 as a Fireball Roberts NASCAR kit. Further versions of this kit tool included a Model King private-label Police Car and Revell’s Del Rio Ranch Wagon. Adult model hobbyists are still hoping for a future Ranchero kit based off the Del Rio kit tooling.
DeSoto Adventurer, Dodge D-500/Dart/440, and Plymouth Fury/Sport Fury
JoHan was the original source for annual assembly kits for most Chrysler products. Its 1959 kit lineup included the Dodge Custom Royal and Plymouth Fury, while the DeSoto Adventurer, Dodge Dart, and Plymouth Fury saw kits in 1960. The Dodge Dart and Plymouth Fury continued for 1961 and 1962. JoHan kits for 1963 replicated the midsized Dodge Polara and Plymouth Fury.
Meanwhile, Revell also produced 1/25th-scale annual kits of the 1962 Dodge Dart and Plymouth Fury; these were fairly well detailed for the time but still considered inferior to JoHan and AMT annual kits of the same period. These were reissued once, late in the 1962 calendar year, as Metalflake series products with a translucent, metallic-enhanced styrene.
Starting in the mid-1970s, JoHan reissued the hardtop versions of the 1960 DeSoto Adventurer, 1962 Dart and Fury, and 1963 Fury, as well as convertible versions of the 1962 Dart and Fury starting in the mid-1970s.
Before I move on, a bit of caution applies here. Unlike most of the highly detailed kits shown in this book, the 1959–1963 Mopar annual kits and its reissues referenced here were basic to the extreme. Some did not include engines, and the ones that did were basic in execution. Moreover, these kits generally did not replicate the performance versions of each car; it would be up to the builder to kit-bash the engines, chassis, and body trim to accurately produce a