I found this 1/25 scale Thunderbird body recently at an antiques/junk flea market. It actually sat there on the shelf for a couple of months, bugging me every time I went in, till finally I had to just buy it... I think the guy charged me a quarter. I had a suspicion it might be an old AMT Turnpike set body, but I've only read about them, never seen them in person. Comparing it with the pics in a couple of Fleabay auctions, I'm thinking it just might be the same car... can anybody confirm/deny based on the pics I'm attaching? For what it's worth, the plastic feels a little rubbery... more like vinyl than like "normal" model car plastic...

For reference, here are the auctions I noticed...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=220105282745&rd=1&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280108613154&rd=1&rd=1

More pics in a second...

--rick

Here's some shots of the underside... and in the size comparison pic, the middle car is a 1/32 Eldon...

--rick

I think I may have had some thing like it if the mounting pegs are any indication.I had a Mustang Mach I & a Studebaker Avanti that mounted on a black "universal chassis" via the pegs.

Neal :dude:

Hmmm... I don't know. Everything I've read seems to imply that these things were made only in the early '60s, before the Mach 1. There's a '62 or so Galaxie and a similar year full-size Pontiac that I've seen. Maybe the Avanti is a possibility...

The cars in the pics I've seen DO have black chassis, though...

--rick

edit: there's a Yahoo Group specifically for these cars, called AMTTurnpike. Lately, it's mostly overrun by spammers, but there are some good pictures in the Photos section. Looking at those pics, it seems there's also a Chrysler 300 and maybe a Chevy Impala...

dang! check what the first one closed at!

hmmm...

--rick

I'm pretty much sure it is either the body to an AMT Turnpike 1/25 slot car or a promo / friction AMT 1/25 model car. I recall seeing 1962 Thunderbirds up for auction before in Turnpike sets so it possibly could be that body. I know from reading about promos, they might have used a slightly different plastic in the early 1960s before going to styrene. Still not a bad find at all for that price, good job!

sorry, I am a YEAR behind... if you have not found out by now... THIS T-bird, is a 1961..... actually, a PROMO body......the year of the car, is comfirmed, by the vertically stacked bars, on the rear quarter. The 1962 AMT Turnpike Tbirds were white, but the '62 T-Bird, has 3 square emblems, horizonally, on the quarters...

I thought Fully loaded was right , I haven't messed around with promos and models in a long time but I though that was a promo.

I think its a korris car due to the type of plastic and the grill details.