AMT 1/25 1966 Ford Thunderbird

The Thunderbird was redesigned for 1961 with styling that gave the car a futuristic bullet-like body-side appearance. A new engine, the 390 cu in (6.4 L) FE V8, was the standard and only engine initially offered in the Thunderbird. It was rated at 300 hp (224 kW) and was mated to a three-speed automatic transmission. The new Thunderbird was well received, with 73,051 sold for 1961.

The car was 1961's Indianapolis 500 pace car and was featured prominently in US President John F. Kennedy's inaugural parade, who appointed Ford executive Robert McNamara as secretary of defense. It also benefitted from product placement, notably on the popular television series 77 Sunset Strip.

The Thunderbird for 1961 introduced several firsts for the automotive market. The most distinctive feature of the 1961 to 1963 Thunderbirds was the highly touted 'Swing Away' steering wheel. With the steering-column-installed transmission gear selector in the park position the steering wheel would slide approximately 18 inches (460 mm) to the right allowing the driver to exit the vehicle easily. To prevent accidents, this disabled the gear selector until the steering wheel was returned to the center position. Other innovations include a floating rear view mirror, directly attached to the inside of the windshield. Several standard features, such as power steering and power brakes, back up lights, and bucket seats, were costly options on most other automobiles of the time. Model options included air conditioning, power windows, power seats, AM radio, fender skirts, and white wall tires.

In luxury and performance, the third generation Thunderbird briefly saw competition from the Studebaker Avanti, before its production ended in 1963. The Chrysler 300G was also a powerful personal luxury car rival during 1961.

For 1961 the listed retail price, before optional equipment, was US$4,170 ($44,927 in 2025 dollars). A total of 62,535 were built.

This kit was initially released in 1966 back when AMT and JoHan were producing kits of recent year cars. It has been reissued several times over the years. It comes as a convertible with a hard top that can be installed if the modeler so wishes. The hard top has optional landau bars, which are not applicable to the 1966 model years, but to the 1967 year.

Other options are for different engines with one being a stock version and the other with two four barrel carburetors and velocity stacks. This latter is for the custom option. Other items for the custom version are two different styles of wheel covers along with wider tires. In addition, there are different grilles and tail light sections. There are also custom front seat inserts or completely new seats. The rear seat is molded in place so you are pretty well stuck with those. Since this is a product of the 60s, there are solid metal axles and the one-piece chassis has two different holes for these axles in case the builder wants a lowered look. Fender skirts are also supplied and while a stock option, were not always used.

Instructions look very much like they did in 1966. All of the parts are labeled and where appropriate, generic color information is provided. Construction sequence is quite standard for just about all car kits of the time. First the engine, then wheels, chassis, interior and finally the body. Chrome is nicely done and one will have to make a choice of stripping them or leaving on the mold seams for those parts that have them. I appreciate the option of having a hard top or leaving it a convertible. Decals are several sets of license plates on a small and fairly thick decal sheet.

AMT had done a series of Thunderbird kits over the years and from what I saw on Scalemates, one could, for a period of time, do a year by year build.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Thunderbird_(third_generation)

October 2026 

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