The Return of the Gangbusters
While looking and researching new kit releases, I found by chance a real blast from the past in the form of one of the old MPC 1:25 scale Gangbusters car kits. I believe there were five in the series – two Chryslers, two Lincolns and a Chevrolet. There was a 1932 Chrysler Imperial Custom Eight eight-seater open touring car by Le Baron, a similar 1932 Chrysler Imperial Eight rumble seat roadster, a 1928 Lincoln Sport Tourer by Locke and a 1927 Lincoln Roadster. The fifth Gangbuster release was a ‘9 in 1’ kit of a 1932 Chevrolet, which came with optional cabriolet or panel van/sedan delivery bodies. All were released in the mid-Sixties and still stand up well today, with operable steering, vinyl tyres with plastic whitewall inserts, fully detailed engines, interiors and undercarriage.
The Chryslers and Lincoln have been reintroduced several times over the years, branded variously MPC and AMT/Ertl, some with just the stock parts, but the Chevy panel van body was notoriously butchered in 1969 to make a customised Barnabas Vampire Van from a TV show, Dark Shadows. What made the cars special was the inclusion of many accessories. All could be built stock, lettered as police vehicles or rigged out with hidden arsenals, as gangster getaway cars. Several odd scaled figures were originally included, one being a gangster’s ‘moll’, which were pretty horrible, even then, but the variety of guns, grenades, crates of booze, violin cases, road barricades, even a set of golf clubs, were unique to these kits at the time. I had original releases of them all, bar the Chevy. In the late Sixties MPC did a deal with Airfix and they were imported in some numbers.
Round 2 Models now has MPC’s tooling and this summer will reintroduce the Chrysler Roadster, with retro-styled box art. It’s said to include all original parts, including two figures, the police and gangster accessories and a police motorcycle, missing for decades. While details are sparse as I write this, I recall there were many moving parts including bonnet panels, rumble seat, the side door for the golf clubs and even, I think, hidden panels for guns. I’ll be fascinated to see an example in due course. I’m afraid you’ll have to investigate the prices for yourself, but it will be worth waiting for.