AMT 1964 Buick Wildcat

A one-year wonder marked a change for AMT

Buick’s Wildcat debuted in 1962½ in answer to the Oldsmobile Starfire and Pontiac Grand Prix. It continued as a performance-enhanced mid-market offering positioned between Buick’s mainstream LeSabre and its luxury-focused Electra 225 until being superseded by the Buick Centurion in 1971. For 1964, AMT, as Buick’s kit maker of record, switched from producing replicas of the Electra 225 to the sportier Wildcat, which presumably would appeal to young kit buyers everywhere. Also, in 1964, AMT adopted entirely subject-specific box art for its annual kits. In keeping with this change, AMT’s art department developed a box top graphic treatment using Buick’s Wildcat badge in both outline and silhouette.

Inside that box, modelers found a precisely rendered two-door hardtop body (a companion convertible kit was also offered). The pristine white styrene was highly polished and the lower bodyside moldings and three front fender strakes were crisply molded.

The chassis was the typical “promo-style” one-piece molding with metal axles representing the last year of GM’s X-type frame with side rails that joined together under the center of the car. The simplified Buick Nailhead V8 was rendered in 15 parts, including a separately molded oil filter.

A simple interior bucket replicated the Wildcat’s narrow seat and door panel pleats, while bucket seats, an instrument panel, a steering wheel, and a floor shifter accompanied the molded-in console. Builders then added a firewall, radiator, windshield washer jar, battery, and AMT’s metal hood clip that was difficult to install but worked well if used on the model as designed.

The showroom stock version assembly finished with beautifully engraved and plated single-piece grille and tail-panel assemblies, clear red taillight inserts, and those four metal screws that now signify what collectors call a “screw bottom” model car.

However, the biggest attraction for many AMT annual kit buyers was the treasure trove of parts for the custom and racing versions. Here, the engine option was a 4-71 blower case with a side-mounted carb, custom air cleaner, and racing headers with optional exhaust side dumps. Interior options included a six-part racing roll cage, custom bucket seats and console plate, an accessory instrument panel, and a deeply dished steering wheel. Beyond the stock wheel covers, AMT added the new-for-1964 Buick fivespoke imitation mag wheels and a racing wheel setup with an outer ring mating to an inner wheel half engraved with finned brake details.

For the body, racing additions included a large hood scoop, headlight covers, and plated racing mirrors. Custom options offered builders a large open grille assembly with separate headlight pods split by a narrow bumper and a complementary rear panel with two custom taillights, faux side exhausts, fender skirts, and rectangular spotlights.

Portions of AMT’s 1964 Wildcat kit tooling were derived from the earlier 1963 Electra annual kit (including the engine and the slightly shortened chassis representing the Wildcat’s 3-inch wheelbase reduction), but the remainder was mostly new. AMT started entirely from scratch for its 1965 Wildcat kit. The company went on to produce yearly replicas of the 1966, 1969, and 1970 Wildcats. Only AMT’s 1966 and 1970 kits have seen reissues in the ensuing years, thus turning the 1964 Wildcat into one of those “one-year wonders” that make kit collecting such a fascinating hobby.