The Model Car Showroom
Reviews, pictures, hints, and links 1/24, 1/25 car kits
X-RAY: ☼RARE☼ 1962 Plymouth Fury 1/25, Jo-Han
This X-Ray is an rare kit of a 1962 Plymouth Fury by Jo-Han. This kit includes:
2 set of tires and rims; V8 engine; body molded in a horrifying orange.
Good: Fantastic drag car from the early ’60s; not a ton of pieces but lots of chrome, did I mention its drag racing prowess?
Bad: Jo-Han quality; that orange again; super pricey – especially for parts count.
$150+
The Model Car Showroom 
I landed one of these in fair condition at a swap meet in Lebanon IN back in April. It’s a fun kit but has 60’s era tooling and thus a few shortcomings.
The interior is a tub design with all the seats molded to the tub and is not particularly well defined and is a bit shallow. The interior is made up of just 5 pieces. The pedals are molded to the floor and it has some unsightly ejector pin marks on the floor. The glass is thick and not all that easy to see through but polishing helps, and with out work the glass in mine actually interfered a bit with the interior fit.
The chassis is of a promo type with molded in exhaust and rear suspension, and short of the out of scale torsion bars, the front suspension does not exist. The design is that of the type that allows the front axle to pass through the engine block leaving an un-attractive gap in the bottom of the motor.
The motor consist of 2 halves with the oil pan and transmission molded to the block. The heads are one piece that appears to represent the top half of the motor with the valve covers molded to the heads. There is a separate intake manifold but no carb and the air cleaner mounts directly to the intake. There is a separate fan, fan belt/pulleys and alternator. There is a separate radiator but no hoses.
The body is the usual crisp detail one expects from a Johan kit and its the high point of this kit. The grille/bumper assembly in mine was dechromed and most of the chrome parts were replaced with resin parts, presumably Modelhaus. The hood is a separate piece but no hinges. The door handles are molded in and appear grossly undersized to me, but I aded some resin copies to mine for about the price of a coffee at that fancy coffee place. There are faint mold lines that need to be removed and a couple are in difficult areas to fix, but patience and a light touch should take care of them. Full Plymouth wheel covers are included, and mine had no tires so I can’t comment on them.
I don’t believe this kit originally came with decals as none are called out in the instruction. The instructions are a one page (front and back) that offer no painting tips and are vague at best.
This review might seem as if I don’t like the kit, but nothing could be further from the truth, yes it’s 60s technology and it’s crude by todays models, but it’s still fun, is a reasonable representation of an iconic car, and it’s nostalgia at it’s best.
I got my builder at much less than the stated price, but it’s far from mint and therefore very buildable. With proper prep, research, and a bit of work it makes for a pretty decent shelf model.
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That is a crazy-good review of this very rare and beautiful car. As you’ll read with most of my Jo-Han reviews and X-Rays, the kits are filled with lousy parts, poor tooling, substandard instructions and inaccurate depictions.
I’d wager this one is true to form on a few of these points but am glad it is one to build and I appreciate the info on it! Cheers!
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