This is a review of the AMT ’68 Bonneville. CRAZY rare kit with few options.

Growing up on Florence Ave in South Attleboro, MA, there was a family across the street – I think I NEVER saw in person – who owned 2 older cars. One was a ’71 Continental, and the other was a 68 Bonneville. The car was big, green, and to a 7-year-old, boring. It was ugly and had the most depressing rear lights of any car in the area. A full frown made the car look even more depressing. Well, fear not, this isn’t a review of what younger-me thought of the big boat. It is about the model to the left. To be specific, one of 2 ever made. Yup, these car kits were never reissued and are getting rarer by the day because of builders like me.

CAR BACKGROUND :: This was about as close as you can get to a road-legal tank. Big, wide, and supple, the car was a family car that made no excuses. Power came from a couple of engines, but the 400 big block was simple enough to run the car comfortably down to get groceries for eight… about the seating capacity for this beastie.

Offered in 2-door and 4-door (why you would get a car THIS big with two doors is beyond me), the Convertible does *absolutely* work with 2 doors and makes for a very handsome cruiser – even if you arrive 2 AND 4 minutes late to every gathering (yup, size joke).

NOT a true muscle car, the car’s 345hp would still scoot it down the quarter-mile at roughly 80mph, and though it wouldn’t win many races, the car would feel brisk due to its more than 440 lb-ft of torque.

This is the typical color back in the day, and just a hair lighter than the one I saw all the time in my youth. This is Tamiya Light Green (Luftwaffe) and some clear. Not the brightest I’ve done, but then again, the car isn’t for grabbing attention. This model is rather decent. There is a crazy bit of flash, and the detail in some areas is garbage, but overall, the kit is super buildable. It also comes with a bunch of custom stuff, but they are more out of some trippy fantasy than something stylish crusing down the block.

The engine bay is more or less MPC/AMT quality, but it looks fairly good overall. The car comes with a 3×2 barrel setup, which was not an option in ’68. Cool idea, but not realistic. I get it – prominent land yachts back in the mid-60s HAD 6-packs, but this year didn’t. Did that stop a select few from installing them? No. There were some that set them up that way after purchase, but this isn’t one of them. The 400 4-barrel had 345hp and did just fine in getting the big boy around town. Stole the air cleaner from a ’69 Judge, and the manifold was a GM-style extra lying about.

The underside is quite uninteresting, but does have a decent axle and exhaust setup. I decided to forgo the boring tips and instead went with the diagonal side-exit exhaust. It all works very well, but don’t look for too much to do, as most of it is molded and not worth detailing.

Of note :: the exhaust IS detachable, so you could go with a true side exhaust for a sweet lowrider look. Not my bag, but easily doable.

The inside of this car is the biggest disappointment. While it turned out very nice, the detail is a bit lacking. That isn’t all, either. The console is missing a trapazoidal piece that connects it to the bottom of the dash. I fabricated a filler of sorts in the correct shape, but it otherwise would NOT look correct and would have a major gap.

I think an all-black interior might also look better, since the tub and body’s lines don’t quite align, and the white accentuates it rather well (unfortunately).

Gonna say that the kit is “OKAY” for an early MPC and will work for anyone wanting a nice display. With all the flash, uneven lines, ho-hum chassis, and MEH interior, $300 for a sealed one (or $150 for an open kit) is a bit much. If you have a sealed one, keep it safe – the value is just going to go up. Mine was opened, and in that condition, you could definitely build it.

7.0 – Average