Tin Box No. 4 '32 Bantam Competition Coupe - W.I.P. - 7-21 Update

This is the fourth and final build extracted from a single AMT Double Dragster Kit “Tin Box” Special Edition. This kit contains an extra dragster chrome tree which gives you much of an additional dragster. The kit also comes with two sets of dragster frame side rails, a twin side-by-side engine set, and a set for a single or in-line twin setup. This got me thinking that it should be possible to build at least three, and perhaps four cars from one tin box if you were willing to raid your parts box and do some scratch building. So far I’ve completed 2.95 cars:

Tin Box Build No. 1 - A ’25 T Altered using the Fiat Altered frame from the kit, along with an AMT Competition Parts Pack ’25 T Altered kit and a blown Pontiac from the same Competition parts
Tin Box Build No. 2 - A Fiat Altered using the Double Dragster Fiat body, the blown Hemi from the Double Dragster kit, and a scratch built frame.
Tin Box Build No. 2.95 - A side-by side twin Chevy rail with top mounted blowers. This last is 95% done because I managed to lose one of the rear wheels and I’m waiting to receive a replacement thanks to the generosity of a fellow member on the TRaK board who popped one in the mail to me last week.

In the meantime I’ve started work on “Tin Box Build No. 4”. It’s a competition coupe based on the two single engine side rails from the Double Dragster kit and a resin ’32 Bantam coupe body shell I recently found on e-Bay. Needless to say the old tin box is getting pretty empty at this stage so the hemi comes from an AMT Hemisphere kit. I haven’t decided if I’ll keep it blown or go real early era and use the eight ‘97’s I still have from the Double Dragster kit. Beside the frame rails (and perhaps the carburetion), the Double Dragster kit will provide the slicks, front suspension and the seat. It could have supplied the quick change rear axle, too, but I decided to save that for a future build and substituted a rear end from a Revell Deuce kit which I had snapped a couple of years ago. I cut it down and added new axle ends. All the chassis cross members and the x-brace for the roll cage are scratch built from styrene rod and tubing, as is the suicide perch at the front. I have removed the body mount stubs from the frame rails and may still remove the mounting stubs for the Moon tank at the front. The front wheels and tires are from a Tony Nancy Double Dragster kit. The rear wheels are dummies for the moment.

I’ll have to scratch much of the steering gear and raid my parts box for some interior details, but otherwise this build is coming together surprisingly quickly. It’s also striking how the “bones” of this old AMT kit shine through all these different cars, all of which are decidedly Old School from the era when the kit was first released, which is to say circa 1960.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

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