Builder: Paul Canney - Ohio

The picture on the right was the art work on the box lid of this modified Ala Kart reissue. It was also a smaller image on the side panel of a 60's Ala Kart reissue. Somewhere along the way, I heard the gentleman driving the red Mod Rod is none other than AMT designer John Bogosian. Mr. Bogosian also 'appeared' on the L'il Gypsy box lid artwork. I have not been able to determine what year the red Mod Rod made it's appearance. It was either 1970 or 1973 is my best guess.

So enter the 21st century, and AMT re-released the "Mod Rod" almost identically to the 70's issuance. But, the "new" reissue does not include the iconic Ala-Kart nose cone. I'm sure it's because of the AMT new tool that was released to mixed reviews. The "new" Mod Rod has new box art for some reason. It does not compare to the original (right). But the new kit is a double kit, like the original, and still includes the 2nd '29 Ford roadster!

This build up is a mongrel of the new Mod Rod release (for the Red Ram engine & chrome) and the rest from a 60's Ala-Kart release, except the chrome capped wheels which are parts box rescues.

The trickiest part of this build was the front beam axle. In my 60 years of model building, I had never built an Ala-Kart, nor had I encountered it's flipped method of mounting it's front axle. I imagine many young model builders struggled quite a bit with this design using tube glue.

The "new tool" Ala-Kart stays true to this design but has an alternative option as well. That "new tool" frame fits nicely under a '32 Vicky I'm building.

All in all, while building this, it was easy to get caught up in the sensation of building a kit in the 60's, as I stayed true to the design and the loading of chrome. I do recommend others build an original Ala-Kart if they can get their hands on one. This version is called a "street rod" in the original paperwork. The "Mod Rod" name first appeared with the red release. Confused yet?