If you are interested in building some of the older kits that you may have missed when they were first introduced, you have a friend in Round 2 Models, who are re-releasing kits from the likes of AMT, MPC, and Polar Lights. One of the latest releases is this 1966 Ford Mustang Hardtop in a “Retro Deluxe Edition” that includes pad-printed tires, vintage kit packaging, and all new decal designs. The kit may be built as a stock, custom, or drag racing variant, with plenty of supplied kit parts to allow for customizing to the tastes of the builder. The built-up kit is a respectable looking 1966 Mustang hardtop with plenty of options; just keep in mind that being an older kit, there will be some fit issues to overcome.

The Ford Motor Company first rolled out the Mustang in April, 1964, and the cars built between 1964 and 1973 are considered to be part of the first generation of this vehicle, which is now up to generation five. There were 499,751 hardtops built of the 1966 Mustang, and one of the big changes was to the instrument gauge cluster. There were four engines available from Ford – a 200 cubic inch inline 6-cylinder, and three 289 cu in V8’s with ratings of 200, 225, and 271 horsepower. This particular kit has the 289 V8 included, and “289” is molded onto the front quarter panel.

Upon opening this kit, you will find the body and five sprues molded in a smooth white plastic, a single chrome sprue, a clear sprue, a red clear parts sprue, ten rubber tires (to cover all three building options), two metal axles, a small decal sheet, and a four-page instruction guide. I really appreciated the racing slicks that were included, as I have not seen these done as single moldings in some time. If you have read other reviews that I have written for the IPMS, you now realize that I build pretty much anything. I started with cars in my early days of building, but since I moved on to aircraft and armor subjects, I have not ventured back to automotive kits very often.

The instructions for this kit begin with assembly of the engine, which can be built either stock or as a custom/drag variant. The wheels are next, and there are four stock tires and wheels, four custom tires and wheels, as well as two rear slicks for the drag version (which also use the custom wheels). I will mention how nice the pad-printed tires are here as they look fantastic, and are available on the custom tires and racing slicks. This was far easier than painting the tires myself as I remember doing in the past. There are optional stock and custom drag racing bucket seats for the interior, as well as a rollbar and brace for the drag version. If building the drag version, the exhaust headers will be added to the engine after it is installed into the chassis. In the final assembly, there are different front and rear pans provided, based upon which car you are building.

In building my vehicles, I used ModelMaster Lacquer Red, Silver, and Flat Interior Fabric Gray, in addition to Acryl Gunship Gray, Dark Blue, Aircraft Gray, and Aircraft Interior Black. I also utilized Alclad Gloss Black Base and Chrome, as well as Bare Metal Foil ultra-Bright Chrome. The front turn signals are a Silver base coat with a drop of Tamiya Clear Yellow added.

As far as my hits of this kit are concerned, I have to say that the assembly was mostly easy, and the instructions are relatively easy to follow. Having a kit with so many options took me back to the days when I was first building cars, and how much fun it was to open a box with lots of extra goodies. I have mentioned the pad-printed custom tires and racing slicks already, and I will also note the inclusion of metal axles, as you will notice a couple of plastic ones present on one of the sprues.

As far as my misses, there are a couple of couple of spots in the directions where part locations are not completely clear, such as the rollbar and brace locations, as well as those for the hood scoop and wheelie bars. There is also no location marked on the underside of the hood on where to cut it open if using the scoop (the directions show a spot that is a little vague, and does not really match the design of the scoop).

Although not a miss, I was concerned with the printed information on the interior side of the roof for this kit, as I thought that it would show through once the car was painted. I ended up removing this with a Q-tip dipped in Model Master Dried Paint Solvent and some scrubbing. I also mentioned some fit issues, which I expected with an older kit, and will point out that the bucket seats for the custom and drag options did not fit correctly, and there were gaps where the front and rear pans attach to the body. These are not difficult to overcome, just know that they will be items to deal with during construction.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend this kit to anyone who would like to add a 1966 Mustang hardtop to his collection, especially as there are plenty of customizing options available with this kit. I will also mention that if you are appreciative of nostalgia, this will be a great kit for you.

My thanks go out to the folks at Round 2 Models for providing this kit to the IPMS/USA for review, to Steve Collins who runs the Review Corps and allowed me to appraise this kit, and to you for taking the time to read my comments.