Revell "Wheels of Fire" Series 1/25 SnapTite Kit #85-1921, Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible

One of the most popular and most unique new cars in recent years, Chrysler's PT Cruiser has been an unqualified success since its introduction. With such a fun car, a convertible version was the natural next step.

Now, this is just too cool for school! Revell has followed Chrysler's lead, tooling up some new parts to make a convertible version of their hot-selling PT Cruiser kit. Molded in metallic blue, black, dark gray, clear, clear red, and plated plastic this is the perfect kit for both the budding modeler wanting a colorful easy-to-assemble model and the experienced builder willing to put in a few hours with paint and foil to make a beautiful and accurate curbside model.

While simplified to ease construction, this kit is still fairly well detailed. My biggest complaint in the detail department is the very light scribing of the dash instruments, making them very difficult to paint properly. The interior is very well done otherwise although it still suffers from assembly pins showing through the front seat backs. a holdover from the original release's engineering. One unique feature not often seen in American kits is a clear rear window molded integrally with the convertible up-top; unfortunately this great idea is offset by the way the top was cut from its sprue at the factory in China - a big chunk of plastic is taken out of the lower rear edge on the driver's side. This is all the more unfortunate since the top has a very good texture molded in and its sheen almost perfectly mimics the real thing. I bought a second kit in the hope that this was an isolated case but to my chagrin found that the top in that one was damaged in exactly the same way. This is a real shame and Revell really needs to do something about this.

The enclosed sheet of stickers actually looks pretty good and is most likely quite usable in this case, consisting mainly of fake "woody" paneling for the sides (I plan to use at least one set of mine on a standard PT Cruiser). The piece for the rear door even has a knockout to clear the chrome trim!

All in all, a highly recommended kit for beginners and experts alike. I expect to see bunches of these on the contest tables in the coming months.

Review sample courtesy of me and my debit card.