Model Products Corporation

Model Products Corporation or MPC for short, was a plastic model company started in 1963. It produced highly accurate and detailed kits and pre-assembled promotional models, mainly of cars. These were all normally molded in plastic at 1:25 scale, but sometimes larger.

History Tied to Promotionals

MPC began when George Toteff resigned from the presidency of AMT to start his own model car company in Mount Clemens, Michigan, bringing customizer Dean Jeffries with him. While AMT more commonly produced promotional models for Ford and Jo-Han produced for Chrysler and American Motors, the new company had more success with licensing contracts of General Motors Corporation vehicles, and its first models appeared about 1965. Nevertheless, it's very first models were of Chrysler Corporation vehicles.

MPC then was a late-comer on the promotional and modeling scene, preceded by AMT and Jo-Han. It is interesting to compare origins - while AMT had its beginnings in manufacturing promotionals first and kits later, by the 1960s, kits were the big money makers and MPC mainly profited from kits first and promotionals secondarily.

Kit makers Aurora, Pyro, Revell and Monogram also appeared earlier than MPC, but did not enter the promotional business of pre-assembled models. By the early 1970s, however, MPC was as popular as any of the model makers.

MPC produced its first promotional models in 1965. Their first issue was a highly-detailed 1964 Corvette Sting Ray coupe that had working front suspension, plus extra speed and customizing parts (Ostrander 2011). Another of the first promos was a 1965 Dodge Coronet 500 in both convertible and hardtop versions. One difference between the MPC Coronets and period AMT promotionals is that MPC exhaust systems and rear suspension parts were often highlighted in silver. Later MPC promotionals did not feature this highlighting.

In the early 1970s, a variety of GM products were offered - mostly Chevrolets and Pontiacs. Full-sized Pontiacs - LeMans and GTO models - were offered early on while MPC Firebirds appeared throughout the 1970s. Chrysler products in the early 1970s were Chargers and Barracudas. In the late 1970s, MPC also offered Chrysler promos of the Volare and the larger Monaco.

In the late 1970s, MPC issued a plethora of GM promos, particularly Chevrolet Corvettes and Camaros. A 1978 and 1979 Monte Carlo and Monza were offered. In 1981, the downsized Chevy El Camino was a promotional and Corvettes continued to be offered in the early 1980s, until AMT/Ertl took over the contracts.

Diversification

Like most model makers, MPC products included a mix of current year car models, race and modified cars, as well as film and TV tie-ins. Among those were a line of George Barris-designed custom and film cars, special customs by Dean Jeffries as well as kits based on the Star Wars film series.

Like many model makers, MPC also ventured into the popular slot car scene of the mid-1960s. Using its plastic car bodies a new 'Dyn-O-Charger' (or also seen as simply 'Dyn-O') slot cars series at first issued in a yellow box. One car featured in the series was the 1957 Corvette which featured 'Dyn-O-Brakes', special brakes for the front wheels of the slot cars.

MPC also marketed kits specifically for the Canadian market like the 'RCMP' 1973 Chevrolet Mounty police car, a 1:20 scale McClaren Can-Am (Canadian-American) Challenge racer, and the 'Voodoo' Corvette model, which, like many of these had information in written in both English and French on the boxes.

In the early 1970s, MPC also ventured into caricature model creations similar to Revell's Ed Roth 'Ratfink' based custom car kits or Bill Campbell's Weird-Ohs made by Hawk Models. MPC's versions were called 'Zingers', and featured comical stubby and swollen looking vehicles with huge drag engines. Some examples were a 1965 Dodge van, a VW transporter bus, a VW bug, a Dune Buggy and a Corvette - but these were different compared to Aurora models because they didn't feature strange people or animals. The Zinger line was reintroduced in 2009 as Round 2 LLC took MPC into its growing stable of venerable kit makers.

The company also made scale model kits of "Stingray" and other bicycles and action figure kits, like the Pirates of Caribbean offerings (not related directly to the current hit movie series featuring Johnny Depp) and a 'Dungeons and Dragons' scene. TV well-knowns like Marvel Comics' 'Incredible Hulk', the 'Six Million Dollar Man', 'Bionic Woman', and 'Dark Shadows' were produced. Of course several vehicles from TV shows were featured like 'Dukes of Hazard' vehicles, 'The Sweathogs Dream Machine' featuring John Travolta from 'Welcome Back Kotter' or 'the Fonz Dreamrod' which was a reworked Monkeemobile. For younger builders, chrome finished snap together models were featured from the 'Wacky Races' TV show. Movie figures like the Walt Disney 'Haunted Mansion series', the 'Mummy', 'Alien', the 'Time Machine', 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and, of course, a series of 'Star Wars' ships also appeared. A more unique Aurora-like set of figures were the cartoonish 'Glo-Heads' of Dracula, Ape Man, the Mummy, and the Werewolf.

Aircraft Kits

Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter kit in 1:72 scale. This was made about 1982 during the CPG Products era.

MPC had an interesting relationship with the British Airfix. Before 1970, original MPC car molds like the 1928 Lincoln Sport Touring ended up in England as Airfix kits (Gibson 1970, pages 44–45). On certain boxes of this kit it said, "Manufactured by Airfix; Created by MPC" (Gangbusters Lincoln 2006). In reciprocal effect, Airfix airplane kits were imported from the U.K. and sold under the MPC name. Later, when MPC was taken over by CPG's Fundimensions Division, the company finally purchased Airfix.

In addition to standard versions, MPC offered a "Profile Series" (named after a set of popular aircraft monographs of the time) which offered alternative decals for different aircraft, and a "custom" series which offered chrome parts and car-like decals to customize standard aircraft.

MPC Today

About 1970, General Mills bought MPC from Toteff, who stayed as president. General Mills, in its 'toy' period, also acquired Lionel trains which Toteff also directed (Chrysler 2008). In the late 1970s, MPC was acquired by CPG Products Corporation which sold a variety of toys and games. MPC kits were marketed as part of CPG's Fundimensions Division. This ownership lasted until about 1984.

In the CPG Fundimensions era MPC carried out an interesting marketing scheme that it called "Golden Opportunity kits". One could collect 'Golden Wings' tokens off of the airplane kit boxes and turn them in for free models.

MPC was eventually absorbed by Ertl. Today the brand has been resurrected by Round 2 LLC, which also owns AMT, Polar Lights (who reissued Aurora model kits) and Ertl.

References

Cawthon, Bill. 2002. 3 in 1:87, Promotex Online Articles December 15 [1]

Chrysler Museum. 2008. Display text. Model display in museum basement. Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Doty, Dennis. 2010. Scaling Down Midsize Mopars. Collectible Automobile, 26/6:88-90.

Gangbusters Lincoln kit. 2006. On The Airfix Tribute Forum. Posted May 3. [2]

Gibson, Cecil. 1970. Commercial Vehicles. Troy Model Club Series. London: Thomas Nelson & Sons.

Ostrander, Steve. 2011. Michigan Scale Model Companies, in Seeking Michigan, an on-line source of the Michigan Historical Museum. [3]

External links

• For vintage MPC aircraft and space kits, see http://www.oldmodelkits.com
• Round 2 LLC website. http://www.round2corp.com/