Chevrolet offered a redesigned body in 1968 along with two engine options: a 327 or 427 V8. In total, Chevrolet produced 28,566 Corvettes that year, and, surprisingly, most of them were convertibles. Round 2 has issued the AMT 1/25 scale 1968 Chevy Corvette Custom plastic model kit, which combines parts from the ’68 Chevy Corvette annual, ACcelerator, and John Greenwood’s GT Corvette road racer in one box with a brand-new set of decals. It’s designed to give experienced builders maximum flexibility in building a custom Corvette without breaking the bank or searching for aftermarket products. The old-school instructions don’t have part numbers, just illustrations of how the parts should be assembled. Go slow and follow the numerical order for the assembly process.
The kit offers three engine options (more than 30 parts!), including a dual-quad intake manifold, a single carb and manifold setup, and a custom fuel-injection manifold. For me, the choice was easy: Option 1. While they aren’t mentioned in the instructions, the kit includes the headers and side pipes for a street racer that should accompany the dual-quad setup. They require a bit of cutting and sanding for proper fit, but it’s well worth it. This kit is meant to customize, right?
Not surprising for a kit with a lineage as old as this one’s, the chassis is simplistic with a molded-in driveshaft and front and rear suspensions. However, if you spend some time detailing these molded parts, you can achieve a satisfying look. With the two-piece radiator in place, a washer bottle, pressure tank, and battery complete the engine bay. Just install the engine.
Like the chassis, the interior tub comes with the seats and center console molded in. Decals dress the instrument panel, which is a bonus. Choose between a stock or custom steering wheel to complete the interior. The kit includes a racing helmet, fire extinguisher, and clipboard to personalize your model. It may seem basic, but spending time detailing and detail-painting the interior brings it up to display levels.
The kit offers eight-spoke custom wheels to use with four wide tires or a street racer configuration with five-spoke wheels. The latter wear wide, pad-printed slicks in the back and narrow no-names up front. Both options look great.
The tooling for the body has been cleaned up (I found no flash or sink holes) and the kit presents a ton of options. Remove the windshield pillars and you can use the wraparound windshield to simulate a road course racer. Leave the pillars in place, and you can use the removable hard top (although the instructions don’t mention it). You can install a full roll cage or a hoop-style cage that mounts behind the driver's area. Need more options? Choose between stock or custom grilles and lower valance panels. Those panels will need a bit of attention to fit properly. After you’ve attached the rear taillight panel, now it’s up to you to decide how best to deploy the decals.
Round 2 has done an admirable job of reimagining a custom Corvette kit to give modelers something new. Even though it contains older tooling, experienced modelers should be able to build some seriously good-looking custom ‘Vettes from it. I definitely found it a joy to build.