AMT  1/25^th 2010 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Impala SS

  NASCAR completed redesigned their Sprint Cup series car for the 2007.  The basic chassis design dated back to the 1970’s.  The new car debuted several safety improvements including improved side impact bars featuring increased foam padding and the moving of the driver’s seat further to the center of the car.  The car also did away with the traditional rear spoiler and flush front valence, replacing them with an Indy car style ear wing and a recessed nose with a braced splitter plate. 

The car made a limited debut in the 2007 season, running in several races but the majority of the races were run with the old car.  The fans did not really care for the car and the new look.  During the 2009 season, safety concerns were raised as the cars showed a tendency to get airborne when it turned around at high speed.  After the 2009 season, it was announced that the traditional rear spoiler would be brought back starting at the 6^th race of the season at Martinsville.  Next season the nose will be redesigned to incorporate the splitter into a flush nose that looks more like the older car.

This kit is the first NASCAR kit to hit the market since Revell/Monogram’s 2007 Monte Carlo kit.  Originally the snap kit was to be released alongside a more detailed glue kit, but the glue kit was been postponed depending on the sales of the snap kit.  The snap kit was released in 4 boxings, one for each of the Hendrick Chevy’s. It’s a low parts count kit (49 parts) that includes simplified interior and engine details. 

The pre-painted body does look nice and the splitter detail is well done.  The rear wing is a touch chunky and might be a hair oversized.  The car does give you a decent base for adding detail especially if you start with the engine from an older AMT stock car kit.  The kit does include stickers for the younger builders and decals for the more serious builders.  The decals look good and don’t look as thick as R/M’s kit decals usually do.  There are plenty of aftermarket decals for this body style but they are 1/24^th scale so the fit might be problematic.  In the plus side, Powerslide decals (mikesdecals.com)  announced that their new decals will be sized for this kit so options will become available if this kit continues to be available.

Overall, it’s a nice start and good to see some renewed interest in NASCAR kits.  It will be interesting to see if we get the glue kit next year and whether or not the body gets updated for the 2011 season.  This kit looks good for a snap kit and experienced builders can scratch build some improved detail including the new spoiler that is currently being used.

Tim Peters

October 2010