When I was a kid, in addition to die-cast cars, I was also into plastic model kits. The Johnny Lightning Classic Plastic series combined these two great things by presenting “metal replicas of vintage model kits.” The series was introduced in 2001, during JL’s Playing Mantis era. That first release featured die-cast cars replicating early-1970s drag and funny car model kits by Jo-Han. By the time the series was revived in 2005, it highlighted model kits by AMT, which was by then owned by JL’s parent company, RC2. The series continued up to 2008.
My 1958 Chevy Impala from the 2006 Classic Plastic series is a replica of a “3 in 1” AMT kit that could be assembled as stock, competition or customized by none other than George Barris.
The miniature box is a pretty faithful reproduction of the original plastic model and makes me feel like I’m a kid in the hobby store, trying to decide which kit I want to build next.
Johnny Lightning | 2006 | Classic Plastic | 1958 Chevy Impala #13 | gold with miniature model box
Another related Johnny Lightning line was the Model Kit Companion series, which was an actual AMT plastic model kit that included a matching die-cast car. There were only nine different castings in the series (2006-2007), among them another 1958 Chevy Impala as you see here.
This one is unopened, in fact I’ve never even removed the original shrink-wrap from the package.
Johnny Lightning | 2006 | Model Kit Companion R3 | 1958 Chevy Impala | dark blue with white top, with 1/25 scale AMT 1958 Chevy Impala plastic model kit
The Race Case JL 