Man from U.N.C.L.E. 1/25 Piranha Super Spy Car from AMT

The man from U.N.C.L.E was a very popular TV series from the 60s so I really doubt a lot of people will remember it. I myself was too young to remember any of the episode from the show and most of my memory of it was when our TV station showed their reruns. But I do distinctly remember this, both actors Robert Vaughn (Napoleon Solo) and David McCallum (Illya Kuryakin) were the sensational heart throbs then. I still remembered how my aunties would swoon over them while staring at the black and white TV and I would get disgusted at how girly they were then. And I really dig that car then too, the Piranha. Of course I was too young to know anything about cars, except that this one really looked like a super agent car. So it was instantly hot.

Yeah, those two stallions. And I have to say both of them aged rather gracefully too today. Anyway, back to the car. She was built by Gene Winfield in the AMT Corporation's "Speed & Custom Division" shop in Phoenix, Arizona. Winfield had previously built many of the Ford and Chrysler prototypes of new car designs, cars for TV, and for private customers from around the country. He was hired by the AMT model company in 1962 as a customizing consultant, and in 1964 he was asked to open a new AMT shop in Phoenix to build working, full-size versions of cars to be featured as AMT models.

Winfield proposed a limited production car and NBC liked the idea, plus they loved the fact that the car could be provided at no cost because AMT would pay for its construction in exchange for the rights to produce and sell the model kit of the car. Actual construction cost of the car was between $30 - 40,000 to build, but AMT considered it a bargain since the "Man from U.N.C.L.E." show was very popular at the time.

Even though the Piranha was futuristic in design, it had everyday problems like any other specialty cars. Actors Robert Vaughn and David McCallum both complained about the difficulty climbing in and out, and the lack of headroom, so bubble-type windows were added. "Girl from U.N.C.L.E." star Stephanie Powers (April Dancer) had her problems too trying to get in and out in a skirt in those days. Because of these problems, the car appeared in only a few episodes.

The kit had become somewhat of a rarity and it's notoriety was associated to the show. So when the kit's production stopped, looking for one became an endurance of patience and luck. That is until Round 2 announced it's reissue sometime within the first quarter of 2015.

She's not released yet but that didn't stop Paragrafix from announcing it's photo etch set and decals (provided by JT-Graphics) done in preparation for her release. Considered a holy grail kit for many baby boomers, I'm sure when some of you are building her, you'd probably be humming it's title track.

You can pre-order your set HERE

Damn .... now I can't get that song out of my head ..