Building the AMT 1/25th Scale Version of "My Mother the Car". 1928 Porter,

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Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog Created: 7-29-2023

Last Updated: 8-10-2023

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Greetings ~

Back in the late 1990s, I operated a hobby shop for a few years and stocked model kits. I stocked new and vintage kits. Some dated back as early as 1949. When I closed the business down in 1999, I sold most of the remaining stock on eBay. But I kept many of the kits for myself since I have been a lifelong model builder. I have been building model cars, trucks, ships and planes since 1956.

One of the kits that I had in the store and kept for myself was this one. If your as old as dirt, like me, then you should, at least, slightly remember the 1960s TV show, "My Mother the Car". It starred comic actor Jerry Van Dyke as a man who lost his mother and she came back as, well of course, a car. She was old when she died so it only stands to reason she would be an old car.

The show used a 1928 Porter touring car to play the mother and also used veteran actress, Ann Southern as the voice of the car. The show was cute, but kind of stupid. Jerry Van Dyke tried his best to bring it off but it just didn't make it. It lasted a season or so as I remember. But being an antique car lover I was amazed at the old Porter.

In 1965 AMT Model Corporation released the scale model version of the car. This kit was originally in 1/25th scale and was priced at around $1.50 at the time. I remember I had to have one and went out and bought one and built it. I have no idea whatever happened to it but, like so many other things, it just got lost in the years since.

When I had my hobby shop in the '90s, one of the boxes of old vintage model kits that I got one day included two of these original kits. I sold one for $55.00 and kept the other one for myself. That was 24 years ago. I am just getting around to building it now. Sorry! I had other things to do.

It's been 58-years since this model's release. The plastic is in great shape. There's no warped pieces as far as I can see. This kit originally came with two small paint containers, one for the color white and the other black. Included was also a paint brush and a small tube of glue. Everything needed for building the kit for a whopping $1.50. The instructions are two pages, three steps. The decals are 58-years old so I don't think they will work.

I am the type of builder that likes my finished kits to look as original to the actual car, truck, ship, plane, etc., as possible. I have checked many pictures of the real car on the web and looked at the colors. Bright red body, white top, black interior, silver spoked wheels, large whitewall tires and a silver windshield frame. The chrome parts are in real nice shape as is the rest of the kit. It was molded in red but needs re-painted to shine it all up. With these old hands, the whitewalls may be a problem, but we'll see how it goes.

I'm all set to get started. Let's look at a few photos of the old TV show and then we'll get ta buildin'.

NOTE:

If you've gotten one of these kits and the instruction sheet is missing, I hope this blog helps you in it's construction. Sometimes when buying old kits, instructions, decals are some parts may be missing. Hopefully, the kit you got is complete as this one was. Good luck!

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My Mother the Car. 1965 - 1966

Show's cast: Jerry Van Dyke, Maggie Pierce, Ann Sothern, Avery Schreiber. Director: Rod Amateau.

Jerry Van Dyke finds the car in bad shape at a local dealer.

After restoring the car, Jerry drives it and has all sorts of trouble when a unscrupulous man tries everything he can to get the car.

Merchandise From the Show ~

The scale model was released in 1966 by AMT.

1966 AMT model kits ad.

There's also a coloring book.

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Here's What Wikipedia Has to Say About the TV Show ~

My Mother the Car is an American fantasy comedy that aired for a single season on NBC between September 14, 1965 and April 5, 1966. Thirty episodes were produced by United Artists Television. The premise features a man whose deceased mother is reincarnated as an antique car, who communicates with him through the car radio.

My Mother the Car had an experienced production team with extensive comedy credentials: Rod Amateau (The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis); Allan Burns (wrote for Jay Ward and went on to create several critically acclaimed shows, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, and Lou Grant); James L. Brooks (Room 222, Taxi, and later served as executive producer of The Simpsons) and Chris Hayward (produced and wrote for Barney Miller during its first several seasons). However, critics and adult viewers panned the show.

In 2002, TV Guide proclaimed it to be the second-worst of all time, behind The Jerry Springer Show. TV Land's first day of programming in April 1996 included the series premiere as a collection of television firsts and rarities, billing it as "the strange but true...infamous series". The show's premise was similar to other popular comedies of the 1960s that featured a fantastic gimmick, such as a talking horse (Mister Ed), a suburbanite witch (Bewitched), an obedient genie (I Dream of Jeannie), or a flying nun (The Flying Nun).

Synopsis ~

The show follows the exploits of attorney David Crabtree (played by Jerry Van Dyke) who, while shopping at a used-car lot for a station wagon to serve as a second family car, instead purchases a dilapidated 1928 Porter touring car. Crabtree hears the car call his name in a woman's voice. The car turns out to be the reincarnation of his deceased mother, Gladys (voiced by Ann Sothern). She talks (only to Crabtree) through the car's radio: the dial light flashes in synchronization with "Mother's" voice. In an effort to get his family to accept the old, tired car, Crabtree brings it to a custom body shop for a full restoration. The car is coveted by a fanatical collector named Captain Manzini (Avery Schreiber), but Crabtree purchases and restores the car before Manzini can acquire it.

For the rest of the series, Crabtree is pursued by the avaricious Captain Manzini, who is determined to acquire the valuable automobile by hook or by crook. In a running gag characterizing his shifty nature, Manzini (who resembles a 1920s silent film villain) always mangles Crabtree's name when speaking to him. "Now, then, Crabapple..." "That's Crabtree." "Whatever."

Others in the cast included Maggie Pierce as wife Barbara, Cindy Eilbacher (the sister of Lisa Eilbacher) and Randy Whipple as the kids, Cindy and Randy. Veteran movie and television character actors played supporting roles, including Bill Daily, Harold Peary, Byron Foulger, Bob Jellison, Sam Flint, and Willis Bouchey.

Production notes ~

The show was created by Allan Burns and Chris Hayward, who had better success with Rocky & Bullwinkle, The Munsters, and Get Smart (which debuted the same season). Aluminum Model Toys (AMT), a well-known producer of plastic model car kits, introduced a 1/25-scale kit of the Porter in late 1965.

The theme music was composed and conducted by Ralph Carmichael. It was written and sung by Paul Hampton. It was used on an episode of Arrested Development also called "My Mother, the Car".

The show began with a black-and-white pilot, which was later refilmed in color. This pilot did not originally air, but has been shown several times on Canadian television. Network censors insisted that one particular scene be deleted where the car backfired.

Car ~

The on-set car, called a 1928 Porter Stanhope touring car, was a custom car, rebuilt by Norm Grabowski, from a 1924 Ford Model T, and later restyled by property master Kaye Trapp and Norm Breedlove. A stunt car, driven by a rear-floorboard-hidden driver, was built by George Barris, as a replica.

The on-set car used in My Mother the Car, was, in 2016, located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and owned by Dave Bodnar. The stunt car was once owned by casino giant William Harrah, who had one of the largest special-interest and antique auto collections of all time in Reno, Nevada. After Harrah's death in 1984, the auction catalogue advertised the lot as having a carnation red body with white top and created from parts of a Ford Model T, a Maxwell, a Hudson and a Chevrolet. (The actual Porter Motor Company existed only in 1900-1901.) Harrah's F.R.P. is, since 1994, at the Seal Cove Auto Museum on Mount Desert Island in Maine. As of 2012 the stunt Porter is located at the Star Cars Museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. On September 3, 2017, the car sold at the Dragone auction, part of the Historic Festival 35 at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT for $50,000.

Soundtrack ~

The series was scored by Ralph Carmichael with the lyrics of the title song by Paul Hampton. Sammy Davis Jr. did a cover version.

Cast:

Jerry Van Dyke as Dave Crabtree

Maggie Pierce as Barbara Crabtree (née Netwick)

Ann Sothern as Mother the 1928 Porter (formerly Gladys Crabtree (née Brown))

Avery Schreiber as Captain Bernard Manzini

Cindy Eilbacher as Cindy Crabtree

Randy Whipple as Randy Crabtree

Paula Winslowe as Grandma Netwick

Release ~

In the United Kingdom the series debuted on ITV on 8 November 1965.

Ownership status ~

The current owner of the show is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which bought United Artists in 1981.

Home media ~

TGG Direct released a DVD box set of the series on 12 November 2013. It contains the 30 episodes that aired, but not the unaired pilot. The laugh track has been removed for the DVD set.

All 30 episodes were available for viewing on Hulu. The show is also available on MGM's YouTube channel.

Syndication ~

Antenna TV began airing episodes of the show on September 19, 2015.

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On To The Kit Building ~

Okay, now you know everything there is to know about the TV show. And, actually, I'm tired of talking about it. So let's get started on this kit.

The box.

The kit is 100% complete. Someone, at some point, since 1966 has painted some of the parts flat black. But that's as far as they went with it.

The kit originally came with it's own paint and brush plus a tiny tube of glue. However, I won't be using it. I have no idea what condition it is in after 58 years. And I'm not even going to open any of it.

It also came with four metal axles. Why four, you say? I don't know, I say! I should only need two of them.

The instructions are in perfect condition.

However, I'm not so sure about the decal sheet. Old decals do not work well. I may make a copy since the decals are only signs for display purposes.

Painting the body ~

I'm going to use Testors "Bright Red" spray paint.

I pulled out my old spray booth cardboard box.

This thing has so much paint on it that it's bullet proof. It's nice to know that, if I ever get into a shootout, I will have something to use for cover.

Of course, the old molded red parts are dull, so a coat of fresh paint should liven then up a bit.

The spray does bring out the sparkle.

If your new at model building, when a model is molded in color, always re-spray the parts anyway. The finished model will thank you for it. NO! My models do NOT talk to me. Let's not go there!

The parts to the hood is painted also.

The spoke wheels and windshield frame is all painted silver.

I got the rest of the spoked wheels painted.

The front seat and engine parts are painted flat black.

I used Testors # 1104 Dark Red brush paint to do the headlight housings. This color matches the red spray paint of the body.

The two pieces of the trunk basket supports are also painted using the red brush paint.

To paint the trunk basket, I'm using Rust-Olium color Gloss Leather Brown, #7775.

Painting Tip:

When I use these paints in the quart size, once the can is shaken up, there's a lot of paint on the inside of the lid. Instead of using what's in the can, I use the paint from the lid. It really saves on the paint plus this is, in most cases, paint that is never used anyway.

Now the two halves of the roof are glued together.

I painted the roof with Testors brush paint, color flat light gray #1732.

The spare tire is molded in red so it had to be painted flat black also.

The first of the engine is to install the exhaust. This gets glued to the right side of the block.

Next, the outer rims are glued to the tires.

I had a few last pieces that I had to spray paint. So I did those.

Next, the oilpan is glued on.

The manifold is painted.

The manifold is then glued to the top of the engine block.

The two halves of the coil are glued together.

The steering wheel is painted with silver spokes and brown wooden ring.

To paint the belts on the hood and trunk, I'm using a very thin micro brush and I'm using it in the paint lid again. The belts are painted the light sand color.

Hood belts.

Belts on trunk.

Now the coil is glued to the top of the engine.

Then the two halves of the rear axle are glued together.

Also, the two halves of the gas tank are glued together.

The back panel of the front seat is glued on.

The gauges on the dashboard are painted silver.

The instruction sheet shows the proper way to line up the halves of the spokes when gluing the rims into the tires.

Because this kit is old, some of the matching parts are not on the same parts trees.

The two wheel cylinders are glued to the front axle. Make sure they are straight.

The interior section is glued into the body shell.

The fan blade is glued to the front of the engine block. This completes the engine assembly.

Now the engine is glued into the frame.

The rear axle is glued in place.

The radio voice box is glued to the dashboard.

The gear shift is glued into the interior.

The second coat of paint is applied to the top.

When I painted the silver on one of the headlight posts, it bled onto the red light housing.

I don't want to try to spray such a small part as it will simply blow it away.

I could put the light in a holder but then whatever I used to hold it would get covered in the paint as well. So I spray some of the paint into a bowl.

I'm using a small package that the dog food came in. I have my wife keep these for me to use in the workshop.

I spray some of the paint into the bowl.

This is the paint I used on the car's body.

Then I use a paintbrush to cover up the unwanted silver.

Now the front axle is glued on.

The metal rod axles are now pressed into each of the wheels. I don't know how your kit is, but these worked great for me.

NOTE:

Only do one wheel on each of the metal rods. Remember, you have to run them through the axle before putting the other wheel on.

I know that these metal axle rods can be a pain in many cases. You have to screw them on and sometimes, the wheels come loose from the tires. In the past, I have actually broken the spokes trying to get the rods pushed in. On this kit however, they went in fairly easy and the wheels held up well to the pressure.

Once the rod is through and in place, put the other wheel on.

Before putting the rods through the back axle, I had to glue on the rear brake drums.

Okay! All four wheels and tires are in place.

Next is the trunk and fuel tank assembly. The fuel tank sides are glued in place and then the trunk is glued on the top.

Next the whole thing is glued to the base.

This is how the instructions show it. We'll do the tail light later on.

The headlights have two cowls that will be glued in later.

The headlight clear lenses are glued into the cowls using a very small amount of glue on a toothpick and a pair of tweezers.

The second coat of paint is applied to the inside of the top.

A small dab of glue is applied to the steering wheel and it's mounted to the steering column. Use a clamp or whatever to hold the sheering wheel in place until the glue dries.

NOTE: Toothpicks are a very important part of your hobby tools. They are used for applying small dabs of glue and a host of other jobs on models.

Now the windshield glass is glued in. Another job for the toothpick. We all know that clear plastic parts and glue do not mix. If the glue smears onto the glass, it can not be removed. You have to be very careful when applying glue for clear window installation.

The next thing to be glued in is the hand brake lever.

Then the steering wheel is glued in place. The steering wheel is positioned so it's almost standing straight upwards. There's a slight tilt to it, but not much.

Then the front seat is glued in. Also, the dashboard is now glued into the body.

Next the cowls are glued to the headlights. Again the toothpick is used for the gluing.

The headlights are finished.

There's one thing that I took notice of when looking at the photos of the original car. The radiator housing is actually brass, not chrome. I have no brass color paint so I used copper and painted it. It took two coats to cover the chrome.

It looks like the headlight cowls were also brass. But I wasn't real sure so I left them chrome.

I next glued the two pieces of the inner radiator together.

Now I glued the frame into the fenders.

When I build these old, old kits, I remember how much easier they were to assemble in those days. The frame slipped right in and lined up perfectly.

While the frame is drying, it's time for the firewall to go in.

The firewall is glued in.

NOTE:

The gear shift to me seemed pretty long and stood tall in the front seat area. I looked an original picture from the TV show and the gear shift was NOT very long. However, I couldn't cut the shifter shorter as that would have gotten rid of the base and it would not have glued onto the hole in the floor board. So the shifter will just have to be a long one I guess.

Jerry Van Dyke with his TV wife sitting in the front seat of the car. No shifter knob is visible.

In this picture, Jerry can be seen shifting the gear shift. It's normal size. Not very long at all.

Once the copper is dry on the radiator shell, I painted the inner area flat black.

The frame is firmly in place.

I had to use a tiny micro paintbrush to paint the silver on the buckles of the trunk and hood belts.

The belts on the trunk are the same tan color as the hood. They are not silver. The camera didn't pick up the color vary well.

NOTE: Tiny painting such as the belt buckles needs to be done with a magnifying glass. If you can get one of these arm-type that lights up, it will come in very, very handy. If you already have one, your smart.

Now the tail light lense is painted red.

I next glued the body onto the running boards. It's beginning to look like a car now.

NOTE:

I'm encountered my first real problem with this kit. I tried to put the body on and the engine was keeping it from going all the way on. I had to remove the engine. Lucky for me it was easy to get out. I will try to reinstall it later.

I got the hood parts and radiator housing put together.

This red piece is the base to the radiator housing. It had to be glued in.

The three spare tire leather straps are glued on. I went by the photo on the box cover to see the locations to put them.

The long gearshift was driving me nuts. Then I noticed there is a little knub of some sort on the lever about halfway down. This knub is in line to where t he top end of the shifter should be. It will act as a knob and I can cut off the lever.

Once cut off, it seems to be the perfect size. Could this be the real size of the shifter and the company simply messed up when they molded the parts?

Next, the trunk assembly is glued to the rear of the body.

NOTE: To work on the rear of the body, and to keep the parts from falling off before the glue dries, I just stood the car on it's front end and propped it on a Testors paint bottle. It works perfectly.

While the car was in this position, I finished off the rear end by gluing on the tail light and rear bumpers.

Then I glued the top supports to the top.

I got the Porter logo painted silver thanks to a micro brush and the lighted magnifier.

The hood is installed.

The front bumper is glue on.

The windshield is glued in place. I put the top on to get the right position of the windshield.

The bird is glued to the wings on the radiator top.

Now I will install the two windshield braces.

The passenger side is glued on.

While the car is on it's side, I glued the wheel hubs onto all the wheels including the spare tire.

This is how small the wheel hubs are.

Now the driver's side windshield brace is glued on.

The headlights are glued on now.

NOTE:

The headlights are the hardest part of the entire kit build. I had to put glue on the brackets and then hold each headlight until the glue started to work. Then I had to make sure they stayed straight until the glue set up enough to keep them in place. What a pain in the ass!

We're coming down to the wire now ~

The antenna is glued on. The car has an antenna I guess for the radio so you can reach Heaven...or the other place.

If you do a lot of model building and haven't gotten one of these magnifiers with arms yet, DO IT! They come in handy for holding parts in place for gluing.

Okay! Here's the last piece to go on. The side rear view mirror. I'm using the arm to hold it while the glue dries.

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Glory-Bee! The Model Is Finished!

The Finished Model ~

Until I get a clear model display case for it, I'm using a small cake package.

These cake and cookie plastic packs are nice to keep your models dust-free. I keep dozens of them around in different sizes.

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The following are the instruction sheet pages for this kit ~

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Kit Review ~

All in all, this was an easy kit to build. In 1965 there wasn't a lot to them. There was a few small parts problems but nothing major.

I did not paint the whitewalls on the tires because I knew that, with 72-year old hands, I would screw them up. So that's the only part of the car that is not original to the show.

The parts had numbers on the instruction sheet but not on the parts, duh! And the car in the show does not have a cover on the spare tire as the kit does. But it's an all around good kit that should take the average model builder about two or three days to complete.

So, if you pick one up, don't pay any more than about $60 for it. (Unless you really want it). The decals probably won't work after all there years and, if the kit has the original paint and glue, I wouldn't try to use it if I were you. But have fun and e-mail me a picture or two of you finished car. Good Luck!