76 Gran Torino NASCAR

[btaylor]

Just picked up this little jewel on the cheap. Plain wrapper, but will soon be either Bill Elliot's Rookie car from 76, or The Buddy Baker / Norris car. I could do the RC cola car, but its a coupe. might not look right. either way, should be a fun quick project.

To this

[HomeRacingWorld]

Oh man, been awhile since I saw one of these done up.

[dge467]

There is a car that needs to come back! looking forward to your build!

[slothead]

bt - I have to challenge you on one thing about this car you refer to as a 'little jewel'. No way you can use the word little to describe it, it's basically a whale on wheels. We had a '74 Ford LTD, which I actually think was a little smaller and you could hide a basketball team in the trunk when going to the Drive In. And, it's about as aerodynamic as a brick.

Looking back it's hard to imagine versions of this were raced. But, then again everything that moves has probably been raced at one time.

The Gran Torino was likely what inspired the Family Truckster.

[Wobble]

I'm quite fond of my Truxmore car and it goes very well, but I had to lower it a bit, swap the wheels for Nascar wheels and move the front axle forward a few mm's. Can't imagine what they were thinking with the placement of that.

[Mitch58]

What? No Starsky and Hutch? LOL

[btaylor]

[slothead]

by - I also love that 1972 #15 Bobby Isaac Torino. Ken from Proxie Models who made the '70 Mercury Cyclone kits I've been building this summer has this Torino on his to-do list.

You're right about all the full size American cars in the mid-70's being boats. The '72 Torino has a much more aggressive front end and a more aerodynamic rear end. The Scalextric Truxmore Torino is a nicely done car, it just doesn't look like a race car to me. The path from the '68 Torino raced by many teams, including Petty, to the racy '72, then becoming a brick on wheels for '76 doesn't make sense to me. I grew up loving American iron, especially Fords and Mercurys from the mid 50's thru early 70's, and then Detroit didn't make a single thing that appealed to me till the retro Mustang came out in 2005. For 30+ years every car I bought was an import.

I'm sure you'll do a great job with the '76 Torino you got. Now if you could only find a '76 Monte Carlo in 1/32 scale to race against.

[strummer57]

[strangebrew]

............WOO HOO !!!!!! :dance: ..............Waitin' on the paintin'

[waaytoomuchintothis]

[slothead]

Can't resist posting this - '76 Mercury Marquis. What a hot rod. If you were heading up to Lookout Point with Shelia from the diner you couldn't ask for a better car to be in.



If more of these were available as slot cars or 1/32 scale bodies we could have a boats on wheels proxy.

[Dundee Denny]

For awhile these Scalley cars were like 1/2 all over the place and was my go to chassis and motor as they run, no scream!!!

Have to rethink the two bodies I still have now, hmmm????

Look forward to your build!

Dundee
Denny

[btaylor]

Well, it's not an accurate build by any means, but more of a 'what if" kinda car. Baker was running the Norris car in 76, so RC was out. This puts the two back together, and has a fun twist.
Still need another coat of anodizing on the wheels to get the gold right, but its coming together.

[dge467]

Nice work Bob! Looks the part to me!