1972 Chevrolet Shortbed Pickup

[roadhawg]

Ever had 1:1 vehicles that you wish you had kept? I've gotten on this little kick about building models of stuff I used to own, that I wish I had kept....sort of my little way of getting them all back.

Back in 1973, I bought a one-owner '72 Chevy Custom/10 pickup primarily to tow my dirt track race car with. The guy I bought it from had put some slotted wheels and wide tires on it, but otherwise it was stock, with a 307 and a 3 speed manual transmission. Since I worked for my dad, who owned a service station/garage, and I was an 18 year old hot-roddin', dirt track drivin' kid, I just HAD to soup it up a little. First I put an extra Muncie 4 speed I had laying around in there, then I put some headers on it...then an aluminum intake....then a cam. Then, during the winter months, I decided to put the 350 from my race car in it...and all of a sudden, my truck was more fun to drive than my '72 Nova SS350 daily driver!!! Oh, it had the high-tech sound system of the day too...an 8 track tape player with TWO speakers.

I've always wanted to build a model of that truck, but I couldn't find the right wheels. I needed a set of Arii/Otaki slots with those wide BFG tires, but they are soooo hard to find. Nothing else would look right. When I saw that Alan Raab of Ma's Resin was going to start casting those, I HAD to have a set!!! I could now build my truck!!

I started with the AMT Cheyenne longbed kit, and a resin short bed from Bandit Resins. Since my truck was a base model Custom/10, not a fancy Cheyenne, I had to remove all the trim and convert the interior to a standard bench seat. The engine is from the parts box, and the headers are from the Revell '69 Nova. Instead of cutting down the chassis, I used the one from a GMC shortbed stepside kit. I fabbed the rear step bumper from styrene. Paint is plain ol' Testors French Blue lightened up with a little white to match the factory Medium Blue color. The "Custom/10" emblems on the fenders (hard to see in the pictures) are decals made by Joe Schulte at Diecasts And Decals, and of course the wheels/tires are from Ma's Resin. By the way...the real truck had Daytona Sport 60 tires, but since nobody makes lettering for those, I just went with the BFG's....even though there was no such thing in '73.

It captures the look of the real one good enough for me, although my ol' shaky hands had a rough time with the lettering on the tailgate . I had a lot of good times in that ol' truck! Its nice to have it back, even if it is in 1/25 scale.

[roadhawg]

And yes, it has the 8 track player under the dash!

[niteowl7710]

Nice job all the way around!

[george 53]

NICE job Tommy!!!! Looks GOOD!!!!

[camaroman]

Hey Tommy, nice job on this one ....Just like all of them that you build... I love it!!!

[Nate]

Sweet build Love those 67-72 Chevies!

[roadhawg]

Thanks so much, guys! I eventually plan to build a model of my race car and put on a trailer behind the truck.

[Darbo]

Beautiful build.....

[cobra98]

SWEET!! That's a great looking truck

[Sixties Sam]

That's a beauty! Great color, wheels, and engine detail! I would drive that in a heartbeat!

Sam

[mikemodeler]

Looks great, I have one of those beds to build a '67 that I almost bought back in the early 80's.

[cam]

Nice clean build.

[Nova-ss]

Thats a great looking truck,love the color....really good work.Thanks,Chris

[gray07]

Wow, that is nice

[Airfilter]

Excellent job!

[Danno]

Nice! Love the 8-track ... great job on the bracket!

Aces!!

[Jantrix]

That is really sharp. Great work.

[roadhawg]

Thanks again, everybody!

[superdog]

Excellent and very clean building style,rims are perfect and the engine bay is very well done,all the way around SHARP!!!!!!!!!! Todd

[jeffs396]

Excellent and very clean building style,rims are perfect and the engine bay is very well done,all the way around SHARP!!!!!!!!!!

X2!!!

[skmodelcars]

GREAT looking truck! Nice job on that 8 track!

[mageckman]

That looks absolutely GREAT!! And it brings back some great memories of my 72 long-bed that I had.

[Guest]

Very sharp little truck! The color and wheels look perfect on it. I could have bought a '72 longbed with 56,000 original miles from my father-in-law for $2500,but I passed on it. It was all original except for the paint. He sold it the first day he put the for sale sign on it. He laughed about selling it for more money than he gave for it new.

[charlie8575]

Nice job. Where did you find the 8-track?

Charlie Larkin

[roadhawg]

Thanks again, y'all. Charlie, the 8 track is simply some bits of sheet styrene glued together, with some plastic rod for knobs. The bracket was cut from a Coke can....an EMPTY Coke can.