smellyfatdude Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 (edited) Finally done this, though for me this was a fairly quick finish. The build thread is here. As I said there, this is a replica of a car from my past, with several liberties taken. A car I owned? No, rather one I wished to purchase, shortly after I turned sixteen. Sadly, said purchase was foiled by . . . . . who else? My mother. I'd already owned several good running vehicles, even before I turned sixteen. Some of these cars had to be registered and insured, in either my mom or my older sisters name, just so they could be parked on the street in front of the house, and mom could have her parking spot back in the yard. By the time I passed my road test, I didn't own a running vehicle. Just a couple of clunkers, parked in the back yard. Asking my mom to borrow her car was sorta like ducking and running, while someone was throwing knives at you. She had no problem with me fixing her car. Driving it was a different story, altogether. My sister eventually got tired of me borrowing her ' 72 Vega wagon, and I don't blame her. You knew once that odometer passed 50,000 miles that the engine probably wouldn't last much longer. Hers was at 53,000 and counting, and I actually felt guilty every time I drove it. One day, she offered to lend me $200 to buy a car, plus whatever the insurance was. So, the hunt was on. One evening mom was looking through the classifieds, and mentions an ad for a ' 65 Comet. The price is $250 firm, the seller says. I told her I'd seen the ad, and asked her what good it did to tell me about it, since I only had two hundred to spend. She tells me, "Well , if you want to phone the guy we can go look at it, and if it's in decent shape I can lend you the other fifty." So, I called the number and we drove over. The car was not a Cyclone, in fact it was originally a six cylinder.three speed with a bench seat. The seller had taken a very strong running 289 four barrel with headers, and the 4-speed from a wrecked Mustang, and put them in the Comet. The black bucket seats from the 'stang were in there, as well. The car had a new clutch, new exhaust and mufflers, new wheel bearings, brakes and shocks. The couple of things that he told me needed fixing, I coulda had done in an afternoon. Even though it wasn't plated, he let me take it for a spin around the block, since it was already dark by that time. I didn't get to bag the thing, but I pushed it hard enough to know that, oh yeah, this little car honks! Already the plans were in my head how it was gonna honk even better, once it was mine. When I pulled back in to his yard, I was going to tell him that I'd take it. When I approached my dear mother to get her to hand me the cash, she told me just to tell the guy that I'd think about it, and maybe let him know. I followed her to the car, trying to convince her that we shouldn't wait, and that it was worth what the guy was asking. But, she told me she was convinced that it was just an old wreck, bolted together with parts from other cars. The truth is, I think she heard that small block rumbling through those headers and glass packs, and decided that she wasn't giving her sixteen year old fifty bucks to buy a hot rod. The only thing I wasn't all that fond of about it was the color. It wore its original burgundy paint, which when it faded a bit looked to me like purple, even though it really wasn't. That's why I chose this particular color, plus I already have a burgundy ' 64 Merc on my shelf. So, to sum up, I decided to do a replica that was somewhere between what the 1:1 car was really like, and what I would have done to it had it been mine. As I glued the last piece on this morning, the side mirror, I though of our dear departed Harry. And how he's sadly no longer here for us to tease, about being the mirror police. I don't actually know if there is a patron saint of hobbies. If there is, Im sure Harry has that particular angel watching over him. Rest in peace, big guy. Edited April 22, 2017 by smellyfatdude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Driver Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 All-around superb! That purple is just great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classicgas Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 Beautiful model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Fantastic Comet!! Love the color and wheels!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoopdog Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Great looking car for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'70 Grande Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 (edited) Love your build SFD! And the story is fabulous, too! Bet there are many forum members that have a very similar story from their past... my was a '65 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 with the 400cid V8 under the hood for $1,000 in 1976, (I was 17 at the time). Dad heard that 400 start-up and immediately said, "Nope." Edited April 23, 2017 by '70 Grande Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majel Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 My first car was a 1964 Comet with a six cylinder and three on the tree. It was a POS! I might have kept it if it looked as nice as your 65. Beautiful job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelbuilder Mark Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Good looking model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metaldrumm Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Pretty freakin awesome,yea love that color to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PARTSMARTY Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Spot on my friend-awesome plus !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooOld Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Well done SFD ! It has the look we all wanted back in the day , I love it ! I'm sure Harry is smiling that you remembered the mirror . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o-man Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Sweet looking Comet and great story too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellyfatdude Posted April 23, 2017 Author Share Posted April 23, 2017 Thanks for the interest, folks. Nice to have my first build of 2017 in the case. Incidentally, what I ended up with from that two hundred dollar loan was a ' 63 Pontiac Laurentian 4-door sedan. Similar to this, but long past it's prime. Six cylinder, three speed, and I had to run it on 4 quarts of oil, 'cause the fifth would just come slopping out of the rear main. My mom wasn't too concerned that it needed more things fixed on it than the Comet. I think she was just happy 'cause she knew I wouldn't be trying to beat any other cars on the road, obviously. The price was $65, and the registration and insurance for a year was $68. I was too embarrassed to tell the other kids at school that my licence plates were worth more than the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donb Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Beautifully done SFD! Very very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Nice work DW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovefordgalaxie Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 I always love when a cool car comes with a cool story. Loved the Comet. A six cylinder car is nice, but only inside another person's garage. I want a V8 in mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hamilton Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Very nice!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Beautiful looking build. The model looks period perfect, in fact that's the way it should look today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintagercr Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 D.W. that turned out quite nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardz Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Great job on your "if only" build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robberbaron Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Beautiful job as usual, SFD! Always enjoy following your builds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charger74 Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Great looking model and great story !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Rollins Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Very cool build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellyfatdude Posted April 24, 2017 Author Share Posted April 24, 2017 Thanks again for all the feedback. For those who might not have seen it, here's the one I did own, that got away. This one hurts a little more, 'cause my replica in this case is identical to my old 1:1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.