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1979 Artz VW Golf Bodied Porsche 928.


Darin Bastedo

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I just finished cutting up three rabbits into tiny little pieces. As creepy as that sounds it was imperative that those poor little bunnies be sacrificed for this project. I'm building a replica of the 1979 Artz VW Golf bodied Porsche 928.  I remember reading about this car in the December 1979 issue of Road & Track. I was always facinated with sleep cars, Q-ships as the germans would call them. The AMG Hammers, The original BMW M5, anything that hid it's light under a basket. This car was possibly the start of that. It was the antithesis of the American performance car paradigm. No bold graphics no spoiler or fender flares, just horse power and torque in a small unassuming package.

in this case German madman Guenter Artz wrapped a widened Golf body around a Porsche 928. but is wasn't just widened. As you can imagine The VW Golf and the Porsche 928 are quite different in almost every dimension, so nearly every body panel needs to be modified. Artz solved this by scratch building every body panel except the doors, I on the other hand grabbed three Revell VW Rabbit kits, a vintage Revell Porsche 928, and my razor saw, and let the car-nage begin.

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I carefully measured every cut, being cautious not to cross too many trim pieces or body lines, as getting them lined up and straight again is very touchy. 

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The wheelbase of both cars is actually very close in length, but unfortunately not in its position under the car. Thus the finished product takes on a the look of a 60's altered wheelbase dragster.

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The Revell Porsche 928 is typical of Revell at the time, it builds up well, but is lacking in detail...

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Since the Engine is such a focal point of this build, my plan is to make the engine compartment as detailed as possible. I carved a buck out of basswood and vacuum-formed the basic shape of the shock tower, and used Evergreed tube stock and sheet to finish it off.when the time comes I'll add the shock mount hardware.

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Excellent!!  I had seen some pictures of this car not long ago and added it to the future "build list".  I will definitely be following this one as I picked up the Gunze 928 with the complete driveline.  One thing I noticed from the pictures is it looks like the top has been chopped on the 1:1 (at least compared the Golf/Rabbit kits I have).

One question is did you extend the engine compartment to fit the chassis?

 

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Excellent!!  I had seen some pictures of this car not long ago and added it to the future "build list".  I will definitely be following this one as I picked up the Gunze 928 with the complete driveline.  One thing I noticed from the pictures is it looks like the top has been chopped on the 1:1 (at least compared the Golf/Rabbit kits I have).

One question is did you extend the engine compartment to fit the chassis?

 

The Roof is stock height, as the doors of the 1:1 were used unaltered. The altered proportions make it look chopped though. I lengthened the Rabbit / Golf engine compartment 7mm.

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More progress on the Killer Bunny. I have the front bodywork roughed in. There will be a lot of filling of gaps and sanding of cut lines but the basics are all here.

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I made a patch panel for the gap in the rear fenders.

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It's really starting to come together...

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I also widened the head liner to make the finished model look like it came this way. I know this is just the beginning, I need to make widened bumpers, front air dam and valence. Widening the grill will be a huge challenge.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've made more progress on the Build this weekend. With the help of Revell, I was able to do the hood. The only part of this build that required sacrificing more than three parts was the hood. I wrote Revell, and told them what I was up to and asked if they could spare a hood, and they got one out to me. It had to be lengthened as well as widened. I offset the seam in the front for added strength.

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I also managed to widen the front bumper.

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The under hood bracing was added to both stregthen the hood, as well as replicate the original hood's under-detail. In enlarging the hood I was able to save the original hood hinges and retainers, so the hood will hinge like the standard kit.

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The hood has the correct number and spacing of vents, just like the Original 1:1 car.

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I'm still working on the engine bay and interior. I should have updates on those later in the week. 

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The original Revell Porsche 928 engine bay was plain and not terribly realistic. The only element of the original engine bay that remains hear are the basic inner fender structure. It was very basic, but was a great basis to build onto...

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The 928 chassis actually looks pretty good, and should really look great once I paint and detail it. There are several ejection pin marks that need to cleaned up but other than that it shouldn't need much work.

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I'm trying as best as I can to duplicate all the detail of the real car, some of it likely won'y be visible when I'm done but what is should help the realisim.

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