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SPOTTED! Experimental 58 Plymouth Cuda concept car...


Claude Thibodeau

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Hi!

I do a lot of mash-up builds... so... lotsa leftover parts! What to do with those?

What if Mopar came to the market with the Hemi Cuda in..... 1958? Don't laugh: the Forward Styling was already afoot, so why not?

I took an AMT Slammer 58 body, grafted the Chezoom Slammer ubiquitous roof, made my own glasses, shoehorned AMT's 66 Riv interior (modified), sunk a Revell 70 Cuda shaker scoop in the hood, grafted an MPC 72 GTO grille & lights, added Pegasus wheels, and shaved down the rear wings + added a bodyside reveal, à la Imperial. The stoplight is a plastic slit at the bottom of the trunk panel, and the HEMI decal was "spliced & reconfigured" from the 70 Cuda kit. Paint is a custom mix of Tamya's orange, an ancestor to Hemi Orange, if you will...

Just a curbside, but lotsa fun. The point, isn't it?

CT 

 

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2 minutes ago, cobraman said:

Very cool custom !

Hi Ray!

Thank you for the comment. 

I juggled with the idea of painting it as a full bore lowrider.... but sticking with the bogus concept car theme prevailed. I have other ideas for my next custom, and paint will be more splashier, for certain. 

Model on!

CT 

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That's AWESOME Claude!!!

But I must say that I'm not so surprised since you're such a good and brilliant builder!   Your background as a 1: 1 car builder is really revealed here with the added freedom (I would say) that model building can offer.

Boyd Coddington would be proud of you my friend... at least I am... can't wait to see that beauty it in person... I love it!!!

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54 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

Claude....highly imaginative and outstanding quality/finish too.  This would have easily been a hands down "Best Originality" winner at any of the MPC Customizing Contest series back in the day....very, very cool.  TIM 

Hi Sir!

It's an honour, thank you!

As the great Tom Woodruf once corrected me on this forum, while I was mentionning one of my model as "just a curbside": the point is to have something that draws you in and make people smile. 

Thankfully, that curbside seems to have that effect.

Lucky me!

Regards,

CT 

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10 minutes ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

That's AWESOME Claude!!!

But I must say that I'm not so surprised since you're such a good and brilliant builder!   Your background as a 1: 1 car builder is really revealed here with the added freedom (I would say) that model building can offer.

Boyd Coddington would be proud of you my friend... at least I am... can't wait to see that beauty it in person... I love it!!!

Hi Francis!

Thank you for the comments. 

Having been blessed to meet the late Mr. Coddington a few times, I know he was a great person, if maybe a little introvert. Getting any compliment from him would be quite a thrill! Hope we can attend our upcoming local event in october. 

Let's all pray to the god of styrene!

CT

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8 minutes ago, Bucky said:

Very creative, and not overdone. It just happens to be painted in my favorite car color!

Hi Keith!

Thank you. As you may know, this ultra-brillant (and brittle!) plastic is so imbeded with the red colour, it almost restricts using any hue but one who will resist any bleeding, later on. Hence the dark orange. Almost as bright as the shirt of the character on your avatar...

CT

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24 minutes ago, Claude Thibodeau said:

Hi Keith!

Thank you. As you may know, this ultra-brillant (and brittle!) plastic is so imbeded with the red colour, it almost restricts using any hue but one who will resist any bleeding, later on. Hence the dark orange. Almost as bright as the shirt of the character on your avatar...

CT

Gee.. if you painted it white you could’ve had a pink car!

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12 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Gee.. if you painted it white you could’ve had a pink car!

Hi Tom!

Exactly what I feared. And it should be noted that, not only does this ultra-shiny plastic bleeds, but it is more brittle... I had to be very patient in the bodywork phase after the mash-up. Who said a curbside was less work? Me fool I did! I stand corrected...

CT

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38 minutes ago, SSNJim said:

Incredible. I really like the aft end of the car behind the 57 hump at the B pillar. Great work.

Hi Jim!

As a matter of fact, I think that "dip", à la 57, is exactly the most striking feature of the Chezoom. And the grafting allowed me to keep it. 

Thanks for the comments. 

CT

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The car in total is very striking. The front is very GM-ish (except for the headlight eyebrows), and the rear is very Chrysler-ish.  I love the look of the car, you've done a great job - but that rear! I really like it.

I've got a Chezoom in progress myself as a generic mid 50s to mid 70's GM car.  I'm keeping the hump. Maybe I'll strip it tomorrow - it's got about 47 coats of paint and could use some love.

Edited by SSNJim
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