Fictional 1969 Petty Thunderbird

[Karl LaFong]

What do you get when you combine these two kits?

 

Hopefully the 1969 Petty ride that never was.  Luckily the wheelbases of the two kits are very close, so major hacking wasn't required.  I sanded off the side trim and windshield wipers, radiused the front wheel openings, opened the gas tank cover, and added the spoiler from the Torino kit.

 

 

While the front end looks like it's too high, when I glue the chassis pan to the body it should sit lower. The color will be Tamiya French Blue.  Petty ran dark blue wheels in '69, but I liked the look of white wheels (my fantasy, my choice).  The Johan OHC engine was built as a 429.  

I wish the molds for the Torino could be found!

 

[Russell C]

Ya beat me to getting to work on the idea, one of many "I wonder what it would look like" ones I have. My variation was a 'what-if' the winged Mopars had been allowed to go on another year, answered by a winged Thunderbird. I was thinking the pointy nose '71 T-bird done up to mimic the '71 Pearson #21 Purolator Mercury Cyclone would be fun .... but a quick look when I first had the idea into the prices for the MPC Donnie Allison Cyclone kit prompted me to say, well, forget that. 

[Karl LaFong]

I wired the engine and painted the body.  The long black wires are future oil lines.  The Johan chassis had plenty of flash and fiddly assembly, but it does look good when painted and assembled. (I do have to straighten out the front sway bar!)

 

[Horrorshow]

Love the imagination in your build. Can’t wait to see the finished product 

[Karl LaFong]

I finished the interior, with the exception of the fire extinguisher and seat belts, it's straight out of the Torino box.

 

 

I also added the windows and front and rear bumpers - now it looks like a '69 T-bird.

   

The holes in the hood are for the hood pins.  I do have to fix the gap between the grill and hood.

  

 

[Toys4Don2]

And now for something completely different!!  Looking good. 

[Mike Stem]

That looks great!

 

[Karl LaFong]

The fit of the hood was pretty bad, so I substituted a Modelhaus hood I found in my parts stash.  I'll have to hog out the front wheel wells a bit more - I wish I had discovered this before painting and assembling - one of the joys of parts swapping.  The decals are from the Petty Polar Lights Torino kit.

 

  

[MarkJ]

Imaginary cars are always fun to do. Yours looks awesome for sure. Tops on my list for an imaginary car would be if Chevy never left the sport in 1963 and Rex White had driven a 64 Chevy during 1964 instead of the Merc.

[Karl LaFong]

I finished applying decals and some other odds and ends.  I just need to add the hood pins, exhaust dumps, and rear window straps, and it'll be off to Under Glass.

 

 

  

[Scott8950]

Very nice job. I like to see odd cars built as race cars. Great job on this build.

[Sledsel]

Very Kool!!!! I love "phantom cars"

[sflam123]

Very neat!!  Such a unique take on Petty's temporary defection to Ford!