1966 COTTON OWENS Dodge Charger

[gami8630]

When I was in elementary school, I saw a beautiful Dodge Charger with a fastback style that was completely different from other cars when I watched a Japanese TV race program broadcast the NASCAR Grand National race. Since then, the Dodge Charger has become one of my favorite NASCAR stock cars.

The only NASCAR version kits for the Dodge Charger are probably the old MPC ones, but I built mine from a combination of the production version of Revell's 1967 Dodge Charger and Lindbergh's 1964 Plymouth Belvedere stock car race version.
Since both cars are based on the Chrysler "B-body" platform of the day, I combined parts of the Dodge Charger body and interior with the Plymouth underbody and engine. It took quite a bit of time to match the wheelbase, ride height, engine compartment, and interior parts, but it was a fun project.

For example, the NASCAR race-spec roll cage did not fit well into the body of the car with the Plymouth kit, and since the shape was different between 1964 and 1966, I made my own with plastic round bars that conformed to the 1966 NASCAR rules. The dashboard was modified to race specifications by cutting off the instrument panel of the production version and using plastic plates and decals of various meters from the 1960s.

For the body, I removed various moldings and emblems from the production car, putty-filled the fuel lid sculpture to recreate a race-spec fueling port, installed catch pins on the hood and trunk lid, removed the taillight area, and added a spoiler to the rear end of the trunk lid.
Decals were purchased from "Mike's Decals" which I frequent, as they are from the car run by the leading team at the time, COG (Cotton Owens Garage), and driven by David Pearson.

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by gami8630
image replacement

[ChrisR]

Looking great!

[jjsipes]

Love it.  I have stuff in my stash to build this one as well. Hope mine turns out close to as good as yours. Looks amazing.

[afx]

Very nice.

[Horrorshow]

Real cool!

[bbowser]

Well done!

[catpack68]

Awesome work!?

[TooOld]

Beautiful , your extra work to make everything fit definitely paid off !  Great job !

[gami8630]

Thank you all very much.
It is quite a challenge to recreate an old stock car, but it is very satisfying when it is completed.
The car I am working on now is Dale Earnhardt's Monte Carlo.
This kit was in storage with only the body completed about 10 years ago, and I have just resumed work on the chassis. 

[Bruce Scully]

A great looking build , nice detail work .

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[bogger44]

Your hard work paid off as that is beautiful!  Well done!

Edited November 26, 2022 by bogger44

[slusher]

Beautifully Done!

[Toys4Don2]

It turned out great. Excellent race car modifications.