Claude Thibodeau

Hi! Thanks for the comments. Larry... if you fancy Bonneville cars, you may also look at my SODIUM GLIDER streamliner, on page 2 of this very Drag Cars thread. Enjoy! CT

Hi! A blend of Speedwagon and Boydster style "lengtened" 32: longer front fenders, runningboards, hood & front frame section from AMT's 32 Chrysler roadster, with stock cowl & firewall replaced by a hidden unit that allows hood sides to stretch uninterrupted from grille shell to front door cut line. Curved windshield, scrachbuilt front suspension, Vette IRS, and the usual hoses and wiring. Rolling stock from Dodge Concept Copperhead roadster. Hemi from 32 5W (Revell's). Alclad Chrome +Tamya's pearl orange & Testor's Wetlook clear. Speedwagon decals + hand-made wood effect on woody structure. Deuce de Madera means "wooden Deuce" in Spanish. Beware of the termites! CT

Hi! You dared to be different with the roof and side windows modification. Interesting design. Keep on! CT

Hi David! Thanks for the comments. I searched via Google for BURBERRY CLOTH or PLAID... And it came up. I downloaded it, and sized it via Word software, then printed it on white decal paper. The Burberry LOGO was found the same way, but printed on clear decal paper. Would you believe it, I was searching for the VW logo, and found one IN THE EXACT BURBERRY PATTERN!!! I couldn't believe it. Fate, I guess... CT

Hi! Very convincing technique, Thank you for sharing your "recipe". I will certainly experiment with it on a future built. Bravo! CT

Hi! Thanks for the comments. Upon building, I was amazed at how well the PT upper structure fitted the Bug lower body. Width at the top of the doors, lenght of the cabin, base of the PT windshield and cowl of thwe VW. truly, the major surgery took place at the rear: shortening the hatch and re-forming the bumper. I suspect I could also mash-up the remaining roof unit of the VW with the PT remaining lower section: a bulbous PT "coupe" would emerge... Maybe next winter? Hours of fun with styrene! CT

Hi! Thanks for the infos. This combo is terrific. I was not certain about light gunmetal... It looked more greenish in the head shots, hence my question. Again, great work on this Caddy! CT

Hi Steeve! Great work, your patience paid-off! I'm impressed by what seems a perfect windshield shading effect... Airbrush? CT

Great production! If I may... what is exactly the colors you used on Foose's EldoRod? The combo is striking! CT.

Great! I suspect Nitro fumes may affect the molecular structure of some of your parts? Just guessing... CT

Hi! Just a quick curbside to bust the winter blues! Revell's VW NewBeetle mashed with Revell's PT cruiser. Wheels from Snap 57 Chevy. Tamya's racing white with home-made decals for sides, seat and luxury cargo. Testor's Wetlook clear. I guess that's how they would deliver the goods on Rodeo Drive... This VW is often described as a "chick's car". With the Burberry livery, ladies seem to relate to it even more! CT

Hi! Impressive design and execution. Bravo! CT

Nice! I fell like a subscriber to Rod & Custom magazine again! CT

Hi! Thanks for the comments. As you can see in the illustration provided by Bruce, Mr. Stanfordd took the licence to lower it even more, with larger diameter rollingstock. I tried it with bigger wheels at mock-up, but it would have required tubs in the rear, and getting rid of the front wheels splash pans altogether. I felt the roof design was strong enough to make a good impression without going so far. Next time, maybe. If one of you guys does an encore on this design, and go for the big wheels, please post it here. I'd be delighted to see it. Long live Steve Stanford! CT

Hi! Thanks for the comments. To Alexi's point, that blue "cannister" sticking trough the belly pan is a part of the Corvette Indy transaxle unit. I figured it is (and wired it) as the starter... but I can't swear to it. I could have "shaved it", but for the sake of realism, I left it on. Might create wind drag, however. What do you think? CT

Hi! To Espo's point, the tailgate is simply the MC rear panel (trunk) slightly extended in an arc at the top. The glass is the one-piece unit from the 64 Chevelle, trimmed height-wise, with grooves to simulate the sliding side window & opening pillar-less rear glass & top hatch panel in the roof. The Chevelle roof is mostly stock at the rear, but with the corner pillars gone, it makes for a more contemporary look. The front of the Chevelle roof had to be substituted with the windshield and upper header panel from an MPC 1972 GTO, to have a glass that matched both the cowl & top windshield proportions. The B-pillar is .040 styrene sheet trimmed to fit. Mr. Sanderson's sketch had dark tinted window... but the rear platform was a lot of work, so out of vanity, I left the glass clear. CT

Hi! I'll take your comments on the execution with pride... But for the design, all credit goes to Mr. Stanford. He's a Master, as far as I'm concerned, and his technical execution is on par with any fine art you may find in high-end galleries. CT

Hi! I was impressed by a Steve Stanford illustration, a couple of years ago, depicting a Nomad wagon based on the 1970 Monte-Carlo. Seemed feasible by mashing a Monte-Carlo and the 1964 Chevelle wagon. Hours of fabrication, mostly for the rear cabin & canteliver roof. Scratchbuilt pace-car lightbar made of Dollar store coloured plastic felt pens spliced lenghtwise. Tamya's TS 87 & testor's Wetlook clear. I'm a big fan of ANYTHING Mr. Stanford illustrates... CT

Hi! Harry Bradley did a lot of "outstanding" designs in the early 70's. I remember a feature in Car Life titled: The wagon as a GT. The crop of pony-cars (Mustang, Cougar, Camaro, Javelin, Cuda, Challenger, Pontiac Trans-Am ) were given the "shooting brake" treatment, or sport station wagon if you prefer, à la Nomad. It was very well done. This, however, looks more like an answer to the Neo-Classics: Excalibur, and the design exercises made by Virgil Exner for Renwall... revisiting Stutz & Al. glory days. Well, the detroit Big 3 were playing catch-up with each other... so for the kit companies to do the same is not a suprise, isn't it? CT

Hi Mike! Really? Lucky guy, they are rare nowadays. I think there are slight variations in the design of those, depending the year of the kit. I saw that the 67 Eldo kit seems to have horizontal bars only in the custom grille. My kit was a 70, and the rectangles in this custom grille, oddly enought, mimick the rectangles of the... 67 stock grille! Go figure... CT

Hi! Thanks for the comments. To Tom's point: indeed, the Eldo, Riv and Toronado were all part of the same "platform program" at GM. They also shared a few components, such as roof strucrure, door frames and glass, and many other bits and pieces. Therefore, since the Johan Caddy and AMT's Riv were of the same scale, the Buick chassis was a shoe-in. The only major difference was at the firewall level, since Riv was RWD and Caddy FWD. Other tan that, a breeze... CT

Hi Jon! Well... I try to think "out of the box", and come up with things that are different, if not really unique or innovative. To that end, Bonneville cars are a blank canvas, because all kind of engineering marvels have raced the salt. There are rules of course, mostly for safety, but salt racers are an imaginative bunch. I just try to see things like I think they would! It's still just a fantasy, hence my Flat Earth Society theme... CT

Hi Chris! Thanks for the comments. I went trough 4 of those kits so far... and none built! Just an endless source of good parts for mash-ups: Viper powertrain, IFS, IRS, interior, chassis, rolling stock,etc. CT

Hi Bill! Thanks for the comments. Indeed, the Cuda rear seat was removed, scratchbuilt tubs glued in place ( the Dodge Concept truck rear wheels are 20" X 13" in scale, so they needed space, even more so since I lowered the rear end and swithched to 4-Bars instead of blade springs)... In place of the rear seat, I filled the narrowed space between the tubs with round molded enclosures for 2 big speakers and a large central bass speaker. The amp is mountes vertically where the seat back would normally reside. I added a custom speaker grille (tweeters?) from Foose's 67 Charger on a reworked rear shelf. I suspect it would sound great... CT

Hi! New attempt to upload missing pictures. CT