Eric Macleod

I have to tell you, I keep coming back to this post over and over. This is a really excellent project. To be candid, I am a little jealous that I didn't think of it and find myself wishing this excellent piece of work was sitting on my own shelf! Now...a full detail Model T engine and a proper chassis as display pieces and you would have something unforgettable. Again, this is a really beautiful piece. E-

I didn't do much yesterday; just looked to see if the sidemounts would fit. The original Olympian Cars is indeed very pricey but the Minnesota Region of the CCCA reprinted it maybe 20 years ago and it can be found much more reasonably priced.

I agree, you have done the best you could with what you had to work with. My first car, a 1947 Nash 600 sedan has been offered only as a HO scale train accessory so I am envious that you had something to work with in the first place. As you may have seen, I have a 36 year old project going also so in comparison, your model is brand new!

You make my L29 look like amateur hour!

Perhaps one of the coolest race car concepts ever. This should be interesting.

Tonight I made good progress on the fit of the hood to the cowl and made the louvered sides of the hood. This probably doesn't look like much but will pay big dividends in the appearance of the car when I am done. Thanks to all of you who have taken a look.

This is quite an impressive peice of work. Oh...to have the skills you have!

That is absolutely awesome. Very nicely done.

I did some work to make the cowl match the front clip. I had to narrow it by about 1/4 inch. I also had to narrow the top about the same amount. The rear portion of the top needs to be fitted to the body next. Lots more adjustments to do.

Long ago I planned to do a full detail model but have since lowered my sights to a curbside car. Likely I will build an engine and transmission for display as a separate project because reality hit me; either finish it curbside style or don't finish it at all. Given that I am quite good at starting models but struggle to get them done, this seemed to be the best compromise. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Ooo La La! Very nice. You are very skilled with these big cars.

This is by far my longest running WIP. In 1982 or 1983 I was attending the Straits Area Antique Auto Show in St. Ignace, MI. There I overheard two moder builders discussing their projects. One happened to ask the other "how are you coming on your L-29 Cord project?" "Slow," was the response. I couldn't help myself and butted my way into the discussion. "They're coming out with a Cord L-29 kit?" "No," one of the modelers replied. "I'm making mine from the MPC Chrysler Imperial kit." Well, I thought to myself, if he can do it, I can too. So off I went to find an MPC Imperial Convertible Sedan. That took a while but finding the right 1:1 L 29 was easy as there was a local car that was a fresh restoration, and a 100 point car to boot. The gods of model building smildd upon me as I stumbled upon the book The Olympian Cars, still the best book ever written about Full Classics, IMHO, which had a close to 1:24 photo of a L-29 Phaeton Sedan. This photo was both a gift and a curse as I was able to clearly see just how different the two cars were aside from the obvious front vs. Rear wheel drive. Fast forward to the release of Automodellos L-29 Brooks Stevens roadster . I was able to buy two in distressed condition, enough to provide wheels, bumpers, hood, grill and surround as so on. Here is where I am today. It will very likely not be a show winner, but should look the part of a 1930 Cord.

Oh wow! This one is fabulous. I have always like the 2CV. This model looks like a winner and you have built it beautifully. Clearly you are new to this board, but you are no beginner!

That makes sense. A Rootlieb body was a fine item. Back to the OP topic, a '26 Fordor body, wood exposed in scale would be very interesting on, say, the AMT '27 T chassis. Another on that would be worthy would be an '11-14 Town Car on the ICM chassis.

Just to be clear here there are a number of inaccuracies here which lead me to believe this was a pretty cobbled up car. A '26 Model T Fordor (not a typo) sedan had a gas tank under the front seat while the rest of the Improved Fords (as Ford called them) had the gas tank in the cowl area (basically in the driver's lap) The cowl gas tank holds about 9 1/2 gallons and the under seat version holds 12. Gas tanks were only in the rear part of the car when it was a home made speedster or in the case of the 1910-12 Open Runabouts or Torpedos. The starter became available in 1919 as optional equipment and they were fairly universal by 1926, though one could still purchase a car "unequipped" with crank start, kerosene lamps (on the cowl and as a tail lamp) as well as non-demountable rims. I built a model of such a car a bit ago. The horsepower of the 176 CID 4 was 20 hp in 1926. My Fordor has been clocked at 52 MPH with my father behind the wheel, though I have never been that brave in that car, though my Touring will go 55 pretty easily, so long as the top is down. Mohair interiors were introduced by Ford for use in closed cars beginning in 1928. Prior to that the closed cars used a woven wool material pinstriped in white, green or red and seemed to be at the whim of the supplier, not the color of the car. Sorry, I don't mean to tear your post up, nor do I doubt the car may have been as you describe, but I want to be accurate about how Fords really look and were equipped instead of perpetuating inaccuracies. Attached is a photo of two of my Fords, my '26 Touring in the foreground and my '13 Touring in the background. The '26 was the 2006 winner of the Stynowski award, which is given to the best restored Ford Model T in the country. All the best. Eric

I like the dual rear spares idea...a lot!

Black. Much classier appearance.

I agree. I would have killed for one of these when I was 10. I think I am going to have to get one. Fabulous interpretation you have built here.

One of the most beautiful postwar cars ever. Your diorama amazes me more every day.

My humble opinion- the discs look great and very period correct. I'm personally not as enthralled by the vent window idea as I think it breaks up the lines of the body too much. No matter how you slice it, your workmanship is top notch.

I see no reason to apologize for this model, particularly one with so much scratch building involved. I would be very happy with this one on my shelf!

Potential? Shoot, it looks classy now! I like your windshield treatment. There's not a bad line on it. I look forward to seeing the next installment.

I built that one in the 70s. I really enjoyed it. Yours looks better than mine did!

This is a little outside my normal type of model but I will have to have one!

Absolutely beautiful model. I like this one a lot.