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Here is a re-visit to my earliest days of car modeling. Back then, anything sporty or custom looking really caught my eye. Saw this kit in my local department store. Had to have it, had to build it. It looked like nothing on the road and I was hooked. This turned out to be the 2nd model car for me. The build, the paint, everything thing turned out horrible and it was eventually discarded save for some pieces. This kit has since be re-issued at least three times and finally I decided to take another shot at it. 50 years of building might make a difference. I have actually worked on this on and off over the past 15yrs and finally decided it was time to finish. Paint finish on this is Pactra Candy Apple Red. (so was the original) A note on the paint. I had saved a can from 1964. It was decanted and airbrushed. It was still good. Pactra Candy Undercoat Gold (also saved) was used. Along the way I discovered why this kit didn't turn out so well. It had a two piece body shell and in order to get a smooth seam between the upper and lower halves the interior, engine, frame and suspension all had to be completed and installed. This would mean some careful masking later on. Much more details on this build are in the picture captions. Thanks for looking. Completed car in its trailer. This trailer was AMT's idea and never part of Cushenbery's original build. It had lots of fit problems all by itself. The top hinge in particular had to be re-engineered. Car is a tight fit BTW \Finished car on its wheels. Several items in the kit were left off. Those included the front and rear nerf bars, engine fairings, and a few other bits. I feels they ruined the sleek look of the car and looked awkward. Getting the front wheels to steer was fairly easy. Had to make a tie-rod though. All three pieces to this project. The Hot Wheels diecast is a stylized version of this car and it was painted to match. Allegedly Bill Cushenbery had planned a Silhouette II and it might have looked like this. Never happened. Imagine seeing this baby on the road even today. Wire wheels were my choice and still are some of the best I have sever seen in a plastic kit. I even have the originals from my first build. Picture was taken in my backyard. the sun finally co-operated. This is a 427 engine that was not originally in the car. It was a later addition. It was a very tight fit. Distributor was a pre-wired unit. Interior is Tamiya flat white with some detailing accents. Note the interesting steering yoke. A little history on the Silhouette. It was revolutionary in the fact that it was the very first "from the ground up" custom. Frame and suspension was a shortened Buick and Cushenbery hammered the body out of sheet steel. The car was a hit of the show car scene in the mid 60's. It was also featured in the movie Beach Ball in 1965 and also in 1968 on the Wide World of Wheels driven and narrated by Lloyd Bridges. After that it resided on a trailer in Cushenbery's shop where it slowly fell into dis-repair. It was stolen in 1983 and never recovered. Someone apparently wanted the trailer or the 427 engine. Rumor has it the the bubble tops have been found but that is unconfirmed.