1950 Nash Ambassador - Carrera Panamericana

[curt raitz]

I have been building a collection of race cars that Curtis Turner drove throughout his career. All of these are being donated to the Virginia Museum of Transportation. They have a wing set aside for Curtis Turner who grew up close to Roanoke, Virginia. After contacting and meeting his daughter Sue, she stated the 1950 Nash Ambassador her dad and Bill France drove in the Mexican Road Race of 1950 was the "Holy Grail" she was looking for.

In May of 1950 Bill France and Curtis Turner raced a 1950 Nash 4 door Ambassador in the Carrera Panamericana. Also known as The Mexican Road Race of 1950. They started as the 126th entry and finished in 47th place, despite dropping out on the day before the finish due to a broken radiator. 

Finding a 1950 Nash 4 door Ambassador in 1/25th scale did present a problem, until 3D printing. I ran across Jens-Uwe Jahn of Jahn3D rapid prototyping (rapidpro@jahn3d.de) at the N Scale Railroaders convention in Salt Lake City last year. He says he can make American Models in any scale! So I challenged him to print me up a 1950 Nash Ambassador 4 door in 1/25th scale. And he did.

 

The 3D printing on the larger scales are still a little rough and It did take a lot of work to get the body smooth. I used most of the parts except the body from the excellent 1950 Oldsmobile by Revell. With just a little trimming of the chassis the Olds chassis slid in place and the wheelbase matched up just fine.

Hers's how it turned out.

Curtis Turner played a big role in helping Bill France get NASCAR up and running, even though Bill France banned Turner from NASCAR in 1961 for trying to unionize the drivers!

Thanx for looking.

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by curt raitz
wrong picture

[cobraman]

Looks great !

[espo]

Your build looks just like the photos of the real car. Great tribute to Curtis Turner. Most are to young to remember what a great driver he was and all that he did for NASCAR in the early years. I remember these Nash Ambassadors from when I was a youngster and I thought they looked very aerodynamic for the era with the enclosed wheel wells and smooth lines.  My father used to call them an upside down bath tube, but he wasn't a car guy anyway.    Beautiful finish and all the lettering looks perfect. 

[Tom99]

Nice subject, nice build!!

[LouO]

great tribute build

[thatz4u]

go to Google &  paste this, & prepare to be amazed...https://www.facebook.com/pg/Jahn3d/photos/?ref=page_internal

[larman]

That's really cool! great to see something so different!

[89AKurt]

Very cool tribute subject!  I like the display to.  I'll follow Jahn3D on Fakebook.

[Phildaupho]

I have been a long-time fan of Panamericana cars. I like this one very much

[Danno]

Excellent ,  Curt!   Great work.

[Shelby 427 1965]

Awesome!

What were the steps for sanding it to a finish you were happy with?

[curt raitz]

24 minutes ago, Shelby 427 1965 said:

Awesome!

What were the steps for sanding it to a finish you were happy with?

I used this stuff...sands easily. be careful not to put it on too thick, it will fill panel lines, etc. It just brushes on and self levels.

[curt raitz]

31 minutes ago, Danno said:

Excellent ,  Curt!   Great work.

Thanx Danno, the model will be in Virginia when I see you at Desert Scale Classic in April.

[PappyD340]

Very nice!!

[Jim N]

Great job Curt!  Let us know what Sue thinks of it.

[Fairfax]

I like that a lot ! Nice nostalgia.

[Shelby 427 1965]

16 hours ago, curt raitz said:

[pic of stuff]

I used this stuff...sands easily. be careful not to put it on too thick, it will fill panel lines, etc. It just brushes on and self levels.

Awesome, I definitely have to try that stuff it seems perfect. Thank you!  

[Peter Lombardo]

Great job Curt...... looks terrific and just like the photo of the real car........... just when I thought our hobby was on the skids, along comes 3D printing to open and expand into areas we never dreamed possible just a few years ago, you gotta' love it.  Again, great work as usual.

[Eric Macleod]

So this person can make any US made car as a 3d printing? The possibilities are amazing to consider. 

[randyc]

11 hours ago, Eric Macleod said:

So this person can make any US made car as a 3d printing? The possibilities are amazing to consider. 

That's what I'm thinking.  I'm afraid to ask what the costs would be though...

[Gramps46]

Well done and thanks for the tip on the brush on coating.

[Eric Macleod]

On 9/30/2019 at 9:14 AM, randyc said:

That's what I'm thinking.  I'm afraid to ask what the costs would be though...

At my current rate of building, under one model per year, how bad could it be?

[Anglia105E]

I am also intrigued by the claim "  He says he can make American Models in any scale!  "........ if he can 3D print the 1950 Nash Ambassador, then I guess he can!

David

[ewetwo]

Nice. And it's a 3d model