MPC Spirit of ‘57 kit bash

[Radretireddad]

This is the ancient MPC Spirit of ‘57 kit body, interior, glass and frame combined with the more modern Moebius 1965 Nova engine, trans and suspension.

I cut the rear seat out of the ‘57 interior tub and filled in the side and rear panels with styrene sheet stock. The roll bar and forward braces are also from the ‘57 kit and the rear braces are scratch built from styrene rod.

I lengthened the rear of the frame, added cross members and the left and right side outriggers with square styrene tube. Everything forward of the firewall is the front clip of the Nova kit spliced on to the ‘57 kit frame.

The body is from the kit with all of the Bel-Air trim sanded away and Gopher racing pinstripes added over Tamiya chrome silver and black. The tilt front end mechanism is also scratch built from sheet stock.

The rear wheels and tires are from the AMT 1965 Nova AWB kit and the fronts are from the AMT 1962 Bel-Air.

As crude as the old ‘57 kit is I kept one anyway because with the post sedan body, the radiused and flared rear wheel openings, and the one piece flip front end I thought it got the overall gasser appearance right. I just needed to find a suitable more modern engine, trans and suspension to finish the package out which Moebius came through with.

Thanks for looking.

[Keef]

Beautiful work! 

[Steve H]

 Nice kit-bash Brian. I have a soft spot for these old 57’s.

[PappyD340]

Fantastic looking 57, well done!

[Radretireddad]

  On 7/12/2024 at 11:49 PM, Keef said:

Beautiful work! 

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Thank you.

 

  On 7/12/2024 at 11:57 PM, Steve H said:

 Nice kit-bash Brian. I have a soft spot for these old 57’s.

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They are an iconic favorite. Thanks.

 

  On 7/13/2024 at 12:54 AM, PappyD340 said:

Fantastic looking 57, well done!

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Thanks so much!

[XYHARRY]

Looks great, well done Brian.

Cheers, 

David. ??

[STU111]

You had my attention at “57”! I do love a 57 Chevy and you’ve done a great job of this one. I remember building this kit as a kid and recently bought the re-release from MPC. I like the smooth look with the Bel-Air side trim removed. ??

Cheers, Stu.

[Tim W. SoCal]

Bitchen kit bash on the '57 Chevy 150, Brian!

[Radretireddad]

  On 7/13/2024 at 7:21 AM, XYHARRY said:

Looks great, well done Brian.

Cheers, 

David. ??

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Thanks so much David!

 

  On 7/14/2024 at 2:03 AM, STU111 said:

You had my attention at “57”! I do love a 57 Chevy and you’ve done a great job of this one. I remember building this kit as a kid and recently bought the re-release from MPC. I like the smooth look with the Bel-Air side trim removed. ??

Cheers, Stu.

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Thanks Stu!

Yeah, this kit really shows its age and It was exciting to finally have a more modern kit with all the era correct driveline parts. I had the concept of my iconic ‘57 gasser in mind for decades and when I saw the Moebius Nova kit, I knew it was time to finally build it. 

  On 7/14/2024 at 2:45 AM, Tim W. SoCal said:

Bitchen kit bash on the '57 Chevy 150, Brian!

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Thanks so much Tim.

[espo]

Great looking build. The body colors work well, and the minimal body trim make it look like a 150-base model. The chassis changes would work well in 1:1 to strengthen the chassis. The engine looks perfect for this. 

[slusher]

Great looking gasser!

[ChrisR]

Very nice.

[ksnow]

Great looking 57! Excellent work on the kitbashing.