kennb Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 I ran across this and thought I would like to give it a shot. I am not going to start it quite yet but wanting a little feedback before I get it going. . All I have is the side view with no front or rear so I would have to guess at what the designer might have wanted, It is a concept drawing done in 1955 by Ford Motor Company based on 102" Thundrbird chassis. By the looks of the side view the front is a split front bumper with a grill headlight assembly together. The rear is either 2 vertical tailights connected by a bumper or a full back light. I tend the think the first idea would have been closer to the thoughts. For this I could use the T-bird chassis if I could find 1 laying about. KennB
Custom Mike Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 That looks like a nice little challenge Kenn!
kennb Posted November 4, 2011 Author Posted November 4, 2011 I was thinking of finding a 55 bird to use as a base for this project. Ya ,,,,,,,right.................I need to do the research first before I open my mouth.....The only bird of this era they make is the 57, strange............did they ever make a 55 bird kit????? ...I did find a promo but I am sure that is not going to be cheap.,,,,,,,I guess I could use the 57 as it should be really close. I may end up doing the whole thing from scratch too. I was kinda looking forward to trashing a bird for this project ..........BTW...this design was the precurser to the Cougar,,,that finally came out in 67. KennB
bobthehobbyguy Posted November 5, 2011 Posted November 5, 2011 Amt made a 53 and a 55 however I'm not sure how easy either is to find. bobthehobbyguy
Chuck Most Posted November 5, 2011 Posted November 5, 2011 AMT made a '56 as well (American Graffiti box art), and I think Monogram did a '56 in 1:24. Not sure about '55, but '55 and '56 were identical. As far as the proposed project? Go for it!
Lunajammer Posted November 5, 2011 Posted November 5, 2011 It looks like you may have already made your choice, but I always thought this one would be a fun concept scratch build and not too taxing. I know you'd have the skills to do it. But like your photo, I've only been able to find the one profile image.
kennb Posted November 7, 2011 Author Posted November 7, 2011 I got to thinking. This looks like an easy build from scratch. Would there be some interest is a tutorial that you can follow with drawings and step by step guide so some can build along with this. All you would need is the plastic, which I could supply in smaller quantities that full sheets, the basic tools and some patience. I would not recommend for someone that has not done a little scratch work before tho. I would go through the entire process a little at a time. the body, frame, interior, wheels, and motor. Obviously some things are not going to come out like in a kit of well machined parts. The idea would be to show the entire process and maybe you will find the satisfaction in building one car from scratch, and find ways to do things you thought you could not do. It would also be a way to interact on doing things differently, or with others on problems. I think that gives you an idea what I have in mind.. Any takers??? It wont be a one week or one month build. It will be so all can keep up, maybe 2 months????? KennB
Lunajammer Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 I'm interested Ken, largely because I'd hoped to do this car from scratch anyway. I don't think I could join as a CBP, but I would follow along with interest and bookmark it for later when I'm ready to get into it. I'm not so ambitious to scratch build 100-percent of it, but I'd sure like to see your step-by-step for body and maybe interior. Others probably want your chassis too.
ItsThePaint! Posted November 8, 2011 Posted November 8, 2011 I don't know if you have already looked into this, but here are a couple links to Ford's mid-century "cars of tomorrow" that they started to roll out in 1949 or so: http://www.examiner.com/automotive-in-kansas-city/ford-concept-cars-throughout-history-picture#slide=8394811 http://www.carstyling.ru/en/design/ http://deansgarage.com/2009/hatching-the-1955-thunderbird/ the car styling link is in russian, but google can translate it. That drawing is actually one of the early proposals for the then new 55 "Thunderbird" concept, and though it's dated Jan. 54, it was actually phased throughout 52-53. The front, if you kinda squint your eyes, has a similar profile to the 57' t-bird's bumper/grille combo. 55-57 T-Birds(at least in 1:1 scale!) all use the same chassis-the additional length of the 57 was only in the sheetmetal. Cool idea for a project, and even if you don't find any reference photos, just do what the designers did and "borrow" ideas from similar year cars!
kennb Posted November 8, 2011 Author Posted November 8, 2011 (edited) Paint-----Thank you for posting those. That is a few of the sites that I have been to in researching this. You are right on all counts. The 50's were very busy at the design studios with a lot of crossing information. It was a time of exploration of the definition of automobile in this area. I have found reference drawings from the same designers that show the rear and front thinking of the time. We can see design cues in other concept cars they worked on. These I am sure you have seen. As for the build, I am planning on aving the drawing for download to anyone that wants them. There is nothing to say that you cant just build one part. If all you want to do is the body great. You might just have to adapt some to fit the donar chassis. I dont have a T-Bird to size it to. This is not something that I am going to start this week . I need to do an actual build a few days in advance to work the kinks out and make sure that I dont lead everyone down a blind ally . KennB Edited November 8, 2011 by kennb
kennb Posted November 11, 2011 Author Posted November 11, 2011 Will be posting further information on this this week end I have been working up some ideas that I hope some will find interesting. KennB
darquewanderer Posted November 11, 2011 Posted November 11, 2011 (edited) It looks like you may have already made your choice, but I always thought this one would be a fun concept scratch build and not too taxing. I know you'd have the skills to do it. But like your photo, I've only been able to find the one profile image. You can find more of this one in Syd Mead's "Sentinel (I)". It was a design concept for Alcoa Aluminum as a possible project car to show off their products. i.e. aluminum. The car, The Inovari (IIRC) was to be built by??? utilizing only aluminum frame and body panels. Unfortunately it never got past the design stage, but was featured in of of Alcoa's company pamphlets back then. Al, here's the English translated site. http://www.carstyling.ru/en/ Edited November 11, 2011 by darquewanderer
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now