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How about a "Thunderchicken" to finish up the day?

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  • Member since
    October 2003
How about a "Thunderchicken" to finish up the day?
Posted by mitchum on Thursday, November 27, 2008 7:52 PM

 


Ford really wasn't "in" racing in '59 so when some '59 T-birds left out the back door, in pieces at scrap prices, headed for the Douglas Municipal airport in Charlotte NC some guys in Dearborn had to make themselves mighty scarce around the watercooler for a while until the dust settled.

Holman Moody built some turnkey racers out of them and former GM driver Cotton Owens wound up with one of the potent 430 cubic inch Lincoln powered cars that looked sorta like this. Cotton made both the Grand National and Convertible Division races in his "Thunderchick" but didn't get GN points for the races he ran in without a rear window to make the removable top easier to deal with.

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Nashville, TN area
Posted by bobbaily on Friday, November 28, 2008 7:06 AM

Mitchum-I don't know which I like better-the cars or the history behind them!

Thanks for posting.

Bob

 

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Friday, November 28, 2008 11:12 AM

LOL! It honestly looks like the name!

Nice model, mitchum! Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg]

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: down South
Posted by ga.retread on Friday, November 28, 2008 1:25 PM

Yo, Mitch, I love the cars and the history behind them. One question though, are all of your marking hand-painted? They are great. Keep it up.

"Airborne, can do!"

"Shoot low boys, they're riding Shetland Ponies!" - Lewis Grizzard, revered Southern humorist
  • Member since
    October 2003
Posted by mitchum on Friday, November 28, 2008 3:36 PM

A lot of them are. I was building these things when about the only aftermarket game in town was Fred Cady and his Nascar stuff was pretty limited back then. I learned to make my own lettering brushes by cutting and reshaping regular ones when I started building the local dirt cars back in the early seventies. I also had to learn bodywork and develop an "eye" for shapes to get the odd ball bodies that were run at our local tracks. While the kits may have been the fancy hardtop bodies it would often be the stronger and more plentiful two door sedans that were racing here. Here's one of the early builds that used the '67 Cyclone funny car body with the wheelbase restored to stock and a '68 Falcon roof grafted on to make a Comet 202 sedan with "decals by Testors" to dress it up.

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: down South
Posted by ga.retread on Friday, November 28, 2008 6:18 PM

Absolutely great. I also love all the different backgrounds you use in your pics. The one for the "Thunderchicken" could be an exact duplicate for one of the local tracks around here. Keep up the great work.

"Airborne, can do!"

"Shoot low boys, they're riding Shetland Ponies!" - Lewis Grizzard, revered Southern humorist
  • Member since
    October 2003
Posted by mitchum on Saturday, November 29, 2008 11:07 AM
Thanks, sometimes I use the track and shop builds as a way to break out of car moder's slump and have something really useful when I get finished. The track I used for the "chick" shot was modeled after Darlington Raceway circa 1957. I gonna add the flagstand, walkthrough gate and some sockets to hold the tubing supports for the roof that kept you from getting sunburned but assured you would be deaf for several hours after the event. LOL That way I can take it off for earlier builds.
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