A second look at often ignored project cars

[hdesign]

PHR asked me to develop some concept renderings for an article they were running for the January 2013 issue that highlighted cars from 1976. Here are the 10 designs I came up with. Some are mildly modified resto-mods, some are hard core street fighters and track heros and others are dramatically altered street machines. My goal was just to get people to at least take another look at these misfits and forgotten survivors of a dark decade. I hope you like what I came up with....Enjoy!

Olds Cutlass 442 with Grip Equipped Grudge wheels

Dodge Aspen RT

Chrysler Cordoba

Pontiac Firebird

Ford Gran Torino

AMC Hornet X with Grip Equipped Rebel wheels

Chevy Laguna S-3 with Grip Equipped Knuckler wheels

Ford Mustang with Grip Equipped Laguna wheels

Olds Omega

Pontiac Ventura


When I was asked to get involved with this project my first comment was that there's really not much aftermarket support for most of these and replacement sheet metal is impossible to find. Depending on how far you want to take the project, it's most likely not going to be a cheap Venture (bad pun intended). That's the unfortunate reality.

However, if the hobby has become nothing more than a handful of cars that are deemed "good investments" and rest is simply wasting money then it's time for me to find a new hobby.

While I love Camaros, I've probably rendered 200 of them over the past few years. To a lesser degree, I've done a lot of Trans Ams, Mustangs, GTOs, Novas, Chevelles and even E-body Mopars. All of which, I happen to love as well. They'll always be popular and I'll always find a challenge when working on them. It's refreshing to see something different come across my desk once in a while though. Perhaps it's the lure of uncharted territory or a chance to give that awkward teenage geek a fighting chance. Who knows.

At the very least, it's a good way to show off some ideas for inspiration to the people that are non-conformists and happen to love the C and D-list cars and shoveling money into them to make THEIR dream car isn't a concern. Would I buy one of these and build it? Probably not but it's sure cheap to draw up what a really cool build could look like.

[avewhtboy]

I was so hoping a Vega had made this list... Those all look great btw

[Blue Oval Man]

Way back in late 76 I bought a used 75 Gran Torino Sport, red with white vinyl top and white, bucket seat interior. It had the 460 in it and for the time that car moved out pretty good. I modded the engine/trans pretty good but the suspension and body were mostly stock. I did have a short pro stock style hood scoop moulded on it though for air cleaner clearance with the high rise. I even had a wild flame paint job done on it, got lottsa looks. Would kinda like to have a car like that back and do up the suspension. Was a real comfortable car to drive and I think it would have loads of potential today.
David.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

STILL never figured out why they said the Mustang2 is so hideous...

I think they have pretty good potential..

and I want to see Grip Equipped Laguna wheels what they look like for real.

[SRD art]

STILL never figured out why they said the Mustang2 is so hideous...

I think they have pretty good potential..

I agree. A good friend of mine is a II lover. He did one for himself about 10 years ago with a late 80's vibe and a stout 351W. About 6 years ago he bought another for his daughter and asked me to to create a more modern look with it. He also owns an '00 Saleen so I combined the concept of the two cars, as seen below. I figured he could buy the body parts for an '05 GT and make fiberglass molds to create fiberglass parts. Then cut them down and re-shape as needed to fit the II. My friend loved it but chickened out and built just a nice V6 car for her. He now has 2 more II's for his upcoming sons and says he wants to build the cross breed out of one of them.



As Ben has shone above along with the Saleen half breed from a few years ago, I think it's clear that they have great potential and it's too bad most Mustang owners turn their noses up to them. Light weight, stroker small block, suspension upgrades and a little body massaging for a modern look = win/ win.

Here's my friend's, not much of a corner burner but a nice ride.



Here's another cool one I saw while doing research...



Lots of 70's cars fit into this category, ignored because they weren't cool 20 years ago, but anybody with a little vision can see them for their potential. Glad the mags are starting to preach that, no offense, I'm pretty well burned out on 1st gen f bodies.

[tommycomfort]

When I opened up PHR and saw the Olds and the Laguna I immediately started surfing ebay. Fantastic work that really made me want to start one of my childhood dream cars!

[qnitro]

I agree.. I'm going to do a Laguna S-3 as well...I wish the pic was black with a red hockey stripe.. But this is a done deal, I have 2 cars to finish..but I will start one in march or April...

When I opened up PHR and saw the Olds and the Laguna I immediately started surfing ebay. Fantastic work that really made me want to start one of my childhood dream cars!

[syborg tt]

I want to build the mustang

[SRD art]

Great ideas and fantastic execution. As a Nova owner and fan I sure wish more people would do disco ('75+) x body cars as pro-touring machines. They're perfect candidates, and your art is inspiring. Way to go Ben, and congrats on the mag opportunity.

[JAG.]

Agreed, theres not a car on that list that wouldnt be great to build. All it takes is some creativity.. and a lot of cash. Great designs!

[hdesign]

That 76 Mustang is actually being built. If you're on Facebook, search for Be Cool Bomber Project. Aside from my client on that project wanting to incorporate the bumpers and fender flares from a new Mustang, there were still some areas on that car that need serious help. First, their wheel base makes them look like a rhino on rollerskates. That was altered dramatically. The second thing that is common on virtually every post-72 vehicle were the big chrome bumpers they were forced by the NHTSA to have. The tail lights are barely recognizable as a Mustang. We ended up using an entire tail panel from a 77 Celica GT (Canadian version?) believe it or not....it looked more like a Mustang with some slight mods. I don't particularly think the boxy headlight bezels look great either, definitely no Mustang identity there. Finally, the hoods and scoops left a lot to be desired compared to earlier Mustangs.


Here's a sneak peak of Grip Equipped Laguna display wheel to be unveiled at PRI in the Forgeline booth #1195. This one is powder coated silver with spoke accents in High Tech Machine finish. They will be available with exposed hardware immediately but they will be available with hidden hardware as well. Size availability is 18" with smooth/reverse lip or 19" stepped lip immediately. Every finish that Forgeline offers will be available as well.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

daaaammmnn..


If those were in 18s, stepped lips... Vengeance would have them RIGHT NOW.

[hdesign]

You can blame me....I was absolutely rigid on what I wanted the wheel to look like. There's a few other "mini-lite" style wheels out there, most are inferior castings (many from overseas) that are 1 or 2 pieces as opposed to a true forged 3-piece wheel. And the ones that are forged just don't have the same depth and sculpting. Their designs had to be dramatically compromised. Because I wouldn't compromise and the machine time was longer, we were forced to order wheel centers in bulk to keep cost under control and we were limited to one center size to start. If they sell as well as we hope, we'll be able to offer additional sizes sooner rather than later.

[dontlifttoshift]

I concur, I REALLY dig those centers and conventional step lips would be perfect.

7 spokes on the Mustang II rendering and 8 spokes in the actual picture?

[hdesign]

I may not have switched the wheels back to the 8 spokes in the render. We were trying to investigate ways to reduce cost to justify producing them and keeping them affordable. In the end, we were able to keep the 8 spokes so we were thrilled.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

stepped lips

gimmie some..

[72BBSwinger]

Another one ive always thought of is the 81-82 Chrysler Imperials. Big cars but the lines need just a tiny bit of massaging and they look like they belong at 200mph. http://www.popularhotrodding.com/fea.../photo_06.html

[srh3trinity]

Is it sad that I am building one of these and have thought seriously about two others. I have a 74 bird build and I have thought about layer model Malibu and Ventura builds.

[csouth]

I was reading that PHR this weekend. I really dig the Cutlass and the Hornet. When will the Grip Equipped wheels be released? I'm assuming since they were mentioned that you are partnering with Forgeline for manufacturing?

[hdesign]

Chris-Grip Equipped wheels will be unveiled at the PRI show in Orlando, FL on Thursday AM (Nov. 29, 2012) in the Forgeline booth #1195.

Yes, I've proudly partnered with Forgeline to create this new "Designer Series". We've been working on the development of this series for over a year and 9 wheels will be available for order immediately . They can be purchased directly through Grip Equipped, Forgeline Motorsports and any vendor that sells Forgeline wheels. We're setting up additional dealers as well so if you're interested please go to www.gripequipped.com. There's a landing page there now but the site will officially go live by the time the show starts on Thurs AM. If you'd like to get a sneak peak of the other wheels please search for "Grip Equipped" on Facebook and Like us. The page is fairly sparse right now but we'll be uploading tons of stuff over the next week or so.