Wow, a Thunderbolt? Those are quite cool.

I don't have any experience with the HOK stuff since it's urethane. I may get back to using it at some point. But I imagine it may look pretty cool. HOK stuff is pretty cool. Mark is traveling this weekend but he may jump in there.

Bill, I used to work at a body shop in LA and the guy had an original 64 Fairlane Thunderbolt. It was screaming red and was about the coolest car I was ever around (well, we worked on some stuff that was pretty cool, too). I loved that car though.

All the restorations and recreations are done using actual period H/M chassis and what ever body parts are there.  Everything, including engines, are as they were in the year depicted.  Some parts are very hard to find and some parts have to be remade/reproduced.  The cars end up being completely authentic and original in specs.  There are some in that "hobby" who are frauds, but they are being rapidly "found out".  An engine that I could build back in the '80s for less than $1000 will easily cost over $10,000-$20,000 now (and more).

This what the '64 looked like in '64.  House of Kolor Candy Tangerine.  It is funny, but a friend of mine who still works at H/M actually had a gallon of that paint when they moved shops a few years ago.  Unfortunately it is gone now.  The chassis for this one is almost finished, and the body work is being done.  The engine is an original 427 NASCAR spec Ford High Riser ( found a set of unused  bare heads!).   Unfortunately, I will never be able to own any of these unless something drastic happens.




This is the '63 that was done after Brent saw my model posted on line.  He used the model, and the references I had, to restore it into this.  The car was actually already restored in all white and a different number until he saw mine.  The car had been driven in 1963 by Tiny Lund, but was not the car it now represents.  He immediately had it repainted and lettered when he saw my model.  The final lettering is now done.  This car ran one time like this, the 1963 Southern 500.  Also HOK Candy Tangerine.

Before the repaint:



The original:









I also helped on the recreation of this one.  Fireball Robert's 1963 Southern 500 winner.  FoMoCo 1956 Regency Purple with a pearl clear coat over top: (don't have the finished car saved to photobucket yet)

Soi Bill, how did you replicate the nice SCRAPE down the side LOL,,

I have not personally messed with the HOK "candy" system you are referring to, all the candy stuff I have done is base, candy , and clear. Though I have done what they are. Take a base color, spray it, then do a let down ( add clear to the same color) spray over it,, then clear. It simplifies the process, but its still not quite the same,, it is cool though

Hi Mark,

The "Darlington Stripe" was left off the replica, as was the other damage that was sustained in qualifying and the race.   Every car that ran at Darlington back in the day had that stripe down the right 1/4 panel unless the driver was just stroking around and finished in the back.   Fireball wrecked pretty good in the first day of qualifying and it took an all night thrashing to get it ready for the second day.  He set a track record and fastest time, but had to start in the back.  Ended up setting a race record for fastest race with the pretty torn up car.  The car was one that had been hastily painted (red still shows around the window openings) after he had flipped his regular car at Bristol just before the Southern 500.  That "hobby" is pretty serious about getting things "right" and there have been some big dollar frauds seen in the recent past, perpetuated by a lack of knowledge in the buying public.