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Doug D.'s 1974 Ford Gran Torino
Brougham®"Starsky & Hutch"®Replica
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| Doug, a Police Captain in Virginia, found this 1974
Gran Torino Brougham for sale in Maryland in 2005. The car only had one previous owner and only about 70,000 original
miles on it. It was in great shape, but it was green with a vinyl top, opera windows, and fender skirts (see below).
The interior was brown with tan seats. Doug and his son, Chad (pictured below), decided to take on the project
of turning the green machine into a "Starsky & Hutch" Torino. Doug took the car to Micar Collision Center in Chesapeake, Virginia for paint and body work. Doug knew
that the owner of Micar had owned a Corvette shop for years and really knew body work. |
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| Doug had the car painted Dodge Viper Red with six coats
of clear. Doug just taped off the stripe by looking at pictures and making it the way he thought it would look
the best (great idea). He "had to have" a '72 Torino hood scoop "to make her
look fast." Doug didn't want the interior to be like all the other S&H Torinos, so he went with red interior
with black trim (very cool - a few original factory S&H Torinos came with something similar). The new seats
are electric leather bucket seats out of a Mazda. The center console came out of a Lincoln. Doug added a CD player
with an Alpine amplifier. |
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| The car has 275/60/15 Dunlop tires on the rear, and
235/60/15s on the front. It has air shocks on the rear. The engine is a stock 351W, and Doug added dual exhaust.
He owned a Limited Production "Starsky & Hutch" Gran Torino about 20 years ago, and has "always
wanted another one." Pat
L. from Virginia Beach helped Doug out quite
a bit during this car's restoration. Doug says, "we really get stares when we drive around together. We both
plan to go to the reunion in Carlisle, Pennsylvania next June." The rest of us look forward to meeting them
both! Great Job on this car, Doug and Chad! Thanks for not keeping the fender skirts - I don't think the world
is ready to see a S&H Torino with those! :-) |
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