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Eldon C.'s 1976 Ford Gran Torino®
"Starsky & Hutch"®Dealer-Painted
Replica
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Eldon purchased this 1976 Gran Torino in May of 2007
from the original owner. At that time, the car had only 76,800 miles on it and still had its original paint (see
below) and white bucket seat interior. This car was built in Chicago and was special ordered in April of 1976 with
a "Starsky & Hutch" stripe, but with Dark Red paint instead of Bright Red (see the original order
form, below), and without the deluxe bumpers that all S&H Units came with. Eldon found white overspray on the
car which led him to believe the stripe was painted by the dealer, not by the factory (we know that when the factory
painted stripes on S&H units, they painted the stripe first, masked it off, and sprayed the red over the top,
then removed the mask). The car did come with dual color-keyed remote racing mirrors. Why the original owner ordered
this custom configuration instead of simply ordering a S&H unit, I don't know. The dealer also installed chrome
slotted mag wheels with Raised White Letter BF Goodrich tires.
As seen in the two photos up above, Eldon has since re-sprayed the car in Dark Red. He repainted the stripe exactly
like the original, but did not add the white pin stripe as original owner did (see below). Eldon has also added
new aluminum slotted mag wheels with black wall tires. |
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| These two photos of the car were taken in the 1970s
when the car was brand new. The car was originally purchased in Westmont, Illinois (see order sheet below) but
spent the last 29 years in New Mexico, so it had no rust when Eldon bought it. The original owner kept it garaged
and when Eldon bought the car the paint was in very good condition with just normal wear and tear, as you can see
here: |
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| The car's original white bucket seats and center console
are also in excellent condition. When Eldon bought it, the car also still had with the original dealer-installed
spare tire in the trunk. The only changes made to the car before Eldon bought it were having the windows tinted
and chrome mud flaps added - so the car was still very much in its original condition. The original owner gave
Eldon the original Owner's Manual, Warranty pamphlet, Consumer Information pamphlet (see below) and Build Sheet. |
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| By time I got around to adding this car to my web site,
Eldon had also purchased an original factory S&H Gran Torino with original paint and a white interior. Eldon
says the car "needs everything" in order to be restored, including a white bench seat (if you have one
you can part with, let me know and I'll tell Eldon). As you can see in the photo, there is quite a difference between
his replica's Dark Red paint and the PS-122 unit's Bright Red paint. |
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| The "Retail Buyer's Order" seen here is a
very nice document to have. It clearly shows what options Eldon's car was originally ordered with, including "Starsky
& Hutch" stripe. The Consumer Information sheet is just something Eldon and I thought other owners of
old Fords would be interested in seeing. |
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"Starsky
& Hutch" Torino Home
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This Page © 2008 StarskyTorino.com
All Rights Reserved. Photos are the Property of the Car's Owner.
"Starsky & Hutch"®
is a registered Trademark and Copyright of CPT Holdings, Inc.
"Ford Gran Torino"® is a Trademark of Ford Motor Company.
The presence of strobe lights, wig-wags,
sirens, and/or red revolving lights
in any car that is not an official Police car is illegal in many states.
Check your own State and local regulations!
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