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Lee C.'s 1976 Gran Torino®
"Starsky & Hutch"®Replica
(Page Two)
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| This car was built very late in the 1976 model year.
It could be one of the last Torinos built as the door tag says it was manufactured in June of 1976. Paul and Simon
bought it from a guy in Canada who had purchased it from a guy who had stored it 14 years after purchasing it from
original owner. The car was built in the Lorain, Ohio assembly plant (where the Second through Fourth Season TV
show cars were built). The car was originally Ford Dark Red with a quarter black vinyl top and opera windows. It
had a black bench seat cloth interior which was in really good condition but Lee wanted to "spec the car out
a little," so Paul and Simon had it professionally recovered in black vinyl. The interior trimmer also fitted
the car with brand new carpet and headliner purchased from Autokrafters.
He also modified and vinyl-covered the opera window trim inside the car so it looks like an original piece of non-opera
window trim. |
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| The car originally had chrome mirrors, but Lee wanted
red racing mirrors. Paul and Simon refurbished the trunk with a new mat (again from Autokrafters) and restored
all the bits inside the trunk and added a new jacking decal. The car has a 351M V8 that had just over 48,000 original
miles on it when Paul and Simon bought the car. It has dual exhaust now. The front wheels are polished 14 x 7 Appliance
slotted mags, and the rears are "old school" Ansen 15 x 8.5 - also polished. All four have new American
Racing 5-ear center caps and brand new chrome mag wheel lug nuts. The front tires are 225/70/14 and the rears are
255/60/15. The car has been professionally undersealed, and has the original factory radio in it. |
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| Externally, Paul says the car had really excellent
chrome trim and front bumper. He and Simon replaced the rear bumper with an NOS item he bought on eBay, and also
replaced the tail light bezels and rocker panel moldings with NOS pieces. The black rubber on the bumper protection
group option was superb and didn't need to be replaced. The car was painted by the same guy who painted Paul and
Simon's first project car. Paul says, "There is no original dark red in sight, just lovely 2B bright red everywhere.
The stripe template was by Brent Williams,
and we added the obligatory black pinstripe." |
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If you didn't already see Page One
of Lee's car, PLEASE don't miss it!
I just couldn't fit everything on this one page!
See Lee's S&H Torino - Page One
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