Jim Bailey's '71 El Camino

[Art Laski]

My father-in-law has a collection of some classic cars that he takes to car shows, and one of his friends who goes to car shows with him, Jim Bailey, has an excellent example of a 1971 El Camino. Jim's wife asked me if I would build a replica of his car as a gift for him, so that's what this build is all about.

There were a few challenges with this project. This first issue is that no model companies have ever made a '71 El Camino. The closest I found is a Jimmy Flintstone '72 El Camino resin body that uses the AMT '72 Chevelle as a donor kit. While this combination is close, there were a lot of modifications necessary to represent a '71, and then some more work to make it look like Jim's.

See the WIP here:

 

Here are some pics of the original.

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2017 by Art Laski

[Art Laski]

 

[High octane]

Very nice build on that Elky. Is the tire lettering from Fireball?

[John Teresi]

Art......man o man is that pretty.......you nailed it!!!!!!.......great job......Jim is going to love it!!!!!.......very cool Art

[ChrisR]

Nice replica!!

[Classicgas]

That looks perfect. Very well done.

[TooOld]

It turned out great Art , your extra effort really paid off ! 

[Snake45]

Absolutely outstanding work. One of the very best replications of a real car I've ever seen. 

[crazyjim]

Looks pretty darn good to me.  Jim will be happy.

[bbowser]

Now that is a replica!  Right down to the Grant steering wheel,  great job.

[Hmann68]

Beautiful! 

[o-man]

Great replica

[shoopdog]

Very well duplicated!

[espo]

Looks perfect, Jim ought to love this. I followed your build and liked how resourceful you were using parts from different kits and the modifications to bring it all together.

[Bob Ellis]

Very nice

[KWT]

Very nicely done. Everything looks spot on.

That steering wheel is the poo.

[Mooneyzs]

Art... Stunning build Brother. I Love it. You did a fantastic job and it turned out killer. I am sure Jim loved it. Nice job man.

[Metalmad]

Came out awesome Art !

[Cpt Tuttle]

You pretty much nailed the look of the 1:1, good job!

[Art Laski]

On 12/26/2017 at 6:05 PM, High octane said:

Very nice build on that Elky. Is the tire lettering from Fireball?

Thank you! Yes it is. I was surprised to find them. I thought I would be making my own.

[Art Laski]

I really appreciate all the comments, guys! It wasn't as perfect to me as I would have hoped, but I guess I feel that way about every build. But Jim and his wife were ecstatic. His wife called it the best gift ever! I guess that's all that matters.

Chris Sobak, I failed to mention it above, which is a shame because your effort of support on this was instrumental, but thanks so much! I hope you get to build your '71 someday.

[High octane]

21 minutes ago, Art Laski said:

Thank you! Yes it is. I was surprised to find them. I thought I would be making my own.

The reason I had asked is that I'm also using Fireball tire lettering on my current project and they look great. Thanks.