MPC 1987 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z

[polybius]

This build started more than a year ago, and it's finally finished.  Way back in 1987, Det. Sgt. DeeDee McCall on TV's cop show Hunter showed up in her new flashy red Shelby Z with t-tops and black wheels.  It was an upgrade from her earlier 84-86 Daytona Turbo Z.  As a teenager in 1987 I built this kit as her car and did the best I could with it, but that childhood build is long gone and I wanted to give it another shot after all these years.

The finish is Chrysler Flame Red clearcoated and polished.  The kit's sunroof was filled, sanded smooth, and scribed for the t-top seams.  The center support bar was grafted in, door seams were re-scribed for the t-top spec doors, and the window sill trim was modified to match the real car's structural modifications.  Otherwise the kit is box stock including non-intercooled 2.2L 4-cylinder turbo that, for the '87 Shelby Z, should have had the updated intercooler.  MPC eventually corrected this omission and provided an updated steering wheel in the 1988 annual release, but I stuck with what came in the box for this build.   These kits also strangely came with Daytona Pacifica wheels rather than what should have been Shelby C/S wheels.  Since these ended up finished in black, the inaccuracy is less noticable. 

These MPC, and later AMT, Daytona kits have some challenging fit issues. Someone at MPC put a lot of effort into making as many tiny obscure parts for the engine assembly as possible, and nothing fits quite right without some modification and fiddling.   For example, I finally gave up trying to get the radiator hose to align as it should, so it was necessary to get it as close as possible.  The taillights were molded as one piece in clear red, making the detailing process quite tricky.  Overall, it was a fun nostalgic build and it was satisfying to relive some childhood model building memories in the process.

[89AKurt]

That came out nice!   Seems like intercoolers are always ignored.  The side trim with the red line, you mask that?

[Hmann68]

Very cool to see this. I was 18 in 1987 and I bought a brand new 5.0 mustang, while my buddy bought a new turbo Daytona. It was a quick car and comfortable. Nice work on your build ?

[polybius]

Thank you both!  Yes, the red stripe was masked.  There was quite a bit of masking necessary for all the trim.  At first I thought the striping would be the trickiest part, but it turned out the t-tops required quite a bit of fiddling with the masking because of the curves and odd angles.  

My '88 MX-6 GT would have put up a good fight against that 5.0 Mustang and Daytona Turbo ?  There were some really nice (and fast!) cars that came out of that era.   

[Bucky]

Very sharp build! Nice and tidy! Good work on the t-tops. I almost bought a cousin of the Daytona....a 1985 Chrysler Laser Turbo. A real beauty, but I ended up with a 1969 Dodge Dart GT, instead.

[charger74]

Very nice build

[iBorg]

Mercy that makes me miss my Chrysler Laser XT, the Chrysler twin to the the Turbo Z. Your build looks dead on.

As for the comments of being a fast car.....in 1987, it was the one of the fastest cars made by Detroit. West Virginia had some that were factory specials that could top out at 150.

[br67]

Great clean build

[peekay]

Beautifully built and detailed!

[shoopdog]

Wonderful build of a very seldom seen subject.

[mangodart]

Very nice built !! It's a not often seen model, always liked this generation of Daytona. Got the approach as you but with the first Turbo Z from DD Mc Call ;)

 

[polybius]

Thanks again everyone!  And very nice work on McCall's first Daytona, mangodart! 

As a bad habit, I typically will build two or more versions of a kit simultaneously.  I'm not sure what's appealing about doubling the work and effort for one project, but it sometimes helps me to keep the momentum going.  This '87 Shelby Z had co-project car that was originally planned to be McCall's first two-tone Turbo Z.  At the last minute I decided on monochromatic white instead.  I'll be posting separately about the red one's "other half" shortly, and here's a sneak peek in the meantime ?

 

['70 Grande]

Excellent build! Looking at that side-view comparison image with the 1:1, I think your build has a better looking stance than the 1:1! Great job!

[martinfan5]

It turned out really nice.

[Dragonhawk1066]

Looks nice! Excellent job!

[av405]

Clean work, nicely done!

[Vietnam Vet67]

From the archives.........1987 was a great year for these cars.

[Jonathan]

Wow!  I never knew this kit could be built so nicely.

[Dann Tier]

Dont see these very often....Outstanding job!!!

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[iamsuperdan]

I love these malaise era cars!

You did a great job on this one.

[Terminator-Fox]

Very nicely done. I wish there was a Omni GLHS kit.

[kelson]

Nice looking builds!,i built Monograms 85'snap kit a few years ago and did mine in white to.

[Zoom]

Looks great and well done!

[RAMBENNA]

great job, very nice build