1989 Ford Probe GT AMT 1/25 scale in Garnet Metallic

[polybius]

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to attack the 'shelf of doom' and finish some of the projects that have long been underway.  Among them was this '89 Probe GT released as the Probe IMSA kit, but still contained the stock parts for a GT.  The body, interior, and chassis were started years ago and it ended up back in the box as I debated my approach to some of the tricky details of this kit.  When AMT/MPC touts 'clear red lenses' as a 'feature' it makes me cringe, aside from the frustration of 'chrome plated lenses.'  Regardless, it's all part of the challenge and fun of building.  After realizing how close it was to completion it finally made its way out of the box, across the bench, and into the display case.  The chrome plated lenses for the front turn signals and fog lamps were recast in clear resin.  Otherwise it's essentially box and showroom stock.  Eventually I'll build the updated '90 version that's still in its box untouched, and perhaps an IMSA version to round out the trio.  For now, this one will do and it checks one off from the shelf of doom WIP list.  Thanks for looking, and cheers!

 

[ea0863]

So way cool! Great build and a great choice from a rather overlooked era in cars! Thank you for posting  

[Tom99]

Very nice!

[grodudulle77]

Nice build !! ??

[Michael Bentt]

This is nicely executed

[Oldcarfan27]

Great job on a forgotten Ford. Makes me want to reconsider working on mine.

I've also got a glue bomb that I was considering converting into a Back to the Future II car.

[PappyD340]

Looks great!

[espo]

Great looking paint work and nice to see something that has been overlooked in the past. The engine and under hood area is well done and realistic looking. 

[iamsuperdan]

Looks great! i love malaise-era cars.

 

[cobraman]

Looks good. You don't see one built too often.

[Dragonhawk1066]

Well done

 

[slusher]

Looks great!

[Oldcarfan27]

On 7/2/2022 at 4:08 PM, iamsuperdan said:

Looks great! i love malaise-era cars.

 

Agreed.

Where's Faust? He needs to see this.

[polybius]

Thanks everyone, much appreciated!  I'd owned a few 1:1 variants of this platform including an '88 and '89 MX-6 GT, '90 Probe GL, and later a 2nd gen '93 Probe GT, so this build was nostalgic in that sense.  The kit itself was engineered decently and mostly everything fits as it should, but if you know the 1:1 cars you'll discover the instruction sheet wants you to attach the headlight doors to the hood rather than to the fascia and fenders.  The one-piece window unit is a bit tricky, and it'd be an easy enough modification to trim out the side windows.  After giving it some thought, and appreciating the structural rigidity the intact unit provided along with the relative sparsity of detail in the interior components, the windows stayed rolled up.  Thanks again for looking and for the great feedback!  

[Jonathan]

Man, that brings back memories.   Nice job on an often overlooked kit. 

My girlfriend in college had a base model, and later one of my friends had a GT.  They were fun cars.   Back then, I liked to say that they were really Mazdas.  

[unclescott58]

The model looks great. I’m not a big fan of Ford Probes. But, I do like your model. Nice job. 

[Faust]

On 7/5/2022 at 2:21 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Agreed.

Where's Faust? He needs to see this.

Wow... how did I miss this? 

That's looking awesome! It's the same colour I tried to get on mine, and I think yours looks better! 

Great work on another Malaise-era underdog! 

Gotta love that stuff!

[Dave Darby]

On 7/2/2022 at 1:27 PM, espo said:

Great looking paint work and nice to see something that has been overlooked in the past. The engine and under hood area is well done and realistic looking. 

x2. Looks really good!

[Oldcarfan27]

6 hours ago, Faust said:

Wow... how did I miss this? 

That's looking awesome! It's the same colour I tried to get on mine, and I think yours looks better! 

Great work on another Malaise-era underdog! 

Gotta love that stuff!

It's like radar. Adam can smell loser cars a mile away! ?

[ChrisR]

Nice!!

[NYRich72]

Nice model of a very under-appreciated car with a lot of potential. My sister-in-law owned a 1:1 1988 model which I got to drive several times.

Nice handling vehicle but the 2.2L base engine made barely enough power to get out of its own way. Perhaps she should have sprung for the turbo version and skipped the 8-track tape player.?