Spenser's '67 Mustang GT

[mrmike]

Being a fan of Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels and the Spenser For Hire TV series, I am starting another Spenser project. Spenser's '67 Mustang GT as shown in the TV movie Spenser: A Savage Place. In the movie, Spenser is told by an old girlfriend that he is still driving the same old car, to which he replies, "Same car, new paint job." As a fan of the series, I immediately noticed that this is not the same car. The series ended almost 10 years previously and this movie was filmed in Toronto, Canada and the original Mustang was reportly stolen according to Robert Urich's website prior to his passing. This car was sourced from Canada by the movie production company. A picture of Spenser's '67 Mustang GT.

I am using an old built up model for this project and this morning I blew apart the model for reconstruction.

The motor will be refreshed and wired.

I need a set of wire wheels for this project and all I have seen are the low rider style with deep offset. I found these wheels in the '66 Merc Park Lane kit and look close enough for what i need.

Edited September 8, 2010 by mrmike

[Space Cowboy]

Alright more Spencer cars. This is going to be great can hardly wait to see more...

[Rick R]

Looks like a great start...

I was disappointed in the TV movies, and traced the fault to the female Producers who did the shows for the Lifetime Tlelvision. They focused on Urich and monimized the other style elements that had made the show special. I recall that in one of them they had Spenser in a red Ford Probe...GACK! Parkers Spenser probably wouldn't even PARK next to one of those!

Doesn't surprise me that the original '66s were gone, years ago I talked to Mike Runyaed, Urich's stunt guy for part of the run of the series, he said most of the cars were New England rust buckets... There were as many as five at any one time, and they were pretty much junk by the end of the series run. He said they were hauled around to locations on a car carrier trailer, I bet that made a great picture...

[charlie8575]

Another fun build, Mike. I'll look forward to watching this one, too.

Charlie Larkin

[mrmike]

Thanks guys!

Rick, I really enjoy hearing the behind the scenes stuff that you post! It helps fuel my need for knowledge on some of my favorite subjects that I want to build. Thanks much!

Right now, the body, hood, and trunk lid are swimming in the purple pond and I need to get more Purple Power as part of the body is still above the water line and I even used a smaller container this time, too! At least the price is fairly reasonable for a gallon jug.

[mrmike]

24 hours in the purple pond and the body is ready for some basic bodywork and cleanup.

More to come.....

[dwc43]

Been watching both builds. Can't wait for this one. Even though I am a Mopar guy through and through, I never really cared for the new Charger body and neither does the real Mopar purists either. I remember that I used to watch Spenser for Hire, but for the like of me, I can't recall a single plot. Too long ago I guess. What did Urich die of? Was it cancer?

[mrmike]

dwc43, Robert Urich died from synovial cell sarcoma, a rare cancer that attacks the body's joints. He passed at the age of 55 on April 16,2002. He is my favorite actor. While he had several roles that he is well known for, I will always remember him as Spenser and Dan Tanna in that order.

I am working on getting the mold lines removed that where not important to me when I originally built this model and refitting the nose and the rear panel. Primer soon!

[dwc43]

Thanks for the info. Guess I need to find some dvd's or search the web for some old Spenser episodes to jog the memory. I do remember watching him in the original SWATT tv show though. That was a great show that was cut wayyy to short cause of the supposed violence that is so tame by today's standards that it's laughable.

[charlie8575]

Vegas.....one more show I wish the studios would stop having hissies over and just get onto DVD. I used to like it. Never seen S.W.A.T.

Is Spenser on disk yet?

Charlie Larkin

[mrmike]

Charlie, I took a quick look at Amazon.com and Vegas Season I, Parts 1 & 2 is out on DVD. I hate it when they break up a TV season into "parts". Spenser For Hire is not (officially) out on DVD. There are a couple of sellers with bootleg DVD's of Spenser For Hire which are low quality episodes of the series taken from TV. I was told that the music composer, at one time, had tied things up over the release due to money (of course). Some of the worst shows on TV are releaased on DVD immediately after cancellation and some of the best shows are never released at all. Go figure! I believe that Spenser For Hire is available for viewing on Hulu or FanCast.

[dwc43]

Vegas.....one more show I wish the studios would stop having hissies over and just get onto DVD. I used to like it. Never seen S.W.A.T.

Is Spenser on disk yet?

Charlie Larkin

Oh, I forgot about Vegas. I used to watch it too.

I tried to find a u tube clip from SWATT but Sony removed all 17 shows that I had saved in my playlist.

Here's the opening trailer for SWAT.

Edited September 12, 2010 by dwc43

[mrmike]

SWAT was one of those shows I had watch a couple of times. When it was on the air, I was getting involved with other aspects of my life and watched little TV back then.

I got the body into primer last night and it's looking good. A little light sanding and paint will fly today!

More to come.....

[dwc43]

Cleaned up nice. Should make a sharp ride in the end.

[mrmike]

I was able to get one coat of paint on the body and then the can spit up on the hood. The hood went into the purple pond and I went out to the LHS to get another can of paint. I'll get back to this tomorrow.

More to come.....

[Clay]

Alrighty here we go again. As good as the charger turned out, this one is going to be amazing. Great start so far. I will be watching this one.

[charlie8575]

Having seen the other Mustang and the Charger today, I can tell you now, folks, these models are treat to look at. What are you using for that paint, Mike?

Charlie Larkin

[mrmike]

Thanks Clay and Charlie!

Charlie, I'm using Model Master Honduras Maroon for 2 coats followed by one coat of Tamiya TS-11 Maroon. This will give the shade that I need.

[Gregg]

This is too weird.

I am a book freak.

On a good night, I can read a book a night.

I get into an author, and try to read every single one of his books.

My recent literary endeavor has been Robert B. Parker, and the Spenser series.

I love this series, and the off-shoots that he has done

I did not know there was a movie/series on this.

I will have to get it.

Keep us posted on the build, maybe can do a feature on it.

Yes, I play favorites, so what????

[mrmike]

Gregg, Robert B. Parker is my favorite author and the Spenser novels are my favorite with the one person viewpoint writing. I need to find more of the Spenser novels which I devour when I go camping. The 4 movies, which were made for Lifetime Television in the mid 90's, follow the novels more closely than the Spenser For Hire TV series did back in the mid 80's and can be a bit slow and lacking the punch of the TV show. While the movies (Spenser Movie Collection) are out on DVD, the TV series is not and probably because someone, somewhere, wants too much money for their part in the production.

I will keep ya'll posted on this build as I am just getting started! A feature on Spenser's Mustang GT? Hmmm, this could be interesting...

[mrmike]

Yesterday, I went to drill out the distributor cap for plug wires and since I wasn't exactly centered, I destroyed the cap. I cut off the cap and dug through my parts box and found a small distributor and using a lot more care, drilled through the cap and then mounted it to the distributor base.

I then drilled the holes into the engine block for the plug wires. Before I add the wires, I'll paint the block with a new coat of Ford Engine Blue.

More to come.....

Edited September 22, 2010 by mrmike

[mrmike]

More progress! I gave my Dremel something to do by cutting off the axle mounting bosses. A very happy Dremel complied!

Then I painted the spokes with Aluminium Metalizer.

The motor got a new coat of Ford Engine Blue lacquer.

More to come.....

[charlie8575]

Those are nice looking wheels, Mike. This will be a nice-looking build all said and done.

Charlie Larkin

[mrmike]

Thanks Charlie! I am now starting to notice things about this Mustang that I didn't notice before. The hood is from a '68 Mustang and the hood from the Revell kit is too long and I'm not about to try to modifiy the Revell hood to fit. For now, I'll just keep going with this one.

[Rick R]

Hey, Mike, just curious about your build of the '65-'66 Spenser Mustangs...

In the series, the pilot episode showed the car in a great stance, top of the wheel wells at the top of the tires much like the Mustangs sat when hew. In the series, the cars were raised to contend with Boston's tank-trap atreets and potholes. Years ago when I built my first model of the car I had it sitting nice and low... what 'set' did you use for yours? I'm planning another one, deciding which I should use.

Old notes...

Back when the show started in '86 I built one with the cheap black-center round-hole modular wheels used the rims from the old MPC stock car kits, looked good! Which kit did you source your Keystones from? I like the ones in the old-tool AMT '57 Chevy.

Ever wonder why the series used that Mustang? When I talked to Urich's S2&3 stuntman Mike Runyard years ago he said it was Urich's call, he wanted it because he had a first-gen Mustang when he was in college...

Also, the Mustang GT used for a few eps in S2 was the same car used for Ford's brochure photos for the Mustang GT for that model year. Brochure pics that year were taken in an assortmrnt of cities, Boston for the Mustang GT, and when the shoot was done Ford gave the car to the production company. Apparently there were a lot of complaints from viewers who hated that the '66 was destroyed, (I only wrote once...)part of the reason for the 'new' '66 after a couple of months, but the switch was always planned...

Use of the new car gave the new GT a good early 'hero image' with the public and the production company used the time to refinish their original cars. The presentation of the car to the show was covered in USA Today's entertainmant section.

Ford took the GT back and it was totalled (t-boned a Thunderbird or a CV IIRC) in a driver training film that ran on ABC later in '87, hosted by... Robert Urich, then it was crushed.

Edited September 23, 2010 by Rick R