pictures of 1983-85 Thunderbird interiors, seats etc

[EnviXR8]

Hi everyone,

I am building a 1985 Sunny King Ford NASCAR.

I would like to check any available interior pictures as reference. I was particularly interested in the seat, and what they looked like in the real thing. I'm not sure that the kit seat is a true representation of what a seat in one of those NASCARs looked like.

thanks in advance, everyone.

chris

[roadhawg]

This is from a Monte Carlo of that vintage, but they were all very similar.

[VERNON]

Hello Chris....The pictures Tommy posted are absolutly correct. You can use the seat out of a Monogram Lumina kit. Other than the seat the interior of these kits are very accurate. I think by 1985 Dale Earnhardt and maybe Richard Petty were only ones using the seat that comes with the T-Bird kits.

Good luck with your build, Post some pictures when you get it finished.

Vernon

[EnviXR8]

This is from a Monte Carlo of that vintage, but they were all very similar.

Thanks for those pics Tommy - it is one of the most difficult things to find, is reference photos of old NASCARs.. cheers mate

Hello Chris....The pictures Tommy posted are absolutly correct. You can use the seat out of a Monogram Lumina kit. Other than the seat the interior of these kits are very accurate. I think by 1985 Dale Earnhardt and maybe Richard Petty were only ones using the seat that comes with the T-Bird kits.

Good luck with your build, Post some pictures when you get it finished.

Vernon

Hi Vernon, the build has become a much bigger project than I expected, or honestly, wanted, but as with most modelling things, we seem to get easily carried away! I have now opened the boot (or the trunk) and I am working on scratch-building some new springs for the suspension; I am waiting for plastic stock to arrive from Hobbylinc. Then I need to find a 4mm & 5mm hollow punch.

I will post pics. I am trying to take progress shots, so I might post those up.

Cheers

Chris

[VERNON]

Sounds familier Chris. I have a few of those projects going right now. I took a break from a couple of those to build a 2012 Danica Patrick "Go Daddy.Com" Impala (box stock).

I say box stock, but I added a few of the missing roll bars and an updated nose clip.

I should have the body painted this weekend, and will try to post some pics later on.

Hope we see some pictures of your build.

Happy Modeling, Vernon

[JMChladek]

As I recall, when Monogram tooled up their Ford Thunderbird kit in 1983, the interior and seat were pretty accurate for that period (same goes for the old square back Monte Carlo, Buick Regan and Pontiac Grand Prix tooled up circa 1981-82). The increase in backrest area and side protection began to come around more in the later 1980s after some of the very serious crashes drivers were getting involved in. If the Monte Carlo pictured is the one I think it is, it would be either Tim Richmond or Ken Schraeder's ride from the late 1980s (86-87 being the earliest).

Be aware that if that picture is of the car today as it appears in vintage races (or in a museum), the seat might not be correct for the period since many of those older Monte Carlos got re-purposed for use in the NASCAR Sportsman and ARCA ranks after they became too old for use in Cup and Busch and several of the teams updated their seats to the newer spec equipment for enhanced safety. Several of those Monte Carlos were still being raced through the mid-1990s before NASCAR folded the Sportsman series entirely (partly due to a couple fatal crashes). The Aero-glass Monte Carlos also raced up through about 1989 when the Luminas took over mid way through the season. If there is any period in car camera footage from the old CBS broadcasts of the Daytona 500 up on Youtube, those might be the best place to find imagery of the old seats as CBS started mounting television cameras in stock cars in 1981 (and they became accepted quick when Cale Yarborough proved he could win races with them in his cars).

Edited February 5, 2013 by JMChladek