1959 Chevrolet Apache
"The Flying Brick"

Bob Langill
01/08/2021
I just found, and won, an SMP Dealer Promo of the 59 Apache Fleetside on Ebay...it's pretty rough looking in the pictures, with missing tail lights, a pretty heavily warped front bed panel, and mildly distorted bed sides...going by the chassis plate in the pics, it was originally a friction motored promo, but the friction motor appears to be missing...I really only need the body, grill, headlights w/bezels, parking lamps, and whatever interior there is (it's very hard to see in the pics), so I'll probably put the leftovers back up on Ebay...somebody will need them...
If I can get the bed sides straight enough to use, I'll work on straightening the front bed panel (or just make a new one)...then, I'll have to reconfigure the back window from the large wrap-around style that it has, to the small rear window that my friend's truck has...and, since it was a curbside model, I'll have to open the hood, and the doors, to show off the detail I plan on putting into the build...

The 55 Apache will provide the beginning of the chassis, some interior, and I'm sure many other parts for the balance of the build...
Starting with the chassis, I'll need to graft the original front sub-frame from the Turd project's "mother" kit on, and fab some tubular a-arms to replicate the front suspension...then I'll need to "back-half" the chassis to accommodate the narrowed 9" rear with ladder bars, coil-overs, and big tires...

The drivetrain will be a Brodix aluminum headed 540ci BBC and a TH400 transmission...the interior will include poly buckets, the typical "race" equipment, and a fabricated roll cage...I plan on working with styrene for most of the modifications and fabrications, and whatever aftermarket detailing items I find that are correct...

There's lots of stuff to source for this build yet, but hopefully, this dealer promo will work in place of the super-rare Modelhaus Resin kit I've been searching for...