Donnie Allison's Torino Talladega

M.Julian Marles
Awesome!

Rex
cool, one of my three favorite 1969 Ford racers.

just a quick tidbit if you are building for accuracy,,,,,if you use those 427 decals on the hood, don't bother trying to scrounge up any Talladega lettering for the quarter panels,,,,,,the cars weren't labeled as Talladegas until Nascar legalized the Boss 429 engine for them after the season started.

Once they had what Ford considered the "correct" engines, then they got the 429 CID hood numbers and the Talladega quarter panel lettering

Kevin Johnson
I'm using the 429. I thought the 429s were Torino Cobras. I started it 13 years ago, at this point I just want to get it done and off my project list.

Donald Medley
I was working for "FORD" at a dealership when that model came out, drove the guys crazy, everyone of them wanted one.

Rex
If they have that "drooped nose" then they fall solidly into two groups,,,,,,,,,,the Cobra lettered cars with the 427, and the Talladega lettered cars with the 429,,,,,,that was strictly based on Nascar's attitude vs Ford's at the time. Ford's official stance at the time was that a "true Talladega" had a 429 in it, and that caused the labeling issue. Even though the street Talladegas actually had 428 Cobra Jets in them,,,,,,which didn't race in either version of the car on the Nascar tracks, lol. A very good source of period photos and explanations of those days is the book "Fearsome Fords", it tells the stories of Ford's Nascar choices, the Trans Am series, the Rallye cars, the SCCA cars (the ones that differed from the Trans Ams, that is), the NHRA drag cars and stock cars, MARC/ARCA cars, USAC stocks, and the "Baby Grands", model by model, and year by year.

The book also functions as an "I wish I had one of those" catalog of model types and option choices for the Ford and Mercury muscle car and pony car eras.

(ps, in 1969, with long window Cobras, short roofed Cobras, and the Talladegas, Ford won the Nascar, USAC, and ARCA titles in one year,,,,,,,the only time that was done by any make of car,,,,,,,it hasn't been done since, not even as a repeat event by Ford)

Kevin Johnson
Thanks Rex, I will look into that book. Oh, you probably know this build was quite challenging, it reminded me of cutting my teeth on MPC kits in the early 1970s. The parts don't quite fall together. The slixx decals shattered too.

Kevin Johnson
I was wondering if the 429s on the hood were a decal or painted on. Any idea?

Rex
Back then, there was another transition on the hood numbers,,so, I think they were painted on. In the years just before these 1969 cars, the numbers on the hood were painted on, and they were the manufacturer's advertised horsepower rating (for sales on the street). Even though you might have the 8th generation of approved hop up parts on your 427, they still said 410 or 425 h. p. on their hoods. Right around the time of the Torinos and Cyclones hitting the tracks in 1968, the number changed to "427 C.I.D." on the hood,,,,,,and when they ran different sized engines for different sized tracks, they could say "404" or "394" or "427", etc,,,,,whatever the engine's true displacement measured out at. That was because you had to run the weight of the car as a multiplier of the actual engine size. And the teams would run a smaller displacement in the same large engine design, in order to be able to legally run a lighter car at some places.

During that era, the numbers were definitely painted on,,,,,usually by guys as talented as that famous "pin-strip painter", who's name I can't remember right now.

The hood horsepower numbers are today mistakenly used for comparisons between "then and now" by people that weren't around the cars or the sport back then. In racing discussions, you will find dozens of people claiming that they "raced in the sixties with only 425 horsepower", because they don't know that what is on the hood was only the catalog HP of the street engines (they were only on the hood for advertising purposes then),,,,,,race big blocks had gotten up to the 600-700 hp area by the time they were ruled out of competition by the "small block motor" rule.

Rex
oh, and good luck with your build. I think you have a better starting point than I do, because your kit starts as a stock car model. I am trying to start with the Monogram Street Talladega kit,,,,,,,which has the 428 that was sold in the street cars.

M.Julian Marles
^^ah I have that one too!

Kevin Johnson
I will post some photos of what I have so far when I'm finished loading my ongoing projects. It is well along.

Donald Medley
Sir, you defiantly know your autos.