In 1978, GM came out with smaller wheelbase, downsized intermediates. These cars, such as the Cutlass, Regal and Malibu, were the mainstays of NASCAR racing for the GM camp. For 1979, and 1980, NASCAR resisted a move to a smaller wheelbase chassis mandate, due to fear the expense of having to produce new fleets would kill many teams. Thus we were treated to two and three-year-old bodystyles running on the tracks, particularly for those running GM cars. Finally, when Ford had introduced a smaller T-bird for 1981 (I think - I need to reference the Ford downsizing program better...), NASCAR was forced to move. The final race for the "cruiserweight" 115-inch chassis was Riverside, the 1981 season opener. Everyone was expected to show up at Daytona with new cars on a 110-inch wheelbase.
The car shown here is typical of the efforts of various teams to make the transition to the downsized cars, and to understand which cars worked best on which tracks. The Malibu was used by Marcis for short tracks, such as North Wilkesboro, Richmond or Martinsville. Most other teams favoured the Lemans version of this bodystyle.
The model pictured here was recently built from a Perry's Resin 1981 Malibu, with an AMT chassis from a recent T-Bird kit. My original thought had been to cut down an early-eighties MONOGRAM chassis to fit, but this is such a small car, that that would have been very difficult. Thus, this is closer to a 1/25th scale kit, rather than the more normal 1/24th that Monogram provides.
To convert the street stock resin Malibu body to the NASCAR version, I hogged out the wheelwells, specifically opening the front ones towards the front, and the rear ones rearward, to increase the effective wheelbase I could get under it. (The resin body has a wheelbase even shorter than AMT's stocker bodies...) I got to within 1/16th inch of a 1/24th scale 110" wheelbase by doing this, and from period pictures, it appears this was the practice of teams using this body as well. I flared the wheelwell openings by building them outwards with plastic strips, then laying cyanoacrylate (Krazy) glue over them, and pouring on baking soda. Makes an instantaneous rock-hard surface that can be sanded and worked into shape very easily.
Wheels and tires came from the Monogram Folger's T-bird, while the engine and seat, plus other ancillary bits, came from an early eighties Buick. The AMT stocker wheels and seat are just plain wrong, and too small, even for 1/25th scale. Using the Monogram GM engine nicely filled out the engine bay.
Acetate sheet was used to make the windshield and rear window. The kit I was working from did not have chromed bumpers or grille, so I used Baremetal, with no problems.
Having somewhat dissed the AMT chassis, there are a couple features that I like, that I wish Monogram would pick up on. For one, all the detail for the fuel filler system is present, as is the disc brake detail. The rollcage crossbars under the dash that tie the front hoop to the rollcage are also much more convincing than is Monogram's approach in this area.
Decals for this model were from Fred Cady, one of his earlier efforts. Since it is hard to know how old these decals are, it is necessary to take special precautions before use, as I have had aged decals disintegrate upon hitting water. To ensure that the carrier clear still had integrity, and would not crumble, I resprayed the entire sheet with several light coats of Tamiya TS-13 clear and let them cure several days before attempting to use. This worked well, and provided the bonus of giving me a decalled body that I could clearcoat without too much concern.
Once I'd finished, I had one of the true "ugly Ducklings" of NASCAR, and a neat addition to my collection. In fact, it was in one of these that Dave Marcis got his last win, at Richmond in 1982, with J.D. Stacy sponsorship.
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