a Bubble Top Hemi... [PIC]

In 1959, customizer and show car builder Darryl Starbird of Wichita, Kansas was tasked to build a show car from a 1st gen T-Bird. Unable to afford an intact Bird, he found a badly wrecked '57 in a junkyard, stripped it and added replacement panels to it. I grafted an entire '59 Buick rear section mated to the original doors. A fuel injected Chrysler Hemi with drivetrain was mated and the steering was performed via tiller. Its first iteration was wildly popular except in drag circles so Starbird took it to the track where it was clocked at 101mph. After a slew of more mods to the car, in 1962 Monogram Models wanted the car shipped to them so they could design a 1/24 model. Darryl was using it as a daily driver to promote his shop so he cleaned up all the dents, dings and dirty upholster and at Monogram's request painted it Candy Apple Red and the original dual controls with double dash were removed. The Predicta wound up back in Darryl's hands and after towing it from Illinois to Southern Cal for some shows, he eventually traded it for a motorcycle. After years of moldering away at LA's American Chopper, Darryl bought it back and it was completely rejuvenated as it sits now in 1996 for the Rod and Custom Hall of Fame. Monogram then released its last iteration of the kit (shown here). For an old rework, it's a pretty cool model. The tiller steering actually works.