Hardcastle & McCormick's Coyote, a perm better than the Hoff

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Hardcastle & McCormick's Coyote, a perm better than the Hoff

Postby choc-ice » Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:23 pm

That's a pretty bold claim, choc-ice!

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But justified 8-)

I've been mining the rich seam of '80s TV cars for a while but there can't be many left now, can there?

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As usual, the story behind the car is more interesting than the dodgy ’80s scripts. The car started off as a Manta Montage, itself a copy of the McLaren M6GT but based on a VW Beetle floorpan. Here's the McLaren

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And here's the Manta, what a world of elegant sophistication!
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I love looking at old car brochures, perhaps it's the promise of things to come. Let's inhale some of that musty old smell of car books.

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In the early shows there are a few shots of the interior and the VW gearstick and pedals are very obvious. However in later programmes and the title sequence the interior is shown with a chromed gate for the short gearstick and beautiful dials with a very un-Volkswagen red line high up the revcounter. These were shot on a Ferrari and substituted in the edit room to make the car look more impressive. The engine noise was dubbed on and is the same sound effect as used on the black Lamborghini Countach from Cannonball Run (you’ll remember the female drivers if not the car).

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There was also a stunt car which used a spaceframe chassis around its strong roll cage, the VW suspension was toughened up as per so many dune buggies and the bodyshell was made in sections so damaged parts could be quickly replaced. It may seem crude now, but it’s one giant stage better than the Dukes of Hazzard that destroyed a complete car on every jump, with the Coyote it was strong enough to complete a jump and drive away for the next scene.

For series 2 and 3 the Coyote was changed but they tried to make it look similar, a bit like if Bo and Luke had stopped driving an orange Charger and started using a Pinto with 01 painted down the sides. The reason for the change was that Brian Keith who played Judge Hardcastle had difficulty climbing in through the window of the original car so another was built around a DeLorean. The gullwing doors solved the problem of access but the smooth McLaren shape just didn’t fit over the DeLorean’s boxy proportions and the whole car went from looking like a kid’s dream to a nightmare.

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Thankfully my 1:32 model is from Series 1 and has the original, flowing good looks. It’s also incredibly low and quite wide so possibly it will be popular with racers which makes a change for my stuff.

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The kit is a resin bodyshell and fits the chase-cars compact chassis because the real car doesn't lean in corners so it doesn't need the usual leaning chassis. There's still steering of course, because it looks cool. The whole thing is very cost effective and extremely small so there's enough room even under the low nose and interior tray.

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It uses 1:43 Carrera Go motor and rear axle gear with custom made 3D printed wheels.
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Don't be worried about jumps, this resin bodyshell is tough and the chassis is made from sintered Nylon, the toughest material in the 3D printing business.

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The motor is a little frisky with my standard Scalextric controller, I could either reduce the track voltage or add a 10 ohm resistor. For racing I'd change the controller or track voltage, but as this is just for home use I put in a resistor.

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choc-ice
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Re: Hardcastle & McCormick's Coyote, a perm better than the

Postby Slot GT » Mon Apr 24, 2017 4:58 pm

Love it! Awesome TV car. Nicely done.
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Re: Hardcastle & McCormick's Coyote, a perm better than the

Postby ourwayband » Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:18 pm

Great looking car..The original,or at least one of the original cars is at a little car museum here in Jackson Tn..Believe it or not the name of the place is Rusty's TV and Movie cars museum..
Not mine of course,but if your ever in Jackson check out his set up..
www.rustystvandmoviecars.com/
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