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Justin K.'s 1974 Ford Gran Torino®
"Starsky & Hutch"®Replica
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Justin was raised in Wales and the north of England
and dreamed of moving to the USA because of "Starsky & Hutch." "Life always looked so much better
there," he says, "and it is. I am 40 now and was six when I watched it on the telly."
The idea of owning a Starsky Torino seemed too much of a dream to ever come true, but about 10 years ago he started
looking for one but all he ever found was "rusty rubbish" or the wrong model. He did find a couple that
were over modified for around $30,000 and he had just about given up when he came across this car in Connecticut,
a 1974 model that was featured here under a different owner. |
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"The pictures seemed too good to be true, but
in fact they did not do her justice, " Justin says. "The paint and bodywork are unbelievable, the interior
is also perfect. It is two-tone blue and I won't change it to black because I feel it makes the car a little unique
to me."
The previous owner was "a really nice bloke" and looked after the car well, as did the original owner
who left the first bill of sale and the window sticker and warranty card in the glove box. The man who sold the
car to Justin had an original Motorola radio and police light installed, and hid a CD player under the seat with
the theme song playing on repeat. He was very easy to deal with and Justin even paid over his asking price so he
would hold the car for him until Justin could get up to Connecticut with a trailer. |
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| Justin says, "I really believe a divine hand was
involved in getting me my dream car. She's perfect and I love her to bits. The previous owner kept the miles off
her but she's my daily driver. Lucky for me I walk to work so I've not put too many miles in her." |
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| The car has just 68,000 miles on it right now. It has
a 351 Windsor 2v engine. The only mods Justin has made are a K&N filter and Flowmaster muffler. He says when
he gets some pennies together, dual flowmasters will enhance the sound. "Of course, because I'm living in
Tennessee, there are confederate dice hanging off the mirror now." |
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| Justin has been using a carnuba wax from England (available
from UK eBay) called Boora wax. He highly recommends it to everyone with good paint. Justin's car has always been
garaged. |
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| The car has a beautiful set of vintage US Raving wheels
265 x 15" x 8.5" in the rear and 225 x 14" x 6.5 (Justin thinks) in the front. |
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| It has column shift and, being a Gran Torino Sport,
has a full instrument cluster, which is nice. Everything in the steering, suspension, and brakes has been replaced
so "she drives, stops, and rides like a new car." |
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"Starsky
& Hutch" Torino Home
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This Page © 2010 StarskyTorino.com
Created October 30, 2010. All Rights Reserved. Photos are the Property of the Car's Owner.
"Starsky & Hutch"®
is a registered Trademark and Copyright of CPT Holdings, Inc.
"Ford Gran Torino"® is a Trademark of Ford Motor Company.
The presence of strobe lights, wig-wags,
sirens, and/or red revolving lights
in any car that is not an official Police car is illegal in many states.
Check your own State and local regulations!
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