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Photos and text by Paul Sontrop

Doug Fowler has always been a Motown fan: both the music and the once great city that produced the coolest muscle cars of all time.

Legend has it that Barry Gordie of the famed Motown Studios used to call in kids off the street and sit them down with the staff to listen to the latest tune under consideration for release. If most gave it a thumbs up, the tune got released. Thumbs down and it got canned. For nine years, there was always a Motown record in the top ten. Apparently the system worked.

So as owner of The Autodream Group in Niagara Falls, Doug Fowler decided that if a genius like Barry Gordie could find success with such a system, he might give it a try as well.

One day in early 2008, Doug gathered his talented staff and a few other barstool car guys around a slightly tired but otherwise solid 1970 Torino GT for a “visionary meeting”. Everyone had a say no matter how outrageous. Doug’s artist son Kyle took notes and made sketches. Kyle took them back to his computer and worked up a CAD image of what is pictured herein. The majority of the staff gave it the thumbs up.

This project car was to showcase the range of abilities of the Autodream Group from design to final build. It also had to be a highly drivable car within an accessible price range so as to reach as wide a car-buying crowd as possible.

The 1970 Torino GT was in extremely good shape. The entire bottom of the car was still painted in the original orange, as was the rest of the car. It needed very little structural work. In keeping with the beautiful factory lines of the Torino that had garnered it Car Of The Year in 1971, it was decided to give it a “Pro tour” treatment.

The car received a frame-off restoration. The underside was cleaned, blasted and prepped for paint. The underbody was painted in “chassis black.” Next came the engine compartment. It was cleaned up and painted in the same blue as the body.

The body was completely stripped to the metal and repaired where needed. Minor changes included replacing the large factory marker lights with smaller rounded versions from a 1968 Charger. The door handles were shaved and door poppers added. The rear trunk lid lip was filled where there had originally been a horizontal insert. All weather stripping and seals were replaced with NOS pieces.

The biggest redesign decision was the paint. Everyone finally agreed on GM “Electron Blue” and Ford “Ultra White” on the hood stripe, rockers and formerly chromed pieces. It took a lot of blocking, wet sanding and polishing to achieve the high-gloss end result. The paint included imbedded pinstripping and custom “TAG” (The Autodream Group) logo’s.

The Torino had originally come with the standard headlight package. The optional hideaway front headlight system was acquired and installed in the front grill with custom white trim.

A new crate 351 Windsor fit nicely onto the original 351 mounts. The new Winsor has a Holley 650 double pumper delivering fuel and air aided by a potent Paxton NOVI 1200 supercharger. Out the bottom end, hooker headers provide ample breathing and added horsepower. The exhaust is carried out to the back through custom aluminum exhaust pipes with custom dual-port tips. A new aluminum radiator with twin electric fans provides cooling. The starter, alternator and power steering pump were replaced with new units.

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