Monday, January 31, 2005
Lotus Elan
   1:18 scale diecast 1966 Lotus Elan S/E by Sun Star. Every article I've ever read says that Colin Chapman's Lotus Elan is the best handling car of all time, even though it was created and designed in the '60's. 100% neutral handling - I've never seen a photo of the Elan that didn't have the car drifting through a corner - and there is always a passenger along for the thrill.
posted by
chris
@
8:25 AM
Friday, January 28, 2005
Shelby 427
1:18 scale diecast 1964 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C by Road Signature. I've seen a few of these in action at Summit Point. Not sure what to think. It's an awesome looking car. An average Porsche kills it in the corners but gets taken on the straight. I thought the exhaust note at speed was a strange kind of a hoarse howl. Didn't like it much - the Cobra sounds much cooler when its simply standing still and blurbling.
posted by
chris
@
9:06 AM
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Ferrari 288 GTO
1:18 scale diecast 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO by Bburago. How can anything so recent be so rare? This one gets stabled in the garage, vacuum sealed, never to see the light of day, permanently on display in a securely controlled environment, a piece of art sculpture and engineering. It certainly doesn't need to prove itself (the car, not the model - the model is terrible quality). I got this model from scale18's scratch and dent sale - both doors were broken off and the glue is still drying while I'm shooting it. Totally worth 10 bucks for this shoot. My gluing skills are sloppy at best, so I really had to filter this image to correct for my inept repairs.
posted by
chris
@
10:16 AM
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Ferrari Lusso
1:18 scale diecast 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso by Hot Wheels. Who could even imagine a back half of a car like this? It's smaller than the front, but interestingly, perfectly so. The front fenders gently, subtly flow into the back fenders, each half of the car owning its own shape, but somehow in the same motion. It really takes some study to grasp the intersection and how delicate the design is. The compound curves must have been a bitch to shape. Absolutely genius, somewhat insane.
posted by
chris
@
6:06 PM
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Ferrari Enzo
1:18 scale diecast 2003 Ferrari Enzo by Hot Wheels. $643,330. Does it do everything you want it to do for six hundred and a half thousand grand? No doubt.
posted by
chris
@
8:20 AM
Monday, January 24, 2005
Ferrari 250 GT
1:18 scale diecast 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta by Universal Hobbies. Dog will hunt.
posted by
chris
@
10:35 AM
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Ferrari Dino
1:18 scale diecast 1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS by Hot Wheels. I imagine breezing down hills and switchbacks on the way to Monte Carlo for a holiday, warm summer sun speckling through the trees, Mediterranean on the right...now the left...now the right.
posted by
chris
@
10:10 AM
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Ferrari 365
1:18 scale diecast 1969 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 by Kyosho. Wrap around sunglasses, turtle neck, slick leather jacket, sideburns and a cigarette - I wanna to be reincarnated as a 60's italian playboy. This is a really nice model with felt carpeting, awesome detail, tight seams. Unfortunately, I busted the mirror off on the drivers side door while shooting it. Doh!
posted by
chris
@
10:09 AM
Monday, January 17, 2005
Porsche 911 S
1:18 scale diecast 1970 Porsche 911 S 2.4 by Universal Hobbies. This model is a piece of crap, but I love the car. In my opinion, the design of the 1970 Porsche 911 S embodies the pure sense of what a sportscar's soul looks like. This model always sparks my memory of Steve McQeen driving the Porsche 911 in the opening scenes of the 60's movie LeMans (amazon.com). There's also a great article by Colin Goodwin in Evo Magazine who just took his honeymoon in the 911 S across Italy to the Targa Florio course. Very romantic, great pictures. By the way, Evo is a great "thrill of driving" publication out of the UK if you haven't checked it out yet (the website doesn't do the magazine justice, though).
posted by
chris
@
11:30 AM
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Lotus Super 7
1:18 scale diecast 1957 Lotus Caterham Super 7 by Anson. This car is as odd as it is cool. I got to check one out during FATT's at Summit Point. It looked awfully bulky with a full roll cage and a little "patchy" but, being a kit car, this was expected and made it look like a true trackday car. Not a lot of drivers gave it much notice but I thought it looked too cool between the porsches, bmws and rice burners. Too bad it didn't get out on the track that day.
posted by
chris
@
11:47 AM
Friday, January 14, 2005
Ferrari 166
1:18 scale diecast 1948 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta by Hot Wheels. I don't have much of a connection to this model. It is a Ferrari and I had to collect it, but I don't have any point of reference for the driving experience in this type of car. It's a powerful racing machine no doubt, its engine is freakin' huge and the "little boat" is obviously very lightweight, but I can't imagine it.
posted by
chris
@
3:37 PM
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Lamborghini Murcielago
1:18 scale diecast 2001 Lamborghini Murcielago by Bburago. I drove alongside a Murcielago for about twenty feet once. An alien space craft - that's what it looked like from 200 yards out. I said "oh shit!" and floored it. My wife freaked 'cause she thought that something terrible had happened. My 120,000 mile '88 Toyota pick up just managed to catch the "bull" at the light. When the light turned green I lasted a whole twenty feet. My wife laughed - at me.
If you want to see how I rendered this photo, click here for the sketches.
posted by
chris
@
9:51 PM
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Ferrari F310
1:18 scale diecast 1996 Ferrari P310 by Paul's Model Art (PMA). Got this Formula 1 model from some friends who visited Boston. Apparently there existed a diecast/scale model store on Newbury Street. I went to Boston a few months later, but this mystery store was nowhere to be found. Good thing though, as I would have broken the bank in a store full of diecast.
posted by
chris
@
5:10 PM
Monday, January 10, 2005
Ferrari 308
1:18 scale diecast 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB by Kyosho. One of the most perfectly designed objects of all time.
posted by
chris
@
9:58 AM
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Maserati Spyder
1:18 scale diecast 2002 Maserati Spyder by Maisto. I got a Sharper Image gift card from my sister-in-law and what else would I buy. It wasn't my intention to ever collect this car but fortunately, cars were very low in stock (from an already limited display, if you know what I mean) and now that I own the model, I'm really enjoying the design work -- I always thought the coupe and the spyder looked under-designed.
posted by
chris
@
6:35 PM
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Porsche 914
1:18 scale diecast 1972 VW Porsche 914 by Revell. When I was a kid, the 914 was my favorite matchbox car. It was a green and white German Polizei with a little yellow flasher on top. I can remember back to the early 1970's when my father was stationed in Germany, 914's were everywhere, including one that had completely crashed and burned under a bridge on the autobahn. My brother currently owns a 914 and it's a great car to go around corners fast.
posted by
chris
@
3:57 PM
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Ferrari 512 BB
1:18 scale diecast 1976 Ferrari 512 BB by Kyosho. The front of this car hangs way out in front which disturbs my personal sense of balance, so I cropped it out. I love the detail in this Kyosho model - felt carpeting, constructed pop-up headlights, little telescoping supports for the front hood - cool.
posted by
chris
@
4:49 PM
Monday, January 03, 2005
Ferrari 250 Spyder
1:18 scale diecast 1959 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder by Hot Wheels. We're all familiar with the replica in Ferris Bueller's Day Off which was based on a MGB chassis. Classic and obviously designed for the US market.
posted by
chris
@
3:43 PM
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