In one of my earlier posts from New Year’s Day of 2021, I outlined the “Cigar Box Conversion Process” and highlighted a particularly battered Aurora Cigar Box car I had bought on the ‘bay for a song and converted to a T-Jet. In a way I’m sorry to say that car has been retired from my numbered racing fleet, the result of both the translucent red chassis-never a good performer to begin with-finally giving up the ghost, and the body of the car being rough enough that I did not feel it justified mounting on a new chassis despite all the work I had done on it to make it look presentable. This vacated the #39 position in the fleet, so I wondered what I would fill it with. The McLaren Elva is not one of my favorite Aurora bodies; as with the Chaparral 2A, I feel it is poorly designed, as the tall body bears little resemblance to the low, sleek real car it was modeled on.
However, even the bad bodies have their place in Aurora history, and I thought it would be a shame not to have a single copy of this body in the fleet, so I logged on to the usual sites one night and thought I’d look at what was available at a price I was willing to pay. I got lucky; I found an awesome replacement for the same car for a good price. What I needed, I felt, was a black car; there are entirely too few black cars in the racing fleet, and this late production version really stood out to me in this color. What’s more, this version is one of the “Flamethrower” bodies from the early ‘70’s designed with working headlights and tail lights. I didn’t really have a need for this, but the body was in such good shape and offered at such a low price, and it looked so good in black with the white stripe, that I decided I couldn’t pass it up. I would up buying 2 copies of this same body that night; the other one wound up here, but the black one went into the racing fleet and took over the decal that was carefully peeled off the retired car.
Archival images: the original Cigar Box McLaren (LEFT) and its first iteration after being turned into a slot car, before the number changed from 9 to 39. The wheel type was later changed as well
A chassis originally from another retired car was brought in to mount it on, and although it has some mileage, this chassis and motor remain highly competitive. I put a good amount of thought into this build but not a lot of work, because it all just seemed to come together perfectly; the wheel type, the way the red roundel looks against the black and white body; something just looks right here; this car wanted to “live!” When I put it on the track, I was very happy with the results!
So this brings us to the 8th installment of “The Replacements.” The original McLaren, named “Archer” and campaigned by Warren “Wheelie” Winwood, didn’t get retired; it underwent a complete rebuild, getting a new engine, new driveline components, new wheels and tires, and new paint. As it turns out, McLaren cars, still in business today, has only recently revived the name Elva for a $2m+ supercar they just started building, but the original car, the Mk1A from 1963, was a simple, straightforward design powered by a variety of powerplants. It is believed that 24 of them were built, and this black beauty-a later production 1965 model-is powered by a recently rebuilt Chevy 327 V8 driving through its original but redone Hewland L.G.500 4-speed. Winwood has not been competitive in the past, but with this complete revamp of his car, he will return to the track for the winter 1984 season with some big ambitions!
I do love the black and white and even with the higher body, it still looks like a great addition to the fleet. I love how you have all these makes and models represented. It is truly the best of the best and the care you put into your selection is superb!