Happy Saturday dear readers, the best day of the week is here! This cold but sunny one here in the Rockies finds your Humble Blogger where he’s happiest: in the toy room, at the controls of the Model Motoring HO Highway! As I’ve mentioned in a few recent posts, I’m shifting my focus-and my finances-away from the Auto World Ultra G racing fleets due to their prodigious size, and will race and maintain those cars – plenty of activity still, considering there are well over 200 of them! – while pursuing more of the Aurora originals. As with the last Road Crew Expansion post, this one adds a couple of nice pieces to the sports car section of The Crew; while neither of these additions are rare, I hope you’ll agree they are good additions, although I admit one of them needs something extra. To wit…
Ferrari Dino in YELLOW
I needed another yellow car on the sports car side of the crew and IMHO this is one of the best colors on the Ferrari Dino…specifically a 1966/67 206S. Now, long time readers will note this is not the first of these cars to appear in my collection, as there is one in the identical color scheme in the Ultra G racing fleet! That one, however, is a Cigar Box conversion, which provides and interesting contrast in this image of the two side by side at Drag City, where you can see the converted car’s shorter from screw post, as expected on a Cigar Box model! Of course some careful modifications with the Dremel were needed with to mount the body on the Ultra G chassis, while this latest addition remains stock right down to the wheels!
Despite having a split rear screw post-a very common affliction on this model-the screw holds fine, and otherwise the car is in excellent condition and came on a good clean running open rivet chassis that was ready to go with only one addition: a new set of tires. I decided to use a set of sticky Super Tires I’ve had sitting around forever, so it grips as good as it looks!
FLAMETHROWER Ford GT 40 in…what? I say MAROON!
So, since I added another Ferrari it only seemed right to add another Ford GT 40 so we can keep that age-old rivalry going! For a while now I’ve been wanting this body in the late-era reddish-brown, one of 2 hues that was used on the “Flamethrower” model with the working headlights. This color is a little controversial, as some call it brown while others insist its red. I’ve always used the name “Cordovan” because I remember that color name being used on penny loafers that were this color in my 1980s childhood, but for those who don’t like the “fashion industry” color names, let’s just settle on “maroon.” It’s not a “racy color,” I admit, but with the white stripe I think it looks awesome! While not exactly “hard to find,” I don’t see this color often, and I found it for sale from a dealer on the east coast as a body-only in near mint condition at a price I couldn’t turn down.
When it arrived, I mounted it on the only chassis that was right for it: one of only 2 original Aurora Flamethrower chassis I own. Sadly, unlike the one on the blue Ferrari GTO, this one is non-functional owing to the angel hair-thin wire becoming disconnected from one side of the lightbulb. This is a real bummer, as these bulbs are wires are so tiny and delicate that I do not have the means to repair them: do you know anyone with the tools or the skill to solder a wire this size without ruining it-and everything around it? If so, contact me and tell me what you charge, as I would love to restore illumination to this car! Since I do have the one working Flamethrower, it would be awesome to have a pair, especially since getting this one work would again give me “Ford VS Ferrari” with lights!
Even without the bulb working, this car looks great on both the track and lined up with the rest of the “sports job” alongside the HO Highway. I love the color and I love the way it looks, and in the tradition of The Crew, it bears no racing numbers and remains completely stock other than the addition of a pair of Jel Claws 2030’s at the rear.
All this activity with the old cars is leading to a little bit of discovery of technologies both new and old that will be compatible with the HO Highway, so stay tuned, dear readers, as I embark on some expansions of not only the car fleet but also of the track and its accessories! There’s always something new-and something old!-to see at Drag City!
Having the lights working again would be awesome. I try to get all the components on my trains working as they did originally. Although, I’m like that about everything, if it’s there, it should be in working order. These sporty additions to the crew get a big thumbs up!