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| What do you get when you cross a Cobra, a Vette' & GT40? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 6 2011, 12:03 AM (607 Views) | |
| 69Stang | Feb 6 2011, 12:03 AM Post #1 |
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Station Wagon
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You get three racing livery cars from Kyosho's new USA Sports Cars, Release 2 set! I have posted these in my collection thread but with the amazing history behind these three cars, I thought you might enjoy a little more info. So while all my cars do not deserve a separate post, I felt these might.![]() 1968 Ford GT MK I (GT40) Overall Winner, '68 Le Mans This car may very well be the single most successful chassis in the history of the Ford GT program! The FIA/ACO banned the big displacement engines after 1967. So Ford, having nothing left to prove, took their factory support and headed home. They left a small budget with there English based racing partner, J.W. Automotive Engineering but not a great deal of hope for any real success. However fate would intervene when the FIA introduced the new S5.0 class for 1968. This was based on production sports cars (with a minimum of 50 built) and limited to a 5 liter or smaller engine. ![]() John Wyer stunned the racing world when he updated a year old GT MK I chassis (#1075)with a Ford based Gurney/Westlake 302 (4.9 liter) small block and raced into the history books. Driven by Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi, this now iconic Gulf liveried GT won the hearts of the racing world with the overall win for Le Mans ‘68! OK, maybe not any hearts at Porsche or Ferrari that is. ![]() This same chassis (#1075) not only won the '68 Le Mans, it started life in 1967 by winning at SPA and Brands Hatch. In 1968 this car won both the Le Mans event, and Spa again. BUT the story does not stop there, in 1968 the same car returned to win both Sebring AND the 24 Hours of Le Mans yet again. One of the few chassis to ever win Le Mans twice. The model is replicated in the '68 livery and looks wonderful. I think the ride height is a bit to low, but the wheels roll freely so I can only assume this is what the Kyosho designers wanted. Overall a stunning car, and looks wonderful in scale as well! Corvette Racing’s C5-R, 2002 Le Mans Class Winner (GTS) ![]() ![]() The Pratt and Miller built Corvette’s have been a mainstay of the winner circle for well over a decade. This version replicates chassis #003 as it raced and won the 2002 GTS class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. ![]() This 7 liter LS1 monster (427 ci) was piloted by Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Oliver Gavin for Corvette Racing. This same chassis (003) started life racing in 2000 and has a ton of class wins in the ALMS including the overall win at the 2001 Daytona 24. I find no history of this car racing for the works team after the ‘02 Le Mans event. 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C (CSX3002) If one casually clicked on Wikipedia for a little background on the 427 Cobra, you would find the following quote... “ The MK III missed homologation for the 1965 racing season and was not raced by the Shelby team.” As secret agent Maxwell Smart might say...”Missed it by thaaaaat much”! ![]() With the original 289 leaf sprig cars reaching the zenith of their development, Shelby understood the need for a new Cobra platform. Thus the new Mark III or 3000 series of Cobra was unleashed on the world. With coil over suspension on all four corners and the brutish 427 Side Oiler Ford big block, this car had the makings of a giant killer. At that time, the FIA required that a minimum of 100 cars be produced to satisfy homologation. When the FIA inspectors arrived in LA, that found only 51 cars had been completed. Seeing that is was too late to reach the minium for competition in the GT category, Shelby shelved to project in favor of his other racing ventures, the GT40 development and winning the World Title with the Daytona Coupes among others. But back to our original misleading quote. Shelby DID race the 427, but only one chassis was chosen to stay with the factory works team, CSX3002...the car we have here from Kyosho! Without better resources, funding and time, the car was never properly sorted and failed to create much impact on the track. Though driven by the likes of Ken Miles, Bobdurand and Phil Hill, CSX3002 never produced any stunning results. Yet in fairness, it should be pointed out that later entries by private teams proved successful over the next few years. Shelby America entered 3002 in several USRRC and SCCA events, but the 427 never saw action in Europe with factory support. Without the time to correctly develop the car, it was retied from the works roster after the 1965 season. After many owners, the car today is part of the Shelby Collection in Boulder , Colorido. There is much more to the 427 story, but we are here to only deal with this one replica. ![]() Our fine friends at Kyosho has seen fit to give us all the opportunity of 427 ownership! This casting is nicely proportioned and well detailed. The wheels are worth the price of admission alone, though the black pipes annoy me to no end, they should have been white for this release. But that aside, I still give this two thumbs up. Nice Job Kyosho. These same three castings appear a total of 3 times each in this release, but with different liveries. I was lucky enough to split an order with Swifty and take the three racing replicas for my part. I am not only glad I did, I’m very pleased for it to be these three in particular. As always, thanks for the read and hope you enjoy wasting a little time on my post. Ward |
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| bunkerjim | Feb 6 2011, 12:51 AM Post #2 |
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Station Wagon
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Good read Ward and some nice looking cars.. I really like that C5-R Vette.. |
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| diecastdingo | Feb 6 2011, 12:59 AM Post #3 |
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Minivan
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Gulf GT40 - just terrific. |
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| Swifty | Feb 6 2011, 02:40 AM Post #4 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Seeing these pictures, I am kicking myself for letting the GT and Cobra slip through my fingers. Beautiful cars! Ward had a shot at the Cobra coupe and passed, and I ended up with it. Believe it or not, I'm really glad I got it (I offered it to Ward first knowing he likes the vintage racers and whil it was not in any racing livery, it was still intended for the track) because it ended up being my favorite of the six cars I received. Kyoshos do not disappoint! |
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| 69Stang | Feb 6 2011, 12:49 PM Post #5 |
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Station Wagon
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Yep, the Coupe is the only regret I have. What a GREAT casting that is, I looked at it for a long time just wishing it was mine! Did you enjoy the other cars? |
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| STUTZ | Feb 6 2011, 01:09 PM Post #6 |
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Diecast junkie
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AWESOME models Ward! |
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| Swifty | Feb 6 2011, 03:30 PM Post #7 |
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Oh yes! I really wanted the blue Challenger though, The black one really doesn't move me at all. |
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| DaWeber | Feb 6 2011, 04:30 PM Post #8 |
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Station Wagon
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Ifanyone is interested, I may be able to track down some of these Kyoshos. But, I don't want to do it until I know there is some interest (?) But beware, the price s will be higher now , I am sure. If interested , contact me at web127@verizon.net and I will research cost and availability further. |
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| bunkerjim | Feb 6 2011, 07:40 PM Post #9 |
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Station Wagon
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Dave I think I could make some room for a few examples... I'll be dropping you line shortly about some other things also... |
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