A Ferrari to Remember

[Lunajammer]

With all due respect to Faust (Adam Rehorn) I didn't want to hijack his MPC Rainbow thread, but I was compelled speak in favor of the Ferrari Rainbow concept car. The Airfix kit is crisp and precise and it's more proportionally correct. The MPC issue is grossly disproportionate, they're not the same mold.

The 1976 Ferrari Rainbow is a product of the legendary Bertone styling house. It foretold the angular styling that followed through the 80's and it's styling contribution to the Lamborghini Countach is recognizable.

It's called the Rainbow because the hard top could be flipped up and slid down vertically behind the cockpit making it a rain or shine car. 3-litre, mid-engine V8.

The Airfix kit is a curbside with no engine. There is a battery box and suggestions that it used to motorized.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Lunajammer

[Edsel-Dan]

Definitely different than the MPC kit I built way back when!!

[Lunajammer]

Edited May 3, 2013 by Lunajammer

[Lunajammer]

[Lunajammer]

It was originally unveiled by Bertone in white, which this kit represents.

However after it's initial impact, the studio jazzed it up with blue.

The core mechanicals under the body is a Ferrari 308 GT which is why it keeps that designation. It still resides in the Bertone studio.

[robertw]

If Magnum had driven this 308 the show wouldn't have lasted the first year.

[Lunajammer]

It's sort of, Sonny Crocket meets Blade Runner.

[Monty]

If Magnum had driven this 308 the show wouldn't have lasted the first year.

Somewhere in a cheap museum, the K.I.T.T. car snickers.

[W-Machine]

I'm astonished. A Ferrari that ugly was actually kitted TWICE? I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. The photo with the woman in the faux racing outfit wearing those weirdo silver space boots is NOT helping.

[58 Impala]

Now the similarity between this car and the Fiat X19 makes sense, Bertone designed both.

[Austin T]

It'd make a cool hover car...

[Jantrix]

Just imagine what Ira would do to this.

[Faust]

Oh my God!!

You're right, it's a totally different kit!! Why, oh God why, would anyone kit this once, let alone twice??

Thanks, too, Lunajammer, for not highjacking the other thread, but it would have been fine. It's exciting, if not repulsive, to see another kit of this tihng. The terrible part is that it's an Airfix that's better than an MPC!! WTF?

It does look like they got the proportioning a lot more correct, though. Makes me wonder if there is a secret society that was trying to sabotage Bertone's efforts... Oh, wait, that just happens on its own with the real car, doesn't it?

Thanks for the pics of the Airfix one. Now I think I want to get it, too! Then I can make my MPC into a hover car, or better yet, a hover Technical, with a machine gun on the co-pilot's side!

[slantasaurus]

Its very strange that the Airfix and MPC kits are totally different seeing how Airfix reissued several other MPC toolings in their own box.

[Paul H]

As well as producing their own products, Airfix reboxed kits from quite a few different manufacturers, It may be that this tooling is originally from somewhere else, e.g Heller, or possibly a Japanese manufacturer.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Paul H

[jaymcminn]

Hmmm, I wonder if the full detail Revell Magnum 308 could be used as a parts donor for this? It would be an interesting model to go on the shelf next to the Lancia Stratos and Lamborghini Countach.

[Lunajammer]

Hmmm, I wonder if the full detail Revell Magnum 308 could be used as a parts donor for this? It would be an interesting model to go on the shelf next to the Lancia Stratos and Lamborghini Countach.

Now that's a very intriguing thought. Maybe this won't be such a quick build after all.

Thanks also 58Impala, I didn't know the Fiat X19 was Bertone styled but the similarities are undeniable. That line up could make an interesting shelf study.

Faust, the Rainbow's a face only a mother could love, but suckers like you and I grab these things because they're too "out there" to turn away. This sat on the far shelf of a hobby shop for a couple years before it finally spoke to me when I realized that's the only place I'd ever seen one. They're even scarce on ebay.

[edward smith]

One ugly car!

[topher5150]

looks like the guys who designed the MR-2, and the Fiero were hired by Ferrari

[Faust]

Thing is, the MR-2 and Fierro were a lot more streamlined that that thing!

They're both wedgy, true, but the Rainbow looks like a future armoured car, or even some kind of weird spaceship.

Good to know, though, that no matter who does it or when, pop-up-headlights ALWAYS suck.

[Craig Irwin]

The 1976 Ferrari Rainbow is a product of the legendary Bertone styling house. It foretold the angular styling that followed through the 80's and it's styling contribution to the Lamborghini Countach is recognizable.

Althoe both were from Bertone the Countach was from 1974, so it may have been the other way around. Personaly I see more FIAT X-19 here than anything else.

[sjordan2]

Bertone did many stunning cars, and here he is with my favorite, the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo. Too bad there isn't a kit.

[Casey]

Wow, the molds for this kit really got around.

[A.R.C.]

That Alfa Carabo is downright sexy, the Rainbow..... not soo much.

When you look at the Alfa you sure can tell what Jerry Weigart ripped off when he designed his Vector.

[1959scudetto]

Bertone did many stunning cars, and here he is with my favorite, the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo. Too bad there isn't a kit.

Skip, you are definitely right - until then the old politoys 1/25 has to fill the gap:

I know it has some errors, but altogether it is not bad considering its age (ca. 1969/1970) and that it is intended to be a toy,

With some careful detailing and repainting one can turn it into a nice unique model

(also on my to-do-list)