DonW

Lovely. I had a bit of trouble with mating body and chassis on mine but it turned out OK in the end.

Hi Paul Welcome to the forum, it's an oasis of sanity, most of the time! -Don.

And it was styled by Italdesign Giugiaro and yet looks terrible, how did that happen? Next time can we have one with at least 400bhp please Harry!

We did, Harry! Good one, though! -Don.

It's a great build as ever Harry - but why are you using the (smaller and less powerful engine) from a Mercer raceabout in a Stutz? I hope this isn't a silly question and I certainly don't want to give offence! just interested.. -Don.

This is getting a little surreal... Cheers Wayne!

Well done Pete.To some car owners a Chevy Nova or a Ford Popular would be obscure. Depends where you're coming from I guess. it was certainly pretty obscure to me too!

If it was my 1:1 I'd put a battery on it! Don't want to wait for the starter truck every time... It's beautiful.

Hi Jairus No offence meant, the old aero engines are passion of mine too...! Anyway, I hope this build goes ahead in whatever shape or form.

Yeah, will it end with all the parts stripped and stuck back on the sprues, bagged up inside the sealed up box?

I don't know what the first piston engine to give over 2000hp was but the Rolls Royce 'R' type gave almost 2800hp in 1929, and the first Napier Sabre didn't exceed 2000hp until March 1938. Admittedly the 'R' type was a racing engine and the Sabre was intended for longer term use. From Wikipedia: The first Sabre engines were ready for testing in January 1938, although they were limited to 1,350 hp (1,000 kW). By March, they were already passing tests at 2,050 hp (1,500 kW), and by June 1940, when the Sabre passed the Air Ministry's 100-hour test, the first production versions were delivering 2,200 hp (1,640 kW) from their 2,238 cubic inch (37 litre) displacements The Rolls-Royce R was a British aero engine designed and built specifically for air racing purposes by Rolls-Royce Limited. Nineteen R engines were assembled in a limited production run between 1929 and 1931. Developed from the Rolls-Royce Buzzard, it was a 37-litre (2,240 cu in) capacity, supercharged V-12 capable of producing just under 2,800 horsepower (2,090 kW), and weighed 1,640 pounds (770 kg).

Lane hogs are a problem in the UK too. The law here is that the outside lane(s) are for overtaking only but a lot of people seem to stick in the middle lane regardless, turning a 3 lane highway into a 2 lane. And there are some who resent it when you flash your lights or blow your horn to get them to move over, giving rude hand signs or even braking hard then accelerating...

All pros so far then!

You could even use the cockpit assembly with the coupe shell over the top of it, drop the whole lot into a suitably strengthened rolling chassis... and also complete the 'plane as a kerbside air racer with a cut down very dark tinted Perspex canopy!

Better luck this time around! Does the planned engine match your 1:1?

PM sent! Not my cup of tea, this sort of jellymouldmobile, but fun to search for. Thanks.

I was wrong but I'm kind of glad it's real! So - where are the tyre valves?

Fifty-fifty! A real (or model) cliffhanger this time...

Hopefully not the smell too! (can you do scale model smells?) My old 325i was first owned by a meat buyer for Sainsbury's supermarket, it took years to lose the smell from the boot (trunk)! Lovely Dodge.

I was going to post a picture or a link to the Lindner/Nocker lightweight E-Type - but then I remembered this is about the Austin. On the other hand,,,

Club Cobra website has an interesting discussion on Halibrand vs. Trigos wheels - I quote: 'Rod-will the valve stems be inside the web like Trigo or outside like Halibrand? Does that mean what I think it does? Never heard of this idea before but it would explain why the valves aren't visible on the outside! Trigo is apparently a Halibrand lookalike wheel. I still think it's a model though.

Yeah, I bought a semi-space-framed BMW 2002 rally car from a guy near Belfast in the early '80s - the whole thing was a total adventure including driving down the Falls Road in the vendor's MGA (scary!), then being stopped by the army outside the city for a 'routine check', rifle barrel horribly close to my left ear... but a lovely country nonetheless. The car was a complete wreck but had two 45DCOE Webers and LSD and looked totally fantastic with huge fibreglass wheelarch extensions like the old factory racers. It had apparently won the Circuit of Ireland rally in 1973. I never did get it going. it was pretty much rotten throughout but it did lead me to meet some racers in the UK and got me into the sport and I ended up bartering the salvageable bits for work on my first racer. No regrets then. You have to follow your heart or else be forever wondering 'what if?' Hope this helps you make your mind up, I know what I'd do if I had the cash and space. But I'd get that heater sorted! -Don.

Thanks Mark. It's a new one on me. I'm glad you're not treating it like some sort of sacred cow (can I say that?). I like your plans...! -Don.

I think it's a very beautiful model of a fantastic car, especially with the Halibrands and that injector set-up. There's just a few little details that don't quite look real. I wouldn't be too surprised if I was wrong though!

I like this a lot. The only Airfix E-Type I know is the kerbside 1/32, can you tell me more about the donor kit you're using, please? Cheers, -Don.