Lizard Racing

I too find myself becoming a bit pedantic about details only I would know about. I have to take a breath and ask myself: "Is this really fun?" I indulge detailing, but to a more limited degree. But this does not keep me from admiring the skill level required of those super-detailed projects. They are just amazing. Model on!!

I wanted to do something different in the racecar area. This car won the 1955 Mille Miglia, an open-road race down the west side of Italy and back up the east side. Driver was Stirling Moss, with Denis Jenkinson navigating. Jenkinson prepared course notes in advance and fed Moss directions as they went. Moss later said he completely trusted Jenkinson's directions: if the said a curve could be taken flat out, it was taken flat out. They averaged just under 100 mph for the 1000 miles. The photo is Sir Stirling Moss giving Jay Leno a ride at Laguna Seca, I believe. Notice the inboard drum brakes! There is lots of detail in the kit, but I experienced some fitment problems. I had to tweak and modify some parts to get the proper fit with the major assemblies. One oddity of the car: The engine is not only tilted to the right (to get a lower hood line), but also shifted to the left to keep it in the center of the car. This means the clutch pedal is on the left and the driver has to straddle the transmission to reach the gas and brake! '50s tech.

That's right! Elwood P. Dowd is my hero. Reality came calling and he said:"'No thanks." "Harvey transcends not only time and space, but any objections."

There are many from this movie, but here is one of the best: "Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it."

I have to add my amen to what has been said. If you start feeling bad, DON'T IGNORE SYMPTOMS!!! I just got out of hospital with congestive heart failure after ignoring symptoms for weeks.

and that's only 1/8 scale!!! What must the 1/1 be like? No plastic trim I'll wager.

Words with k's in them are funny. Alka Seltzer is a funny word. A funny aside to this great movie. this was the first movie George Burns made after Gracie died (another great loss), his first in 20 years. Producers were concerned that he would not be ready. He showed up on the first day of rehearsal not only with his part memorized, but everyone else's too. This led to a second career on screen and stage until he was 100 years old!

i don't remember the exact quote, but once Willie put a metal plate under his coat and Al had his finger in a bandage for a week. It was not unheard of for a team to do a routine 100,000 times, with six shows a day, seven days a week forever.

The Sunshine Boys. I highly recommend this movie just for the interaction between Burns and Matthau.

Lauda and Prost were thinkers. Drivers like Hunt and Senna relied on their abundant talent. I agree Rush is the best F1 or car racing movie ever. When I heard Ron Howard was going to make it, I knew it would be good. I remember the big crash in '76. There is no way he should have survived. Every safety feature of his car (and on him) failed. Brett Lunger waded into the inferno to pull him out. Lauda was so straight forward and to the point, people thought him cold and uncaring. He was once criticized for giving one of his trophies to a car wash. He said he knows what he did and didn't need a trophy to remind him. RIP Nicki

Dig the C1 Corvettes!!

I've just started a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR by Monogram. I am concerned about paint. I previously used Tamiya bare metal rattle can on a P-51, but some of the decals don't stick well. Would something like Testors silver work better? On the positive side, the car doesn't have many decals.

I always maintained that 1969 was about the last years we had decent cars. Most cars were simple and you could tune them with a screwdriver and a timing light; sometimes you didn't need the timing light. After 1970, the conflicting regulations of emissions and economy took over. It took the industry around 30 years to recover. Cars today are pretty good.

Now that he's gone, maybe he will be recognized for the comic genius he was.

She never made a bad movie.

I saw the 2D in another post and was inspired to try my own. I'm a Jim Hall fan from way back. The kit is the Monogram curbside/slot car body. The rear wheels were widened with a wheel half from the parts bag. Also from the bag is the SBC with carbs from another Chaparral kit (I can't remember which one). The rear number was a challenge. The kit decals have a white interior, so I had to make a duplicate on clear decal paper and cut to fit. Since this is the car as ran at Daytona, the oil cooler on the right fender had to be scratch-built. For reference, i highly recommend the book Chaparral by Falconer and Nye. The Chaparrals were backyard specials (really special) from Texas that took on the best in the world-and beat 'em!

Great build! That's a trick Chevy (and others) did in the '60s. The 409 and later 427 was an option on all full-size cars. It looks like an old grandma car until you jump on the gas.

Bell bottoms, bushy hair, sideburns and wild colors: I kind of miss that. But I don't miss the cars of the '70s; underpowered engines and fall-apart technology. Change is part of life.

good point! Any tariff attorneys out there?

One would think it's the real thing! Great looking display.

I liked the AMT double kits. There was Double Dragster, Lotus and Watson Indy cars and Ferrari P4 and Porsche 907. I wish i had some new ones again!

Just wait until the system gets hacked and see what happens.

Next could be an aging celebrity pushing reverse mortgages.

The exchange between Michael Corleone and the dirty cop McClusky. The Don Vito competitor thrown in. Michael came out blasting with the noisy gun "to get rid of all the pain in the ass innocent bystanders." Lots of memorable quotes in that flick.

I attended the GSL XXVII over the weekend. I picked up these three at the trade show. Always wanted a rick Mears Indy car. The NASCAR Lumina will be a chassis only display. I don't know what I will do with the Camaro yet.