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This model was intended to be a quick build to participate in the Theme class at the Spirit of Speed Model Contest held at the NHRA Museum last Sunday, November 4th. I have a hard time building for contest themes because I am usually heavily involved in some long term build, and just don't usually have time to build for them. But in this case, I had some time, and had a kit and an idea I had kicked around for a while, "What would Speed Racer's Mach V look like if it were a real race car and not a cartoon?". Well, I thought I would find out! I decided to make it period correct with details on the race cars around the mod to late sixties, also when the series was first running. Details and styling cues were borrowed from the GT 40, of course, as well as the Lola T70 and 427 Cobras. I started with the Polar Lights 1/25 scale kit (which actually looks a little smaller), and had some HRM GT-40 wheels and tires I got from my friend Randy Ditton at Mode Builder's Warehouse (www.modelbuilderswh.com). I had to open up the rear wheel wells and add flares to fit the tires, but the fronts fit right in. I also decided to flip the headlights over, since no real race cars had them on the underside at the time. I thought about making it rear-engined, but the proprtions were off to be able to do that, so I scribed a hood, added a hood scoop, and side pipes to represent the engine being up front. I added a roll bar and re-did the interior, and added Pro Tech accessories for the windshield nuts and spoiler bolts, hood pins, and fuel cap (available at scaleproshop.com). See the WIP HERE Hope you like it, and thanks for looking!

The upcoming Spirit of Speed model show at the NHRA museum this November has a Movie/TV theme class, so it inspired me to throw something together. I’m going to do a “What if Speed Racer’s Mach V was a real car?” So I am converting the Polar Lights kit to a realistic period-inspired race car. I’ll be borrowing style elements from Shelby Cobra, Ford GT40, and Lola T70 references from about the time the cartoon was first out. First thing I did was flip the headlights over, and open up the rear wheel wells to fit a set of GT40 wheels from Historic Racing Miniatures I got from my good friend Randy at www.modelbuilderswh.com.