1959scudetto

Don't know how I could miss this excellent GT 40 build !

Fresh from the Italian newsstand Hachette Abarth series (1/24, made by Ixo): model represents the 2nd place car (sports car class winner) at the 1969 Trento-Bondone race (European hillclimb championship) driven by (then worksdriver) Arturo Merzario. I only added the rear number, license plate and the Abarth letters on the front (all from the superb decalsheet by Tiptoys/Italy) : The next picture shows the new model together with 2 old 1/25 scale very heavy die-cast toys from ca. 1969 (made in Italy by Politoys: everything opens, wheels steer, working suspensions wiith spiral springs). They represent the 1968 model year (without front spoilers): # 94 was a junker, missing rollbar, wiper and side windows - I added these from the scrapbox and installed 4 headlight lenses - car has been repainted and some typical decals from the era added (no specific car) # 7 was in almost mint condition - I only removed its ugly vinyl stickers, cleaned it and added race numbers from an old UMi decal sheet - works driver Johannes Ortner was runner-up at the 500 km Nürburgring 1968 (European 2 ltr. sportscar championship), this time with a 1600 cc - 4 cyl. engine: this was a 1 - 2 - 3 for Abarth: Peter Schetty 1. - Johannes Ortner 2. - Arturo Merzario 3. On to the pics:

Very nice model, Tim ! I have the same though I had to replace both bumpers, wipers and shifter (was a junker, parts were all missing), but who can complain for about € 10,00? Unfortunately, the roof is missing which shows off the fixing holes in the body.

VERY nice - I love it !

Excellent photo, Mark ! Those wheels and the side scoops make the difference !

Outstanding model - super scratchbuilding and flawless paint ! Simply fantastic !

Very well done needle-nose Pete (my favorite American trucks) !

Very convincing fleet truck, Brian - looks exactly like the workhorses in my truck books (or on the former Hank Suderman website)

Excellent - what Lucas said: nobody would guess that this started as a snap-kit.

Before Jason printed these wheels for me, I thought of making a mold from the spare wheel (as it is without its chrome wheel cover) and casting the rims needed for this conversion.

I will use them with the kit tires (Fujimi 330 P 4)

Hey Marco, you did a lot of efforts here to find out about the original colors. My approach was more pragmatic here: I searched the web for color pics of the real cars (difficult enough !) and tried to approximate these colors using different Tamiya spray cans.

The kit is out now - several German dealers have it for sale (just saw it on ebay Germany) - here is a link to the Heller website: https://heller.fr/en/products/peugeot-205-gti?srsltid=AfmBOooF_XBKXokHXAa9-lDUzEMLE716ryU6Q2K4XhrV8V_wSgajBdC9

Here is a link to the Ferrari chat forum - page 30 on the Carrera Panamericana thread - you have to scroll down to the lower part of the page to find the answer (and on page 31): https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/carrera-panamericana-mexico.37433/page-30 Maybe you can't see the pictures here if you have not registered yourself. Tom Tanner had sent me the decals, and when I learned that he has a revised version (with additional decals) available, I ordered it also and got a second update for my first order, too. This included numbers in new colors and also the lettering below the Bull logo. The decals are of top quality, but colors and size is not always correct. BTW, I did a WIP here showing the decals and my paint versions:

Interesting read, Marco. I had no problem with him but my last order dates from May 2025. I am just preparing a new order that I wanted to send him next week. Last year I have made some proposals that he is also selling in his range of wheels (Ferari 275 GTB/4, Ferrari 412 P aka 330 P3/4, Dino 246 Campagnolo). We will see what happens...