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A series of (3) new roadster were produced in early ’63 to add to the Shelby Team stable to compete in the USRRC. The cars were chassis numbers CSX 2127, 2128 and 2129. The cars were each built to the same spec. with 2127 and 2128 painted black and 2129 painted red. The rear wheel openings were enlarged and additional fairing installed to fit the racing rubber chosen. CSX2127 and 2128 had the driver’s door notched to allow for additional elbow clearance like other early racing Cobras. The Sebring cars ran a larger scoop. I reshaped the hood from the Revellogram 427 Cobra to fit the AMT body. The AMT hood is shown for comparison.

Watch Speed Racer religiously after school. Nice build.

Nice trading with you too Allen Wrench.

Good trade with gardnerpag44, thanks Paul.

That's my take as well Mike. I think Ross would certainly move F1 forward. Bernie want so much control over F1's content that the sport has a difficult time attracting new fans. In addition Bernie's push for every increasing licensing fees is pushing a lot of the great traditional tracks out of the sport. Bernie has said holding an F1 race is the equivalent for the host city/country getting the Olympics (!!) He doesn't expect that a race promoter can actual make money on the event. He expects governments to subsidize the costs.

http://www.espn.co.uk/video/clip?id=18418077

Went to see Mr. HRM today hoping I could convince him to cast my GT40 wheels and he has agreed. To my surprise however he also wants to cast the body. Not sure if he plans to offer it as a kit or just wants a copy for himself. Either way there will be some down time until I get my kit back. Stay tuned.

I did notice that. It may have been done to optimize the position of the driving lights. The cars had to be street legal to compete in the TdF, they drove from stage to stage on public roads during the event. Therefore even when the driving lights were mounted the turn signals would have to be visible. Bob Bondurant tells a story of pulling into a gas station in a Daytona Coupe during the event. He didn't have any money and the station owner was yelling at him. He couldn't understand a word because the guy was French. He finished filling up and handed the guy the nozzle and blasted off. He sent a team member back later to pay for the gas.

Looks good Steve.

Nice build but a Chevy pulling a Mustang just feels wrong.

AMT's '60 Ford Starliner has a nice 352, not sure if it's the same block as the 390. AMT's '66 Fairlane GT has a 390 if I am remembering correctly. Two options you may want to check out.

Hillclimbs are all about acceleration, point and shoot corner to corner, aerodynamics not so much, so I suspect they removed the roof to reduce weight. Sure makes for a crazy looking car though. Thanks again for your help it is greatly appreciated.

This look like such a great kit. Curious why Monogram never scaled this up to 1/25.

Half the Ford Team gone after Stage 2. http://www.fordatdakar.com/blog/98-high-speed-second-stage-crash-forces-pons-to-retire-his-dmas-south-racing-ford-ranger-from-dakar-rally.html

Great photos Tom do you have anymore? Do you know if the car was painted red?

All the completed build are my friend's. The four in primer pointing away from the camera on the far end are mine.

I didn't think I could do this level of mods either Joe. A few years back I decided I would try and surprised myself. You will make mistakes, at least I did, but you don't have to show anyone the screw ups. Just show the good stuff.

Thanks Mike. A friend of mine is working on the Flip-Top (it's the unpainted body sitting in front of the row of Cobras). He started with the Revell/Monogram 427 and I agree that a 427 body would be a better starting point. And yes the car originally ran an experimental aluminium block 390. At the Nassau Speed Week in '64 it ran away from a pair of Corvette Grand Sports a couple of GT40 and various Ferrari 250 GTOs and 250LMs. Unfortunately the engine blew and the car didn't finish or it would have literally won by miles.

I'll never own a 1:1 but I can have a multi-million dollar collection in scale.

Your project is off the great start Mitch, I'll be following for sure.

Thanks Tom. The restored car certainly is a looker and I see what you mean regarding the door opening extending into the rear flare. If Mr. Meyer's has any information on the '64 Tdf car (or any race it competed in with the hardtop) I would love to have it.

Coming along nicely Misha.

Nice build John. Those replacement tires really improve the look of the stock kit.

Valtteri Bottas visited Mercedes factory before Christmas Valtteri Bottas visited the Mercedes factory before Christmas, giving the firmest indication yet that he is set to fill Nico Rosberg's vacant seat. Bottas has emerged as the frontrunner to replace the retired 2016 world champion, with Williams agreeing a deal to bring back Felipe Massa before Christmas to take the Finn's seat. Mercedes has delayed an announcement until January 3 at the earliest but, according to a Motorsport.com report, Bottas visited the factory in the days leading up to December 25. The report suggests Bottas visited the factory to try out the cockpit of the team's 2017 car and to help plan his seating position, as well as running through technical preparations with the engineers he could work with next year. It suggests Mercedes is already preparing for life with Bottas for the new campaign. The confirmation of who will partner Lewis Hamilton would likely lead to the other pieces of the driver puzzle falling into place, as Sauber stalled talks with Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein after Rosberg's announcement. Wehrlein's limited F1 experience, which tallies as just 21 races with Manor last year, likely counted against him when Mercedes was considering Rosberg's replacement. Manor remains the only other team with empty seats, though is unlikely to confirm drivers until nearer to winter testing.

CSX2001's unique roll bar. Not perfectly symmetrical but neither am I. Here is a shot with the roll bar inside the car, sorry my camera isn't the best.