mgarciah Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 (edited) Hi, Im new in the forum, I love all kinds of models, static and remote controlled, Im 47, about 30 or 35 years ago I received from my father the best plastic model I've ever saw, it was a full working car without panels, including motor, gear box, axles, wheels, brakes, it even had a pump activated by the brake pedal to apply full working brakes via plastic hoses, it used water for the pump, the gear box has reverse and 4 forward speeds, you can change the speeds and see all the pinions moving inside the gear box, sadly I lost it many years ago, now there is a 8V plastic engine from Revel which is almost identical to the one that I had on that car, but this kit is only the engine. As far as I can remember it used 2 D batteries to move the engine and of course if you engage any gear you can see all the parts moving, from the engine all the way to the tires, it was around 3 or 4 feet long, anyone here knows or hear something like this before, it will be great to know if some company still produce it. Edited March 23, 2014 by mgarciah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Renwal Visible Automobile Chassis, You could buy the engine to make the whole thing. The Chassis is on EBAY now for 1500.00 buy it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas1957 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Revell bought the Renwal tooling years ago, that's why we still have the engine. Don't know if the Visible Chassis still exists or not. It would probably be a big gamble for them to reissue it. That's a LOT of plastic. Like Andy said unbuilt originals go for serious money. I sold one in the '80s for a fraction of what they are going for now, sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7000in5th Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Welcome to the forum. Always good to hear from a fellow modeler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I happen to have both the chassis and the engine-----both have been started though. I don't know if I'll ever get around to building/finishing it as it takes up a LOT of space. I've seen the crazy prices that these are getting on eBay, and it's tempting to simply unload it there. We'll see.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pharoah Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Welcome to the forum! I saw a post about these chassis kits a while ago. They said that Renwal was notorious for leaving small pieces out of the kit. So be careful if you buy one,it may not be complete. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 Charger Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I happen to have both the chassis and the engine-----both have been started though. I don't know if I'll ever get around to building/finishing it as it takes up a LOT of space. I've seen the crazy prices that these are getting on eBay, and it's tempting to simply unload it there. We'll see.............. Bill you should build it and put on the site for us all to see. Ive never herd of one so it would be great to see one built by a tallented builder like yourself !........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 (edited) Welcome to the forum! I saw a post about these chassis kits a while ago. They said that Renwal was notorious for leaving small pieces out of the kit. So be careful if you buy one,it may not be complete. Good luck! This thing is so enormous that scratchbuilding whatever would be needed shouldn't be a problem! I mean this thing can literally take up your entire coffee table! Bill you should build it and put on the site for us all to see. Ive never herd of one so it would be great to see one built by a tallented builder like yourself !........ Hee-Hee, thanks for the compliment! Ahhhhh, but there's the rub...........Time to build it! It's almost Pocher like in its complexity, and I've so many other projects that I want to do. It would definitely be a very long, if not years long project! Stay tuned though as I have pics of one that was fully built and functioning. It was on eBay years ago, but I can't remember if it ever sold or not. Edited March 23, 2014 by MrObsessive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Ok, here are a few pics of the full built model. This isn't mine, but as I mentioned, one that was put on eBay back in 2007 as that's when I downloaded the pics from there. Very impressive, but seeing this doesn't give you a good perspective on how massive this kit is. If you click on the first pic, you'll be able to see the full boat of pics I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72 Charger Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Wow Thanks for that Bill, thats realy cool .I bet you could build a custom body for that no problem It sure is big isnt it what scale is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62rebel Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 looks like a Cadillac engine in a shortened '49-51 Ford chassis........ and it looks beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Wow Thanks for that Bill, thats realy cool .I bet you could build a custom body for that no problem It sure is big isnt it what scale is it? Well, I don't know about the "custom" body part. The box I have says 1/4 scale. In fact, mine was about done when I bought it, but it's falling apart now. I'd sooner take everything apart and start over. I've had it for the last 8-9 years now and heaven knows when I'd ever get around to re-building it. BTW, the engine I have for it is actually the Revell reissue from years ago. It too was started with only the pistons in the block moving and that's it. I'd just as well take that apart too and start over from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Time to build it! It's almost Pocher like in its complexity, and I've so many other projects that I want to do. It would definitely be a very long, if not years long project! Well, maybe if you weren't so obsessive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 BUILD IT!!! one of these built with "obsessive" attention to detail would be something! must have been 1/4 scale because they dwarf a monogram Big T. then a body would surely have to be conjured up... jb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my80malibu Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Years Ago, I was in an Antique toy store.They had a model like this, Assembled it had a body on it. I am 99% sure it was this same Kit, it was very large 1/4 scale size had working features like the Renwal. The only thing is. I have never seen a Body for those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Years Ago, I was in an Antique toy store.They had a model like this, Assembled it had a body on it. I am 99% sure it was this same Kit, it was very large 1/4 scale size had working features like the Renwal. The only thing is. I have never seen a Body for those? Simply put, Renwall never did do a body shell for the Visible Chassis. For just a bit of history: The Visible Chassis was pretty much a sales dog for Renwal--parents went nuts for the Visible V8 engine, but when it came to the chassis, not many kids had shelf-space in their rooms back then (That was the era of the 1,000-1,200 sq ft 3bdrm house with 3.5 kids, 2 parents, and a dog) Plus the much higher price probably turned off a lot of potential buyers. IIRC it was at least double the price of the V8. Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greymack Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Well that sure is some amazing model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychographic Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Years Ago, I was in an Antique toy store.They had a model like this, Assembled it had a body on it. I am 99% sure it was this same Kit, it was very large 1/4 scale size had working features like the Renwal. The only thing is. I have never seen a Body for those? Maybe it was a 1/4 scale RC body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 In the 1971 Sears Wish Book, the V8 is $9.85 and the chassis is an additional $16.99. So the entire thing was $26.84 which was a lot of money back then. No wonder I only got the engine! In comparison you could've gotten the Testors gas powered dune buggy for $12.99 and Mattel Vac-u-form was on sale for $6.99 Back then I was 12 and had no idea how big 1/4 scale really was. The catalog doesn't state scale, just saying that the chassis is over three feet long. In my mind, if I got both, I'd have a running car that I could drive around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disabled modeler Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I think I have some parts for the chassis here I found in a box of old stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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