HELLO...(echo...) HELLO....(echo)

[mikevillena]

WOW....I like the NEW FORUM SMELL.......... :D

[mikevillena]

Anyway,

If SANTA is reading this, I'd like a CORRECT AND PROPER 1/12th scale 1961 Ferrari 156 with a 120 deg. V-6 that Ritchie Ginther drove. How about Steve McQueen's Mini-Cooper? How about a Brabham BT-46 "Fan car" or a Chapparal 2-D "Sucker" with the auxillary lawnmower engine? Or maybe a good "C" type Jag with Girling discs and Dunlop Lightweight wheels? How about a BRM H-16? Or that rare ATS Formula One car the Phil Hill drove one season after leaving Ferrari?

[mikevillena]

Is there anyone here?

[mikevillena]

I know, how about a whole series of overlooked SCCA cars? Like the evolution of FORMULA FORD? OR even FORMULA VEE? How about a nice "Giant Killer" Datsun 510 that Pete Brock drove to several SCCA Championships. Maybe even that tiny Lotus Super Seven that Peter Egan (R/T) drove (and humbled all the GT-1 Corvettes and Camaros) in a Midwest Council endurance race at Blackhawk Farm on his way to a class and overall win? (I was corner working that race at turn one).

[tec_41]

Dude, no offense but stop being a post wh0re. 26 posts a day isn't even funny...No there is no one here because no one knows about it.

[microrcdude]

Oh man i love SCCA! ive worked on championchip winning cars and all that stuff, SCCA is basically where i grew up.

[mikevillena]

Oh man i love SCCA! ive worked on championchip winning cars and all that stuff, SCCA is basically where i grew up.

Microdude,
Hey....that's cool man. Did you ever get a Comp license? I haven't been to that scene in almost twenty two years. Did you like my tips on scratchbuilding stuff? I hope there was some stuff there that you can use in your Micros. Later.

Mike V.

[Silent Night]

dude! those were amazing! I really want to get some time and money to do at least one of those things to my car... your work is amazing!

[mikevillena]

dude! those were amazing! I really want to get some time and money to do at least one of those things to my car... your work is amazing!

Thanks Silent Night! :D Hey, that was a good idea about the McLaren F-1 die-cast. How about a "Tribute" version of the diecast with Ayrton Senna's pics all over? With a profile of the McLaren Formula One car that he drove to the World Champsionship on the sides. I figure if the manufacturers can plaster "Spider Man" and other cool characters on their stuff, why not famous racing drivers? How about Phil Hill (1st American World Champ)? Or Villenueve on a Can-Am car with Canada Tire sponsorship? Man, I can keep going on... :D

Mike V.

[ahab]

I cant believe theres somebody else out there who appreciates Formula Vee! Thanks for the eye opener, Mike.

[mikevillena]

I cant believe theres somebody else out there who appreciates Formula Vee! Thanks for the eye opener, Mike.
Hey ahab,
Sure thing man....those ubiquitous formula vees and older (club fords) formula fords made racing at the club level very affordable to a lot of drivers out there. some have moved on to bigger and better race cars. My very,very short racing career (one and a half season) started out in a Formula Ford. :D

[mattb]

Hey guys,

Glad to see you have gotten rolling on this forum even before we got our act together and started promoting it and posting ourselves!

I can't figure why lots of SCCA diecasts haven't been made. The various formula cars would be great, especially if they did cars in the schemes of drivers who went on to bigger and better career achievements. Heck, Minichamps does the gocarts that Senna drove...

I think another boat (uh, car?) that's being missed are the production-based SCCA class cars. After all, the bodies are essentially the same -- the tooling costs would be minimal to repurpose the castings of the street versions and add racing wheels/tires, a stripped out interior etc.

A little more involved, but infinitely more marketable (thanks to TV coverage and big-name driving talent) is the SCCA Speed World Challenge. Currently, I know of only one die-cast from that series -- AUTOart's Caddy CTS-VR. AUTOart has a Viper Competition Coupe in the works as well, but right now it only has factory customer car graphics. Here's hoping they add some World Challenge schemes to the mix -- like Archer's championship-winning '04 car maybe?

Why there aren't fleets of these cars being done is beyond me. How tough would it be to convert Porsche GT3 RSRs and Porsche Cup cars (which a number of companies do)? You can't go into a hobby store without tripping over a die-cast Vette -- lets have a racing version please.

I can go on and on... What do you guys think? Is there a market for production-based sportscar racing in diecast?

Matt B.
Editor - DieCast X Magazine

[mikevillena]

Hey guys,

Glad to see you have gotten rolling on this forum even before we got our act together and started promoting it and posting ourselves!

I can't figure why lots of SCCA diecasts haven't been made. The various formula cars would be great, especially if they did cars in the schemes of drivers who went on to bigger and better career achievements. Heck, Minichamps does the gocarts that Senna drove...

I think another boat (uh, car?) that's being missed are the production-based SCCA class cars. After all, the bodies are essentially the same -- the tooling costs would be minimal to repurpose the castings of the street versions and add racing wheels/tires, a stripped out interior etc.

A little more involved, but infinitely more marketable (thanks to TV coverage and big-name driving talent) is the SCCA Speed World Challenge. Currently, I know of only one die-cast from that series -- AUTOart's Caddy CTS-VR. AUTOart has a Viper Competition Coupe in the works as well, but right now it only has factory customer car graphics. Here's hoping they add some World Challenge schemes to the mix -- like Archer's championship-winning '04 car maybe?

Why there aren't fleets of these cars being done is beyond me. How tough would it be to convert Porsche GT3 RSRs and Porsche Cup cars (which a number of companies do)? You can't go into a hobby store without tripping over a die-cast Vette -- lets have a racing version please.

I can go on and on... What do you guys think? Is there a market for production-based sportscar racing in diecast?

Matt B.
Editor - DieCast X Magazine


Hi Matt B.
Sorry, we crashed the gate a little prematurely (your bouncer was asleep at the door!). Nice to know that the big boys check out what the little guys have to say. About the only affordable racing diecasts available seem to be NASCAR stuff...... :( and many fans of sports car racing (here in America) are forced to turn to 1/24th scale plastic kits to satisfy their replica-lust. Understandably, the die-cast manufacturers go where the fan base is (read "money")so they are not likely to invest in tooling for esocteric and obscure stuff. I suppose they have left that field to small run resin casters who charge serious dollars for a simple resin kit. It is a sad situation. I would personally buy diecasts of any SCCA or Midwest Council race cars if they were available.

Mike Villena

[TraxxasJessica]

'64 Chevelle (for my dad) I'd like to see that.

[mattb]

'64 Chevelle (for my dad) I'd like to see that.

Jessica,

I don't know of any '64s off the top of my head, but there are a couple of good 1965's out there, and aside from some slight trim changes, the '65 is very similar to the '64.

Ertl/RC2 makes a cool '65 Chevelle Malibu SS396, and Lane Collectibles has '65 coupes and convertibles in their Exact Detail Replicas line.

Hope that helps...

Matt
Editor - Die Cast X Magazine

[TraxxasJessica]

He's a detal person. we have some '65's. '64 had a flat nose, '65 has a pointed nose. :(

[microrcdude]

Mike V, Did you ever get your award for being one of the first 10 people in these forums?

[TraxxasJessica]

Can't say as I have. :D

[mattb]

Jessica,

Obviously he (and you) know your Chevelles. '64 is tough -- the '65 is very popular for a couple of reasons. Most folks like the peaked grille better than the '64's flat one, but mainly the '65 is preferred because it was the first year for the SS396 big block option.

I'll keep a look out for a '64. If your dad is real serious, you might look into having someone custom modify one of the '65s to replicate a '64. someone could probably resin-cast a replacement grille etc.

good luck,
Matt