[Top Down]

I'm not a collector, just a part time racer, although my hoard may give a different impression.   

I buy what I like the look of - unusual cars and 'off the wall' graphics, just to be different - and they've come together in this car. I originally spotted one quite some time ago but the odd few I'd chased on eBay were going for what I consider 'silly money', making me all the more determined to get one at a reasonable price. Patience paid off when this rather scruffy 'diamond in the rough' turned up on FB Marketplace. It was absolutely filthy - but appeared sound, so I took a chance and my offer was accepted. 

     

The same lack of care shown for the car was apparent in the posting. The car arrived rolled up in a flattened card six-pack wrapper, shoved in a recycled padded envelope. I feared the worst as that rear wing is fragile!! However the only damage was one rear view mirror, which appeared to be missing, although it was showing in the photo. Luckily I examined the wrapping and found it - complete with undamaged mounting post - in the bottom of the envelope.

The car was carefully stripped down to its component parts, thoroughly cleaned, mainly by giving all the plastic parts a long soak in warm water and washing up liquid, then gently  scrubbed with a soft toothbrush, being careful not to damage the Tampo printing. The parts were blotted dry with kitchen towel then the body and glass buffed with nothing more than a soft cotton handkerchief.  

The rear view mirror was reattached and the glass glued in place using a fine (000) brush and the capillary properties of Tamiya Extra Thin cement, the interior being attached to that with a thin bead of GS Hypo cement. 

While the latter set, the chassis was reassembled and the front and rear axles set up properly. (It arrived with the rear offset, so one wheel was inside the wheel arch whilst the one on the opposite side stuck out.) Up front the huge amount of side to side movement was taken up using some plastic spacers and finally the magnet was removed.

All four tyres are still to be trued but I'm absolutely delighted with the end result. With a little TLC the ugly duckling is now a little gem - at a quarter the eBay prices.