9 replies to this topic

[Mr. Dynamic]

Just completed this all-'60s, semi-pro racer around a vintage Champion nickel wire inline chassis and stock 26D motor.

I made the upper suspension A-arms from a single piece of flat brass stock which has two 90 degree bends on each side to follow the chassis/axle contours, providing extra strength as well as a bottom shelf to accept weight as needed. Shaped the triangles, flowed solder over the brass and polished with steel wool while still hot. Riggen 1/16" mini pinhole fronts complete the effect. Added brass L-gussets on top of the two longerons for a stronger join with the motor mount. Surprise - this lovely, made-in-Japan chassis marketed by Champion in the '60s can also accommodate a modern D3 motor mounted edgewise. Talk about thinkin' ahead!

The body is my favorite, so no effort spared in detailing: Pactra butyrate '66 Ferrari 312 F1, in homage to Lorenzo Bandini (or Nino Barlini from "Grand Prix" if you prefer). Just waiting for a Cox guide; will demo Oct. 10 at the BPR D3 Retro F1 race.

'60s forever!

Bob Hackl

[TSR]

Nice!

Guides are on the way!

[Slotgeezer]

A tip of the builder's cap to my Team Zombie captain and teammate!

Very sano... Looking forward to driving this... albeit carefully!

Way to go, buddy!

Jeff Easterly

[Jairus]

Very, very nice piece! Three thumbs up.
Those black and white pictures showing Bandini's crash and burn (literally) published in Car and Driver still haunt me to this day. Saw them as a kid and to go down in a high performance machine like that is as close to losing a dog fight above London during the Blitzkrieg as I can even imagine.

Nice build and someday I hope to build just such a tribute.

[Mr. Dynamic]

Dear Jairus,

Thanks for your post. I was 13 when Bandini died - my first serious reality check (the real eye-opener being Clark the following year). Up to then I somehow figured the cool drivers were invulnerable. Here's a film clip of the accident taken from a rooftop straight down as it happened: . Hard to image there was a time when obstacles like the Monaco anti-parking pylons, trees, etc. were allowed within inches of the line (Road America actually had Armco barriers placed behind the trees). At least there was a greater purpose battling an Me109; so many of our racing heroes perished needlessly.

b

[TSR]

Those were very bad years. Today and with modern equipment, it is likely that Lorenzo Bandini would have not only survived but would have only experienced minor burns.
He was driving that gasoline bomb with no fuel cells (the gasoline directly into the aluminum tanks), wearing a cotton "Dunlop" driving suit (cotton is EXTREMELY flammable), leather gloves and shoes that melted on his hands and feet and a self-igniting helmet. And of course, no safety belts yet in most cars.
You can say anything you want about Jackie Stewart but he really helped change attitudes, and you can really thank a few of the more advanced safety-gear companies, especially the French one that introduced the multiple-layer flame-retardant suits and virtually all the now taken for granted improvements in personal safety gear.

[gascarnut]

A tip of the builder's cap to my Team Zombie captain and teammate!

Very sano... Looking forward to driving this... albeit carefully!

Way to go, buddy!

Jeff Easterly

Jeff,

There's a difference between "Mr Dynamic" (Jeff Bell) and "Mr. Dynamic" (Bob Hackl) - it's just a period, but seemingly that's enough for the software to decide that these are two different user names. I'm not sure Bob has much to do with Zombies, somehow......

[Pete L.]

Bob,

Really nice work !

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Thanks Bob for posting the links and the beautiful chassis! I bet you thought Jeff'E was going to eat 'yer brains!

Thanks ok Jeff'E we still love ya even if your loosing it like all the rest of us!

[Pablo]

SWEEEET !!!!!!!!!