10 replies to this topic

[don.siegel]

Maybe not...



Could've sworn I posted this one last night... but here it is again. My Russkit écurie, ready for the vintage race in Flanders this weekend...

Don

[Cheater]

Show 'em all your taillights in Flanders, Don!

[Hworth08]

Nice, real nice!

Is the brass (?) chassis on the right a Russkit product? I've never seen one that that.

[don.siegel]

Yep, and that's mainly why I posted this here - I never really knew about it at the time either...

It's the Super Spyder, which was a very short-lived line right before they introduced their Carrera sidewinders, and may have been sold concurrently as well. There was even a slightly earlier version without the brass outrigger, but with the brass drop arm. It had a brass tube through two holes in the chassis as a front mount, and another brass tube soldered on a small bracket at the back...

I'll try to post a scan of the catalog page when I get a chance, and if anybody else has these, please add them in! I've only seen the Porsche with this chassis, and my early Super Spyder is a McLaren.

Runs very nicely too, though probably not quite as fast as the Carrera...

[ShootinSparks]

Very interesting, Don... thanks for taking the time to post the photo.

It's obvious that chassis is a descendant of these two...
http://lascm.com/Slo...roducts_id=6280
http://lascm.com/Slo...roducts_id=6282

[Hworth08]

Learn something every day. I didn't know Russkit made that handsome frame.

The two cars sure make a nice team!

[don.siegel]

Not that odd you wouldn't know about them, Don. I didn't either and it seems that Russkit never really publicized this particular model of the Super Spyder series!

They Super Spyder is already mentioned in the 65-1/2 catalog, with a McLaren and Cooper body, but the chassis is the standard brass job with a stamped brass drop arm; the illustration doesn't show the brass tubes used for mounting...

Here's the page from the 66 catalog, which just adds the Porsche Carrera. Sounds like it's still the same chassis, from the subscription, without the nice stamped body mount... The first three Carrera series cars are already shown in this catalog. By the 67 catalog, there are only Carrera cars, no more Spyder, Super Spyder or Black Widow. Does anybody have any printed info on these later Super Spyder cars?

Don

[janj86]

i have one .. it is my second sold first on "cheap" ... is it a rare deal .. what is value?

[don.siegel]

.. it is my second sold first on "cheap" ..... 

 

Not too sure what you mean here Jan... maybe a period or a comma missing? 

 

These Super Spyder cars seem fairly rare and I don't think I've ever seen one MIB - but you'd have to check the LASCM site to see what they have. 

 

Because they're scarce, it's a little hard to give them a value, but probably $100 to $200 in good used condition without any packaging. Still, that's more based on what they were a few years ago, and they may be a little higher now. As the above shows, a lot of us weren't even aware that these things existed! 

 

Don 

[janj86]

thanks ... i have a pair just like you ,, the spyder i have is the second /// and the first one i sold but it went cheap like only 60 bucks .. this one is nicer and just could not part with it for 60 bucks ,, so just keep it  but know i know it is real deal ... !! //

[TSR]

The Spyder Series came at the same time as the Carrera Series, in the middle on 1966. The difference was that the Carrera Series cars were KITS, while the Spyder Series were RTR models. While the Carrera Series used the aluminum pan chassis with long aluminum stamped drop arm, the Spyder cars used the older stamped brass chassis as found in the earlier Cooper-Climax and Ferrari F1 RTR models fitted with a new aluminum drop arm anodized in gold color. The motors were the Russkit 23, as in the Carrera Series kits.
 

The first series had simple tubular body mounts using four pins, the back tubing set across the rear part of the body and held to the chassis by a screw. The bodies offered were vacuum formed, and were models of a 1963 Cooper-Climax T67, a 1964 McLaren-Elva and a 1965 Porsche 906, the same body used in the Carrera Series kit. All three were marketed in flimsy cardboard window boxes of which few have survived.Because of the lack of side support, most of the cars found today have their bodies deformed or punctured by their side body-mounting tubing, this being especially true of the McLaren-Elva.

 

In 1967, Russkit discontinued the Cooper and the Mclaren-Elva but re-introduced the Porsche, now with a one-piece gold-anodized aluminum body mount using the same wire clips as the Carrera Series cars, and the same as now used by... Parma for their RTR models. Recycling is never a dirty word. The Porsche was now offered in kit with a clear-plastic body or fully assembled and painted for export only, mostly to Italy for the Sticktoy brand, both in a clear-plastic box hardly larger than the bodies.

Hence they are more often found in Yurrup than the Good Ole USA.
 

No other model using that body bracket was ever produced by Russkit, but it is possible to mount any other Carrera Series body on that chassis except for the Lotus 40 that had a longer wheelbase. So beware of sellers representation, only the Porsche is genuine.

 

Today, the Cooper-Climax is by FAR the rarest in the series. Since collecting in the early 1990s, I have only seen one example boxed and in new condition. The McLaren-Elva and the Porsche are scarce but not rare.