102 replies to this topic

[Russkid]

1) Any mention here of the later version of the 1/32 Cooper with the rounded flared wheel wells?

2) Dokk, I have had that 1/24 McLaren vac-bodied kit of yours in my hands as you know.

[Russkid]

Also, how about 1/32 Chaparral?

[Vay Jonynas]

Any mention here of the later version of the 1/32 Cooper with the rounded flared wheel wells?

Perhaps Monogram had to enlarge the wheel wells beyond scale when the company went to racing slicks with the advent of the kits in the white boxes.

Also, how about 1/32 Chaparral?

I don't know that Monogram produced a 1/32 scale kit of a Chaparral.

[TSR]

The 1/32 scale Chaparral 2 was only made as a RTR "set" car, sold as a RTR inside racing sets and separately inside a clear-plastic box with a red and white tag, as all the other "set" cars, the Lola T70, Ferrari 330P/LM, Lotus 33, and Ferrari 158. The Chaparal received only the late aluminum chassis with the moving guide as did the T70.
The body mold was recently refurbished to be used first by MRRC, then by Monogram themselves with that ugly MRRC chassis pile.
The Series 2 Cooper had its mold changd to the open fenders to fit the racing slicks that otherwise would not have cleared the body. It was produced as a slot car kit as well as a static kit, and there are two distinct body colors: metallic dark blue and medium solid blue, the last being specially scarce. Again, the mold was recently refurbished.

The 1/24 scale McLaren-Elva KIT with the vac body is the rarest of all Monogram slot car products, while the RTR version is also scarce, but nowhere near that of the kit.
The GREEN "Assassin" is the rarest of the vacuum-formed Monogram thingies.

Now if you THINK that you have seen all the Monogram cars and kits and all the versions, be ready for a little surprise as we just found a THIRD version of a Series 2 Cooper-Ford...

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

I had thought for years that the last issue flared-fender 1/32 Cooper-Ford "Cobra" was just wrong.

The first version of the body wasn't accurate for a few reasons. Among other things it was presented as the '63 car driven by Dave McDonald at the LA Times Grand Prix. I had seen that race, and the configuration of the car was different from the model by having the larger transaxle sticking out of the rear of the body. You could dress up the issue to represent a different car, but not the McDonald car.

I mentioned this to John Robinson at MRRC, and they chose to add a transaxle case to the re-issue, still a little small.

Anyway, in '64 all the cars got modified with larger rear fenders, bulged to the side and a little taller as well. As far as I can remember, no one did that version except the '64 issue in 1/24 by Du-Bro.

By '65, the time the flared kit version came out, the car was obsolete, but the runners were all bulged fenders as well.

But I was WRONG.

Some decades ago I acquired a tape of the '65 Nassau race. I saw the team that had been running the Scarab in USRRC as "the Purple People-Eater" (also previously a Vette). The same team was now running a earlier Cooper/ford with the small fenders and the flares JUST LIKE THE MONOGRAM SERIES THREE ISSUE!

I have the body.

This was the reissue I most anticipated. Bought six of the reissues so far, but they are mostly going to be donors. In the day, I never ran the Monogram stock. I bought the bodies and used the Atlas 208 frame and motor with the add-on pieces to let it bolt into the body for our club "stock" class. The body then and now is very fragile; I have spent a lot of money on buying and buying new replacement bodies. The old ones commonly shattered in crashes.

Fate

[TSR]

Rocky,

I wish that you could have driven the little prototype I built to test the chassis design I sold to Monogram for the Cooper, Chaparral, and Porsche 904. It handled like a D3 car. I am so sorry for all hobbyists and enthusiasts that they preferred to take the cheap route...

Indeed there were a few Cooper-Monacos that later were chopped to fit wider tires.

[idare2bdul]

I never cease to be amazed at Dokk's encyclopedic knowledge of slot cars. It's sad in a way that someone who writes a book about stamps or coins gets more respect than someone who chronicles our hobby.

For a time the US had more slot racers than skiers. I wonder how many people got into the automotive field or pursued automotive hobbies after being a slot racer?

[Russkid]

I have the second version slot kit of the Cooper in dark blue and a mint unbuilt static kit of the 1/32 Cooper
in the medium solid blue color - each with the rounded rear wheel openings.

[TSR]

Actually Bob, the "second" issue is more like #5 or 6 with all the variations!

[Russkid]

That's true. The medium blue is a neat color. Wonder if I should build it up.
Got a gold assasin, red and yellow vamps, gold and green snakes, two mint red vac mclarens, etc.
Think I might have a blue vac Ford GT also, not sure. Need more.

[TSR]

Pretty cool!

Here is a pic of both versions of the "Series 2" Cooper-Ford at the museum:

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

P, you COULD send me the drawings of the supercar and I could build one!

If, as usual, you used sheet plastic, I suspect I could run it in the local club races by arguing that it is a plastic PROTOTYPE for monogram. Rattle their cages!

Grin.

I have seen 5 versions of the body

Metallic Blue, plain blue, metallic blue with flairs, plain blue with flares and metallic purple with flares.

I only saw one of the purples, and it botherd me a lot as I hadn't see the footage from Nassau when I owned it, ran it and broke it! Now, realizing how rare it was, I would love to still have it just to show to others.

That is the cool part of Scott's effort to my mind, that so many of these things we never saw will be on display.

While I disparage the cheap chassis, I have bought 6 of the current monograms for the simple reason that the whole car is cheaper than the NOS bodies, and It doesn't bother me to break them!

One project for the futre is doing the "bat tailed" version that Penske drove once.

But, at heart, I have a 7 or 8 originals, though only one in the box, buying the new ones so cheaply allows me to cheaply and easily do the conversions I wanted.

Fate

[BWA]

Before Monogram reconfigured the mold back from flared fenders to closed ones, Andy Smith had them run off a thousand of them for himself while still in the flared fender configuration.

Not sure what is happening with those, I don't see them anywhere on his site.

[Vay Jonynas]

Here's the latest addition to my collection of Monogram M.I.B. kits:

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[TSR]

Nice Series 2 kit...

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Hey I think I have one of these but it's not in the box.... what is it worth? My bet is ..... No wait it got a big block in it?

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[TSR]

Barney, loose built cars for collectors are like loose women: cheap.

Unless built by (pick one) Rick, Jairus, Jean-Michel or God Himself. And He does not discount either...

[slotcarcol]

Hello Philippe,

Speaking of Monogram, would you happen to know if there were different versions of the two small 1/32 Ferrari and Lotus F1 cars?

I have been doing some work on these recently, and in regards to the fitting of the fragile windscreen to the cars, some bodies I have seen have four locating holes around the cockpit and some don't. Very confusing...

Was there perhaps an early and late version of the cars or something and the molds were changed? Or, is this a difference that exists between the slot kit bodies and the model kit version of the cars? Who knows??

Many thanks,
Col.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

Saw the F1s in kits with brass chassis, and "set" cars with plastic shassis and a pin.

Fate

[TSR]

Col,
There were THREE versions of the kits, plus the RTR racing set car with plastic chassis as Rocky justly pointed out.
The different versions will be clearly illustrated in the upcoming book, which someone high-up has promised me to let me finish as soon as I myself complete a little project.

[sportblazer350]

the new book.....i have been waiting and waiting for it's release......and an autographed copy!!!!!! ..........maybe even a name drop somewhere in it......... ...........i wonder where????? maybe a nod to the C.A.R.S. vintage slot car club, one of the few that keeps 1960s slot car racing alive!!!

[Pete L.]

Glenn,




here, here...

[Vay Jonynas]

The different versions will be clearly illustrated in the upcoming book, which someone high-up has promised me to let me finish as soon as I myself complete a little project.

Well, you can sell one of those to me for sure whenever it's ready!



Which of those two 1/32 Cooper Fords is tougher to find, and how do they compare to the 1/32 scale Ferrari 330P/LM, Ford GT and Lola GT in the white boxes in terms of scarcity?

Here are my two latest acquisitions, both of which I believe rank among the tougher Monogram M.I.B. slot car kits to find:

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[Vay Jonynas]

As a general point I've found that in the coloured boxes that Monogram used initially, the stock cars (Duesenberg, 1934 Ford Coupe, 1956 Chevy, etc) are much tougher to find than the sports prototypes (Ferrari, Porsche, Scarab, etc). In the white boxes, the 1/32 scale kits are much more scarce than are the 1/24 scale kits.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

I have lots of the coopers and ferraris.....Loved them in the day. None are NOS, none are stock, all have been races A LOT.

As a pro-racer in the 60s, a couple of us started the local 1/32 club with a specific class for THESE CARS. Good times!

Several of mine have the Atlas frame conversion in them and run pitttman and atlas open frame motors.

With the recent issues, I bought MORE. some of them, the ones with good copies of the original bodies are donors for older cars.

Your collectables are getting more collectable every day!

Fate