Collecting Model Cars

Indy Car

It is a descriptive name for a type of open wheel cars that participate in the Indianapolis 500. The name is used in American Championship Car Racing. Some time ago the race cars were referred to as “Championship Cars” or a more ambiguous term “Big Cars”. The terms were used to separate them from the similar Sprint and Midgets which were also open-wheel cars. Somewhere along the way the name changed to “Indy Car” as a fundamental link to the Indianapolis 500 racing. Indy Car also separated the open-wheel car from others like the ones used in “Formula One” also.

Also IndyCar Series an open-wheel racing series sanctioned by the “Indy Racing League”.  The trademark IndyCar has been in use since 2003. A subsidiary of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation is the owner of the IndyCar trademark at this time and licenses its use to the Indy Racing League to be used in connection with the IndyCar Series.

Championship Auto Racing Teams a governing body adopted the name Indy Car World Series for the premiere open-wheel series in the United States. First registered by Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1992 the Indy Car trademark was licensed to CART from 1992-1997.

Back to Site Listing of All Model Cars and Kits!

De Lorean DMC-12

The De Lorean was not well received by the car buying public and automotive magazines kind of gave it the snub. The first vehicles had impressive waiting lists of anxious consumer’s. The sticker price of $25,000 was not in reach for the majority of the buyers. The general public considered it to be an under-powered and impractical toy. Road & Track labeled it as not a “not a barn burner" with a 0-60 mph time of 10.5 seconds. With sad numbers like that it was just not quick enough for a sports/GT car in this price category. The stainless steel body panels may have worked well for the “flux dispersal” and was an attractive design. Even the concept was impervious to corrosion. But in practice the surface tended to show fingerprints.

The cars could not be easily painted. The dealerships painted their cars on delivery to help make them more distinctive. De Lorean was testing the use of a translucent paint to provide different color options on the cars. This was to allow the stainless steel grain to show through. There was only one factory option initially available, and that was an automatic transmission. And somewhat later a grey interior was available, later in 1981 as an alternative to the standard black. Some other accessories including pin-striping and luggage racks appeared later for individuality.

The De Lorean DMC-12 made it to the list of one of the worst 50 cars ever produced. The car was too heavy and the 2.8 liter Peugeot V6 was just not enough power to push the over-priced car.

The Giugiaro-designed DMC-12 sure was cool looking, though. As of August of this year, a Texas company that controls the rights to the name announced it will build a small number of new DMC-12's. What do you think about that for time travel?

We have located a few collectable models of this very cool time machine to add to your collections.

Back to Site Listing of All Model Cars and Kits!

Ferrari 250 GTO

The Ferrari 250 GTO was intended and designed to compete in GT racing. The Chief engineer Giotto Bizzarrini put the 3.0 L V12 engine from the 250 Testa Rossa into the chassis from the 250 GT SWB and collaborated with designer Sergio Scaglietti to develop the body. Soon after Bizzarrini and most other Ferrari engineers were fired in a dispute with Enzo Ferrari, development was handed over to new engineer Mauro Forghieri, who worked with Scaglietti to continue development of the body. Wind tunnel and track testing was performed. The Farrari 250 GTO unlike most Ferraris was not designed by a specific individual.

This Ferrari was typical of early-1960s Ferrari technology with a hand-welded tube frame, A-arm front suspension, live-axle rear end, disc brakes, and Borrani wire wheels. The transmission was a five-speed gearbox new to Ferrari GT racing cars; the metal gate that defined the shift pattern would become a tradition that is still maintained in current models. The interior was very basic, to the point where a speedometer was not installed in the instrument panel. Its switches came from the Fiat 500, and it was said that as the car was rushed into production, even the cloth seats were made from workers' overalls.

Back to Site Listing of All Model Cars and Kits!