A Real Antique... [PIC]

In the 1980s, if you wanted classic race cars of the '50s and '60s, if you could find them in the US, Jouef Evolution was your source for the 250, 330 and 412 series of Ferraris and even the GT40 Mklls. They produced a full range of scales from 1/43 to 1/24 to 1/18. Ironically, the best detailed and highest parts count were in the smaller scales were engines were wired and full glazing was given. The bodies exhibited the primitive casting methods of that era. The parts were well chased and finished, but as in this 250 GTO LM, the roof casting left a pretty significant seam with the C pillar and never met the A pillar with the gap filled sloppily with solder. Also there's no side glass on these 1/18s. The wire wheels on the model are not bad so a bit of black wash on them gave the appearance of scale I did a bit of paint and BMF'd headlamp bezels. This model is liveried as a North American Race Team entry with those cute red and green bubble lamps on the roof. I also loved the look of the side exhausts. I was kinda guessing this #27 model represented the 1965 Le Mans winning NART entry. The only problem with this is the NART car was #21 and the #27 car was the 6th place Scuderia Filipietti entry. SO if there's more to the story besides an error, I can't find any more info. At any rate the model does represent one of 32 built and because Ferrari didn't build the 50 needed for homologation, it had to run a tough field of prototypes including the GT40 and still pull out a win.

This Jouef is definitely not in the Exoto/CMC class but I love the design and still display it proudly.