This 1970 Ferrari 512S spyder chassis #1002 was bought by Escuderia Montjiuch which was founded by 4 "Catalan gentlemen" in the late 1960s. It's shown here as it ran in the 1971 1000 km of Buenos Aires where it finished just behind the factory prototypes driven by 'gentleman driver'/ founder Jose Maria Juncadella and Argentinian ace Carlos Alberto Pairetti. This light weight fiberglass bodied spyder was powered by a naturally aspirated 550 HP 5.0 liter V12 with a 5 speed transmission and had a top speed of 211 mph. After that January race, it was sent back to Maranello for a conversion to a 512M Berlinetta before competing as Le Mans that year. Raced later that year in "M" specs, it's best place was second in the Tour de France The potential for the car came to a screeching halt when allowed displacement by the FIA dropped to 3.0 liters. Another 'one year and done', where later it was raced in Britain as an LSR by its owner with a record "flying mile" speed of 192 mph The chassis #1002 still exists today in the hands of a collector.
Model by Hot Wheels:
Wow Rich, that model has to be a few decades old.
Steve
Thanks Rich for the great writeup and pictures. A great look that looks fresh even today.
@franklemire It could have been a business decision (sales?) or perhaps their Ferrari license ran out. A lot of these Hot Wheels models were the result of a collaboration with Kyosho and the resultant Elite series models were as good as it gets.
@rich-sufficool I do think it was a business decision based on the escalating costs for skilled workers in China and the fact that the little Hot Wheels cars had a much wider customer base than the 1:18 scale cars. It is a shame because as you've said they were beginning to put out some really good stuff. They still make up 5% of my collection.