Notifications
Clear all
Forum 43
4
Posts
2
Users
12
Reactions
2,536
Views
Topic starter
29/03/2022 8:06 pm
How low can a car get? The Ford GT40 was rumored to have been so-named because it was 40 inches high. At the Geneva show in 1970, Pininfarina unveiled its Ferrari 512S Modulo, a mere 37 inches high. Here is the 1:1 and a 1:43 by the recent Top Marques range (not the Max Kernick range of old).
Later in 1970 at the Turin Auto Show Bertone astounded attendees with this Marcello Gandini design based on the Lancia Stratos. Clearly impractical for the road, it was a mere 33 inches high. Access is by a single hatch and a swing-away steering column. The driver and passenger are seated in a semi-prone position with their legs ahead of the front wheels. A great view forward, but almost none in other directions. I made the 1:1 pics of this and the Modulo at the Dream Cars at the High exhibit in Atlanta in 2014. At that time the car was owned by XJ Wang of NYC.
Just in this week is another Top Marques, available in an LR of 500. I chose the red-brown color, as the car is today, but it is also availavle in silver-gray, as the car also appeared at one time.
I counted 17 cars in that Dream Cars exhibit. Thus far I have 13, or 14 if you count my Chrysler Thunderbolt in a different color.
29/03/2022 9:19 pm
LookSmart announced the Modulo as well but I don't think it has come out yet. Then Autocult has there's as well. I was tempted, since I saw it at the same High Museum show... Why did you get the TM and not the Autocult, I am just curious? The Stratos was also at the Indy Museum of Art for awhile in their design section before Wang sold it...
Of course, I still have my Auto Pilen...
Topic starter
30/03/2022 12:00 pm
@karl I had already placed an advance order for the TM Modulo before I heard AC was making one. I had heard of the LS version but they kept procrastinating on its release. With 333 AutoCults and 500 Top Marques, plus color variations, I wonder if LookSmart has shelved theirs.
I remember the Pilen - wasn't it based on Polistil dies?
30/03/2022 12:18 pm
@mg-harv The Auto Pilen has better paint and looks like a crisper casting, but it could be a copy of the Politoys (like several of their other 1/43 castings).