Gimme Shelter

From the July / August 2010 issue of The Car Room Magazine

The AC Cars Group is one of oldest auto manufacturers in the UK, dating back to 1903. After WWII AC cars used Bristol engines, ultimately switching to Ford Zephyr power in 1961. A year later, Carroll Shelby convinced them to try the small block Ford V-8 in their sports cars. And thus, after many structural chassis enhancements (and a much-needed set of wider tires), was born the AC Cobra.

Wow. Wee

You’d do well to keep a magnifying loupe handy when considering either of Spark Models’ 1:87 Bentleys; one is a GT coupe, and the other a GTC convertible. Each stretches only to just over two inches in length, but the little resin babies both feature full interiors, slick paint, and amazing photo-etched grilles and markings.

McLaren’s McLaren

I have and always will be a big fan of Can-Am racing, with McLarens ranking among my favorites. Their domination in this series was truly awesome. 1967 was a championship year for the team; driving their svelte M6As (freshly painted orange), the team of Bruce (McLaren) and Denny (Hulme) won five of the six races in the series, and would most likely have won the last, had McLaren not run out fuel in the last 200 yards - handing over victory to John Surtees in a competing Lola.

Cheetah!

Here’s a model I’ve only seen made twice before; once in 1:43 scale as an excellent, high end limited edition hand built (and kit) by Marsh Models - and once by Mini Exotics as a 1:24th kit which was somewhat less than good.

Spark’s been busy, as usual. This model replicates the beloved racecar as driven by Ralph Salyer at Road America in 1964; somewhere between 11 and 16 Cheetah’s in total were built, and only one was a roadster - though it didn’t start life that way. The Cro-Sal Special was a conversion from a coupe, done by Gene Crowe and Ralph Salyer, the car’s mechanic and owner; hence the Cro-Sal name. This was also the most successful of all Cheetahs, and it won many races.