4.5 Feet Long: A Huge Porsche 906 1:3 Scale R/C Race Car

This is a 1:3 scale Porsche 906 radio controlled car, it measures in at approximately 1.37 meters or 4.5 feet long and it tips the scales at 80 kilograms or 176 lbs.

Much like the original Porsche 906 from 1966 this car has a steel chassis and a fiberglass body, but unlike the original it’s powered by an electric motor that has dials allowing you to choose how much power, speed, and responsiveness you want.

The full scale original Porsche 906 was unveiled in 1966 to take the reins from the Porsche 904, it was developed from the outset to be as lightweight as possible and it’s body was developed with the help of a wind tunnel for speeds up to 280 km/h (170 mph) – a remarkable speed for a car with a 2.0 liter engine.

The 906 would claim a slew of overall and class wins for Porsche both through the efforts of the factory team and privateer racers including the likes of Ken Miles, Hans Hermann, Herbert Müller, Peter Gregg, and gentleman racer (and famous comedian) Dick Smothers.

At approximately 4.5 feet long and 176 lbs, this Porsche 906 is considerably larger than the vast majority of radio controlled cars.

The R/C Porsche 906 you see here is considerably larger than most of the radio controlled vehicles were used to seeing. It is said to have been built by an artisan craftsman, it has a steel chassis and a fiberglass body with a rear clamshell which opens to show the electric motor, ECU, and the settings panel.

The electric motor powers the rear axle via a belt drive system and there’s also a rear disc brake to help you bring the car to a halt. The rear clamshell opening has six velocity stacks underneath to keep the car looking original and it has a surprisingly detailed cockpit with a seat, shifter, steering wheel, and dashboard gauges.

The listing doesn’t mention how powerful the electric motor is or what battery system it’s using, but we know it’s fast enough to require individual dials to control responsiveness, power, and top speed.

If you’d like to read more about this unusual 1:3 scale 906 you can click here to visit the listing on Collecting Cars, it’s currently being auctioned live and it’s based in Belgium.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

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itsbrucemclaren: 1979 Fiat 131Fiat 131 Abarth Stradale

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1979 Fiat 131Fiat 131 Abarth Stradale

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An Original 1982 Mercedes-Benz 450 SL Trans Am Race Car

This Mercedes-Benz SL is a Trans Am race car that was driven in period by Loren St. Lawrence under the DeAtley Motorsport/Michelob banner. Power is provided by a highly-modified 4.5 liter Mercedes V8 with dual Holley carburetors sitting on a custom intake manifold.

St. Lawrence competed in the car during the 1982 SCCA Trans Am season, competing at the Laguna Seca Raceway, the Sears Point International Raceway, and the Portland International Raceway among others.

Fast Facts – A 1980s Mercedes-Benz Trans Am

• This car is essentially a silhouette race car, with a tubular steel spaceframe chassis and a fiberglass body, it’s powered by a high-modified and de-stroked 5.0 liter Mercedes V8, now with a capacity of 4.5 liters.
• Experienced racing driver Loren St. Lawrence piloted this car during the 1982 Trans Am season, rubbing fenders with drivers like Paul Newman, Doc Bundy, Darin Brassfield, and Elliot Forbes-Robinson.
• The styling of the car is based on the Mercedes-Benz 450 SL, the German automaker’s premier luxury GT car in the early 1980s.
• It’s now being offered for sale in original condition, with a slew of spare parts including a spare cast iron block and aluminum heads, additional body panels and fenders, a rear end, camshaft molds, spare pistons, connecting rods, and springs.

Loren St. Lawrence And The Mercedes 450 SL Trans Am

Loren St. Lawrence was a popular racing driver who started competing at a professional level back in 1966 driving a Lotus Mark VI in the United States.

Over the course of his almost 20 year racing career he would drive a Sunbeam Tiger, BMW 2002, Datsun 240Z (as well as the 260Z and 280Z), Chevrolet Camaro, and of course, the Mercedes-Benz 450 SL you see here.

This car is a silhouette racer, with a full tubular steel spaceframe chassis and a lightweight fiberglass body, it’s powered by a highly-tuned 450 SL V8.

St. Lawrence started racing for the DeAtley Motorsport Team in 1981, later in 1981 Michelob became the title sponsor and this would continue through into 1982. DeAtley was owned by Neat DeAtley, a Mercedes-Benz dealership proprietor from Lewiston, Idaho who wanted to promote the luxury marque in the rough and ready world of North American Trans Am racing.

This car was built from the ground up with a full tubular steel chassis and a low-slung fiberglass body featuring boxed fenders, a rear spoiler, a front lip spoiler, and an elevated hood scoop to provide clearance for the velocity stacks.

The engine had to be de-stroked to bring it down from 5.0 liters to 4.5 to be within Trans Am specifications, however the array of performance modifications more than made up for this, adding significant additional power over the factory stock 5.0 liter V8.

The Mercedes-Benz V8 used in the 500 SL and the other V8 cars in the SL model line. This engine started out with a swept capacity of 3.5 liters in the 350 SL, this was increased over time to 3.8 liters, 4.2 lites, 4.5 liters, 5.0 liters, and finally, 5.6 liters.

The V8 used by the Mercedes SL model family features a single overhead cam per bank operating two valves per cylinder, this example has been modified for racing of course, and it’s now fitted with dual Holley carburetors.

This V8 was relatively advanced compared to the American V8s it was up against, with a single overhead cam per cylinder tank powered by a duplex chain. The engine has 16 valves was originally fitted with a Bosch electronic fuel injection system.

Although St. Lawrence and the DeAtley Motorsport/Michelob team wouldn’t see great success in Trans Am racing, their best finish was a 6th at Road America in 1982, they did create a truly memorable car that put the Mercedes SL series on the map for many Americans who had never seen one raced before.

The Mercedes-Benz SL Trans Am Race Car Shown Here

Mecum are due to offer the DeAtley Motorsport/Michelob Mercedes-Benz SL Trans Am for sale at the Kissimmee Auction in Florida in mid-January. The car comes with documented ownership history, the crew chief’s log book, and it rides on modular BBS wheels shod with Goodyear Eagle tires.

It has a full race-spec roll cage and racing seat, with full racing instrumentation, it has 4-wheel disc brakes, and it still has its original paint and hand-lettering.

The listing shows that it was recently serviced by professional facility and it is accompanied by a spare cast iron block and aluminum heads, extra body panels and fenders, a rear end, camshaft molds, pistons/rods, and springs.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Mecum.

Images courtesy of Mecum

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from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/mercedes-benz-450-sl-trans-am-race-car/
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“Back To The Future” Spec – A 1985 Toyota SR-5 For Marty McFly

The jet black 1985 Toyota SR-5 from Back To The Future, with its yellow-capped KC Daylighter spotlights on the roll bar, has been a car lusted after by countless millions of viewers since the first film in the trilogy was released in the mid-80s.

The DeLorean DMC-12 has always been the main star of the series of course, but given its relatively brief appearances on screen the SR-5 left a lasting impact on many and helped the humble Toyota Pick Up become an icon.

Fast Facts – 1985 Toyota SR-5

• This 1985 Toyota SR-5 has been carefully built to the same specification as the vehicle featured in the Back To The Future film trilogy.
• This was a one year only model called “The Unicorn” by Toyota enthusiasts thanks to its rare combination of a live axle front, the SR-5 option package, and the EFI engine.
• The team that built this replica have focussed on each of the fine details, getting things like the wheels, tires, spotlights, license plate (and license plate holder), all correct to the film. There are even “a couple of sleeping bags in the back.”
• This same truck was offered for sale at auction few weeks ago but failed to meet the reserve, so you now have a second chance to get your hands on it.

“Back To The Future” And A World Famous Toyota Pick Up

When President Ronald Reagan watched Back To The Future with his family in the White House in 1985 he’s said to have loved the scene where Doc Brown was incredulous that he could be President – so much he had them rewind the scene and play it back multiple times.

Above Video: This 30 minute documentary covers the rediscovery and restoration of the real, screen-used Toyota SR5 from “Back To The Future.”

The film must have made an impact on Reagan, because a year later in his 1986 State of the Union address he said “As they said in the film Back to the Future, ‘Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.'”

The Toyota SR-5 Pick Up appeared in the first film as a promotional truck for Statler Toyota in Hill Valley. Though it had far less onscreen time than the DeLorean it did appear in all three films at crucial plot points tied into the constantly changing future and past caused by Doc Brown and Marty McFly’s tinkering with the timeline.

The 1985 Toyota SR-5 is now considered one of the most collectible pick ups from the Japanese marque as it was the last year to have the live axle front and back, and the first year to have the desirable EFI engine option. Later trucks for the USA market would all have independent front suspension for better road handling, combined with a live axle rear.

This truck was built to fulfill the wish Marty has in the film, of taking it to the lake with a couple of sleeping bags in the back so that he can sleep under the stars with Jennifer.

“Check out that 4×4. That is hot. Someday, Jennifer. Someday. Wouldn’t it be great to take that truck up to the lake? Throw a couple of sleeping bags in the back. Lie out underneath the stars.” – Marty McFly

The “Back To The Future” Spec Toyota SR-5 Shown Here

This truck is the most faithful recreation of the original screen-used Toyota we’ve seen, whoever built it clearly paid attention to even the smallest details. In fact it’s indistinguishable from the original truck in the above documentary.

During the build this truck was fitted with a suspension lift, the correct wheels and tires, and the correct front and rear bumpers. It has a tubular roll bar fitted with those distinctive KC Daylighter spotlights, and the seller is offering it with a Hoverboard, a pair of “self-lacing” shoes, a Gray’s Sports Almanac, a framed poster, and a 1/10th scale remote controlled model.

If you’d like to read more about this truck or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing. It’s due to roll across the auction block with Mecum in Kansas in early December, and at the time of writing there is no price guide.

Images courtesy of Mecum

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Full Documentary: Styling The Motor Car – 1949

Styling the Motor Car is a 1949 film from General Motors that showcases the design process followed by each new car, from research and sketches, to full-size models and mock-ups, to the final production cars out of the factory.

After WWII ended in 1945 the American automobile industry, which had largely been re-tasked for producing vehicles and goods for the war effort, was released to return to their former line of business. There was much being said about what the new line of post-war vehicles would look like, and the late 1940s were a time of major upheaval on both sides of the Atlantic.

As the United States prepared to enter the 1950s, a new decade of hope with the war far in the rearview mirror, American car designers were given more freedom than ever before. They created what we now call the “Jet Age.”

This film shows the design process from early sketches through to clay models and the final car, all done completely by hand as it was long before the use of computers in design studios.

Based in 1949 this film captures the design process right as the country was on the cusp of the 1950s. It’s fascinating to see the purely analogue design process long before computers and CAD made their appearance in the development studios.

We’ve included another film in this series below called Up From Clay, this is another General Motors design film but it’s from exactly 10 years later in 1959. It’s interesting to see all of the differences in design between the two eras just a decade apart.

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