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Hands down, this is easily my favorite Danbury Mint Corvette to date. It is also my very favorite Corvette diecast to date regardless of maker but then that would be redundant since DM does the best Vettes any way. So for now, with this new entry into the diecast Corvette realm just stick a fork in me; I’m done. DM completely and totally outdid themselves on this little conceptual cutie and I did not foresee it coming. I opened the box, not having a clue that this one was in the works, and it blew my socks off!
The paint, British Racing Green, is a nod to our friends across the pond, who introduced the sports car concept. Deeply gorgeous in its own right, the broad white center stripe flanked with twin yellow pinstripes and yellow Le Mans-style hash marks (also seen on the '96 Grand Sport Corvette) on either front fender sets the overall mood of the car. It states that this is a serious player. Body modifications are done so well that you wonder why GM didn’t add them to a subsequent year’s Sting Ray. OK, so what if they are not practical. Who really needs windshield wipers in the Canyon? A top? Puh-leeze! Door handles and a standard tall windshield? Get real, this is a car your mother wouldn’t let you dream of when you were young and ballsy enough to race it to its fullest potential. Forget it about it now. And no flip-em-up headlights either. We got Plexiglas-covered flamethrowers over a DM-stylish photo-etched grille. The cowl vents are P-E also, and peek into the hood bulge side air inlets for additional good views. More P-E pieces are seen in the racing harness buckles, tire valve stems and, oh yes, the driver’s shades haplessly left on the dash. The chassis detailing is ‘DM-outstanding’ and features tack sharp suspension pieces, metal line assemblies and heat shielding for the trans tunnel.
The interior is like something out of a Corvette customizer’s daydream. We see race seats, wood-grained steering wheel and beautifully crafted door panel details. Check out the clock mounted on the center console stack between dash pods. DM fabricated its hour, minute and second hands! Note the labels affixed to the toggle switches beneath it too. In fact, all of the gauges are perfectly readable and accurate in appearance if you have the magnification. The seat belts and especially the racing harnesses and buckles are the very best I have ever seen in a 1:24th precision miniature. The fire bottle, mounted on the tranny tunnel is strapped down with a fabric belt and P-E buckle. You can read the gauge on this little sucker too. But holy cow look at that engine pit! It is so crammed full of intricate go-fast gadgetry it brings a tear to your eye. The license plate reads, TWN PXTN. It refers to the twin Paxton superchargers found under the hood. DM fabricated all the associated hook-ups including neat little P-E installation hose clamps, metal wire hold-downs for the master cylinder, throttle linkage and brake fluid lines. Then check out the cool headers and follow them downward to where they join the exhaust pipes that snake their way back through the body colored heat shrouds and connect the front and rear fender flares. But be sure to notice the emergency brake lines and the anodized couplings for the braided oil cooler lines. The starter wiring can be seen from below as well. Back up top we see that DM fashioned a fuel cell that may be viewed when you open the tonneau deck behind the roll bar. The gas filler cap opens too. The front and rear Corvette crossed flag emblems are finely crafted metal versions.
If ever there were a positively “must have” Corvette, trust me ladies and gents, dis be da one – oh yeah baby. Not exactly sure why this pushes my buttons so hard. Maybe because it is so irreverent. It isn’t the classic 100 point restoration you may associate with the way-cool 1965 mid year Sting Ray found at the high end auctions. It isn’t a resto-rod either. It’s an in-your-face, all about the owner and his or her interpretation of what leaves them weak in the knees, automotively speaking. This spoiled-green brat flaunts its classic good looks but does it with a good dose of attitude. Toss in those after market fender flares and stir in the front air dam. Prop up that bad-ass rear spoiler/wing, attach that non-too-subtle roll bar, racing seats, the eat-my-dust twin blown big block motor, bolt on some bad wheels and tires, radical exhaust, dynamite paint scheme and you have a one of a kind, kiss-my-foot 100 point restoration-be-damned canyon carving screamer. Now imagine this all coming from an awesome translation of this Corvette concept by the free-flowing idea mongers at DM and you have an idea of the panache and flair that these car guys have for creating diecasts. It’s an inspiring version of America’s favorite sports car my friends; Danbury, job extremely well done!
(07/25/2006)
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