| |
Can Am racing in the ‘sixties was the automotive equivalent of those ultimate fighting shows that were so popular a few years ago; contests of unleashed brawn where cash ran thick and the rulebook was thin. It was the perfect milieu for a fellow like Jim Hall, a car freak with a Cornell degree in air flow and a head full of ideas – and probably the only place where Hall could have given the racing world the Chaparral 2E. The Chaparral bloodline ultimately included some incredibly imaginative machinery, and the 2E wowed the crowd with a continuously adjustable, fifty-six inch high wing linked to an air flap buried in the car’s nose. Both moved synchronously at the behest of the driver, thanks to a pedal in the cockpit mounted where the clutch would usually be; by virtue of the Chaparral’s automatic transmission, the driver’s left foot was free to modulate the wing for high speed or for crushing downforce in the corners. It was an amazing car, and Exoto has made it into an amazing model. Dominated by that wing, this scale replica of Hall’s 2E prototype is cast impeccably and uses scrupulous assembly and advanced modeling techniques to replicate even the smallest detail faithfully.
Locating the wing on its mounts, staring at the photo-etch fasteners and screening that live all around the model’s exterior, and marveling at the quality of the whole thing sure is fun. But pulling back the door latches, opening the doors, and doffing the removable panels is what this Chaparral’s really all about. Under the skin, Exoto has used steel cables, woven hoses, cast media, and all manner and gauge of wiring to completely plumb the model, including a behind-the-scenes treatment of the instrument cluster that simply has to be seen to be believed. The replica’s backbone is a deeply engraved, rivet-ridden aluminized frame, onto which Exoto has hung a sharply cast, completely believable, and fully functional suspension. Flexible hoses follow the front wheels as they steer, and the rears, when rotated independently, roll with a tactile lag that feels as though they are connected through a working differential.
That wouldn’t surprise me – the detail in the car’s stern is simply otherworldly. Dominated by carburetors that are models unto themselves, the area’s braided hoses, anodized couplings, complete ignition wiring, and blued four-into one headers set the stage for levels of detail that bend reality. There are venturis and individual fuel hoses in and on those carbs; return springs in the throttle linkage; black boots at the distributor ends of the coil and ignition wires. As a final note in a symphony of finger fun, the flywheel, accessible from beneath the car, spins.
A model of this caliber would take months of stolen moments to build for even the most accomplished modeler among us, a fact that isn’t lost on this reviewer. Exoto continues to amaze, and more releases like this one – a legendary car made into a replica of legendary detail – can’t come soon enough.
(07/04/2003)
|
|
