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Standox GmbH, with its headquarters in Wuppertal, Germany is Europe's leading specialist in vehicle refinishing with a strong reliance on DuPont Performance Coatings. The Standox "Exclusive Line (TM)" paints, containing ChromaFlairŪ ColorShift(TM) flakes, currently offers about a dozen of these "flip-flop" paints one of which is called "Daytona Paradise".
To promote their paint, Standox approached Exoto about showcasing their paint on the 1/18 scale Cobra Daytona Coupe diecast. As the story goes, for a substantial charitable donation, Standox would be able to purchase what I'll describe as a very limited number taken straight from the production line. Exoto's manufacturer painted these cars with the paint provided by Standox mixed to Exoto specs. These cars were finished with a special photoetched plate on the rear panel proclaiming it as the "Exclusive Line - Daytona Paradise - Standox" with a tiny coiled cobra and an outline of the Daytona race track. Some great graphics are on the inner box artwork. Standox repackaged an unknown number of these to include a corresponding paint chip and used them as a promotion for their more affluent European clientele as enticement.
Fortuitously, the model that was in production at the time was the #6 1964 LeMans car which, as the only car of the series with two windshield wipers, gives this car the look of a street vehicle. With the natural metal wheels and exhaust, and a lack of bolted plates and air deflectors present on the 1965 models, it also has the cleanest lines of the series, a design on which this paint thrives. It turns automotive sculpture into erotica. The spectral range of this paint goes from indigo to blue, through turquoise to green and finally gold in response to the angle of the light source to the surface. What amazes me is just how subtle the changes are. Light seems to caress the car and elicit a chromatographic response. What a perfect subject the '60s GT cars make for such paint. The result of this union must be seen to be truly appreciated. I have visions of a GT40 MKlV in similar dress in the future. I can only hope. (04/18/2000)
(05/09/2000)
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