Rover 3500 V8

Rover 3500 V8

If you have read a few of my entries on this blog, you will know I’m an Aussie who spent a decade in New Zealand as a child. Because of this I grew up liking both Aussie and British cars. Of course I also came to like American cars too because there was a decent smattering of big old ‘yank tanks’ in New Zealand while I was there, but to be completely honest, for me, most American cars were aspirational. I kinda guessed I wasn’t going to be owning one despite the strong desire to do so. Which brings us to this entry.

When I was a teenager in NZ I had a good job and was earning good money for my age so I was saving hard for a car. At that time I had two (second-hand of course) cars in mind as my first purchase. Ranked number one was the Valiant AP5 (you can see my story about the AP5 here) and my second choice was the Rover 3500 V8 P6.

Rover 3500 V8

Apparently for a short time the P6 3500 and the Triumph 2000 (amongst others) were produced in NZ. Now I had spotted a couple of Triumphs that I liked but one day on the way home from work in Hamilton, I passed a caryard that had a V8 P6 in it. If I remember correctly it was the same colour as my die-cast model pictured here. So it began. I wondered, how quickly could I save enough to buy that actual car. Keep in mind I was a very naive teenager at the time, so on the way to and from work I would be checking that car out thinking it might be there when I had saved enough ‘moolah’. My imagination ran wild. I could see myself with a car full of mates cruising to the pictures and then afterwards ‘flogging’ the little v8 and ripping up some poor neighbours nature strip (this didnt happen so  there’s no need to dial 111 and report me…I do not endorse hooning on public roads or tearing up pensioner’s front lawns etc so relax lol).

Rover 3500 V8 P6

By now you will have realised owning a car as a teenager was very important for me. Also, if you think back to your teenage years you will remember how important some aspirations can be in the naive teenage mind. Well dear reader, be prepared to reach for the box of tissues.

As you now know, I was saving for either an AP5 or a P6. I saved and saved. I can tell you other than paying a very generous board (rent) to my ‘oldies’, I spent about $2 in a six month period. I was serious about this saving business. From memory I was about half-way there, monetarily speaking, to fulfilling the dream. Then I got robbed. A mate of mine calculated the sum for me; in todays terms he reckons I had about the equivalent of US$4000, but by my calculations including inlfation, I had the equivalant of about NZ$11,000 . Either way it was a lot of money for a kid.  I won’t go into the complete details here but I got ‘hit’ for a ‘loan’ for an important purpose (they had an awesome cover story) and I handed over every cent; never to see it again.

The dream was dead. I never did own either an AP5 or the P6. In fact I didn’t own a car for years after this ‘little’ setback. However, the good news is (you can put the kleenex down now) I found this die-cast 1/43 scale Vanguards Rover 3500 V8 on Ebay. It didn’t cost me 4 grand.

Vanguards 1/43 Rover 3500 V8

If you have enjoyed reading this article you can check out my other entries by using the archive list to the right. You can sign up to follow this blog, or receive email alerts. Also, please take the time to leave a comment. Thanks to those who already have. Cheers, Doogie.

My 1979 Holden VB Commodore & Trax 1978 VB Commodore

Doogie's 1979 Holden VB Commodore 3.3l 6 Cylinder

This entry is another where I own a 1/43 scale model of a 1:1 car I have owned in the past. There is plenty of information on the net about the Holden Commodore so I wont need to go into to much detail about it but suffice it to say, the VB Commodore was first of the Commodores and was a big departure from the long running Holden Kingswood model apart from one thing, the engines.

Trax Holden VB Commodere. An Aussie mootoring icon.

The engine in my VB Commordore SL was a 202 (3.3l) red engine (the last of the Holden reds as the next Commodore was the first of the Blues and it came with electronic ignition, which the red one did not). My Commodore was pretty well worn out before I got it. It was already about 15 years old and had 100′s of thousands of kilometres on it. Another issue I discovered after I bought it from the friendly car sales guy was that the car had started life as a rental. Now if you are like me and have ever rented a car, you know rentals are very special vehicles. They can do things other cars cannot. Think along the lines of Hollywood stunt cars and you will know what I mean. Anyway, when I say the old Commy was worn out I mean it. The best thing it had going for it was at sometime it must have had a respray as the paint was in good order. In fact, during the 4 years I drove the thing and poured more money into it than any other car I owned, more than one bloke asked me if I had repainted the thing and they commented on how nice it looked. From a distance.

Trax 1/43 Scale 1978 Holden VB Commodore

The Old Commodore cost me a bundle to keep on the road for the 4 years I had it. It wasn’t a bad handling car, after I spent a small fortune on the suspension. However, I can’t say I was sad to see it go. I traded it in on a new car and the dealer who traded it didnt want it but he wanted a sale so he reluclantly took if off me. The deal was done and I only had to wait for my new car to be ready to go. Two days before I handed the Commodore over, the handbrake handle fell to pieces in my hand, so I placed it on the floor with the growing pile of interior parts that was appearing there. Now, The Commy was a 3 speed T-Bar auto and when I parked it in the dealer holding yard and put it into park for the last time, the selector came out in my hand. What would do you do in that situation? I jammed it back in, leaped out of the car and walked away and didn’t look back. I didn’t want to see a scene reminescent of the last time the Blues Brothers jumped out of the Dodge Monaco and it fell into a heap.

Anyway now to the model. What I like about the Trax 1/43 scale 1978 VB Holden Commodore SL  is that it is identical to the 1:1 I owned, right down to the wheels. Enjoy the pictures and please leave a comment. Check back soon more stories and die-cast models to come. Also use the archive to the right of this post to see my earlier entries about my travels in little cars. Doogie.

Trax 1978 VB Holden Commodore 1/43 Scale Diecast

Trax 1978 VB Holden Commodore SL 1/43 Scale Diecast

An Aussie Favourite: Holden Commodore

Happy Australia Day

1963 EJ Holden Ute with as many Aussie icons as I could fit into one humble jpg image. Enjoy!

January 26. Australia day. Barbecue, beer, beach, cricket. Wave an Aussie flag. An excellent day to celebrate everything about being an Aussie. Then there is every other Aussie icon I could pack into one picture along with my Trax 1/43 1963 Ej Holden ute. If had more room I would have added more. Enjoy and ‘avagoodone!

First Drive: Valiant AP5

My First Drive: Valiant AP5

When I was getting serious about buying my first car, number one on my list was the Valiant AP5 (Australian Production Five). Around that time a mate of mine had one so I suppose that greatly influenced me even though I was already a Valiant fan. His was a very nice 1964 Valiant Regal with a 225 (3.6l) slant six engine and a push-button auto. I loved the push-button auto. Sadly the AP5 was the last Valiant to have this type of selector. I did own an AP6 with the column selector (see the story about it and the corresponding Trax model here), but I really really wanted the push-button.

AP5 Valiant

Over the years I have owned several Valiants but I never got to own that AP5 which I planned to buy as a wide-eye teenager. However, I am pleased to report that the first car I ever drove on the road was my mates AP5 (see pic above, taken somewhere in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, summer 1975/76). I always preferred the AP5 over the AP6 because the 5 had the push-button auto but it also had the far better grille. I never really took to the Plymouth-esque grille on the 6

Great deatail on the front of the Trax Valiant AP5 Regal

Despite the fact that its a poor photo of me driving the AP5, you can see the regal badge on the Val which is also part of the great detail of the Trax 1/43 scale 1963 Valiant AP5 Regal. Trax have done a great job with the detail of the rear of the Val as well, right down to the ‘Torquflyte’ badge (decal). Very well done. However, you will notice a difference in the placement of the wing mirrors. On the ‘real’ example I am driving the mirrors are a long way down the front guards, but not so on the model. Nevertheless, for me, this is the best part of diecast model cars; when 1:1 meets 1:43.

Detailed Rear Of The Trax Valiant AP5 Regal

 

If you have enjoyed this post, check out other articles by using the archive on the right. Also, please take the time to leave a comment. Cheers, Doogie.

 

Trax Valiant AP5 Regal

Toyota Corolla Project (Part 6) Final: Before & After

If you haven’t been following this saga, perhaps you should at least read part 1 here & part 5 here.

So to continue from part 5, we left the latest blemishes as they were and applied a coat of clear over the top which you can see in the first picture.

Corolla with a coat of clear

Applying the clear was probably the easiest thing to do. However, one thing you need to know is that it is clear, so it is hard to see what/how much you have applied. We just gave it one single coat. Also I am pleased to say this was an easy model to put back together. It took only a minute or so to screw the ’Rolla back together. You can see the before and after photos below.

Diecast Toyota Corolla 1/43 Scale Before & After Respray

Diecast Toyota Corolla 1/43 Scale Before & After Respray

Well thats it for the Diecast 1/43 Scale Toyota Corolla repsray…for now. Who knows what I might do to it in the future. Anyway, it has provided me with enough experience (mostly what not to do) to move on to other projects. I do plant to tackle my VH Valiant Charger soon but I might repspray another model before then. I will take some photos of those projects and I will blog them but I am certain it won’t be a drawn out saga like this has been. Relax, I won’t put you or me through another 6 part blockbuster.

If you have enjoyed this entry you can see more interesting articles by using the month by month archive on the right of this screen. Also, please take the time to leave a comment. Cheers, Doogie.

Taking the Corolla out on the road

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Toyota Corolla Pilot Project Part 5

The Rolla after a light coat to fix the overspray

This project should have well & truly been done with by now but the saga continues and I am happy pleased overjoyed going to share the results  ongoing stuffups in the name of hobbiest comradeship .

If you haven’t seen the earlier parts of this blockbuster, start here and use the archive on the right to work your way through them.

Ok so we had to repair our little overspray after deciding to give the little ‘Rolla a blue lid.  Looking ok right? Well at this point it might be best to go to dot points:

• Do not try to rush between coats if you have to mask parts of the car. When we removed the tape from the roof it left a blemish. We have used this type of tape many times and this is a first so it had to because we didn’t let the roof cure for long enough
• Do not use newspaper to mask the car. It will (and did) leave print marks, especially if the paint is white
• Do not try to fix blemishes with turps, eucalyptus oil or anything like that. It will (and did) lift the paint, especially if you don’t let the paint cure (which we didn’t)

Also, it is important to keep in mind, small mistakes are big mistakes on little cars. However, on the other hand, they are quite easy to fix. So there is a trade-off there. The most important thing I think I can share is do not rush anything.  Allow plenty of time between stages.

So what next? I think I have enough data here to move onto my VH Valiant Charger project so I could stop here and just do that. But where does that leave the little Rolla? Well I see a couple of options.

1. Apply a coat of clear over the car, blemishes and all,  just to see how that goes. Then screw the the model back together and be done with it
2. Apply the clear for test purposes then apply paint stripper and start again. New colour and all
3. Apply paint stripper now and start again

At this point I am leaning towards option 1. Stay tuned.

If you have enjoyed (endured?) the journey with me and wish to continue, sign up as a follower or for email updates. Also please take the time to leave a comment. Use the archive on the right to access earlier items. Cheers, Doogie.

A Christmas Thrashing By Basil

Basil has decided its time to hand out a good thrashing to the Corolla. He has gone and torn a limb from the Christmas tree and is giving it a well deserved beating.

Merry Christmas to all. Thankyou to everyone who has contributed to this new blog. I have truly enjoyed writing it and sharing my adventures. Also it has been great to meet a few other diecast fans on the way and I look forward to meeting more of you.

To gain and understanding as to why Basil is thrashing the Corolla start here and follow the saga. It is now up to part 4 with part 5 coming soon.

To see the entry on Basil and his Austin/Morris see here.

Have a safe holiday!

Doogie