The Ferrari 312 P
This recreation is a replica of the Ferrari 312 P Spyder - chassis number 0868. At its inaugural race at the 12 hours of Sebring in 1969 , the car placed second overall, and 1st in class driven by Mario Andretti and Chris Amon. Later the same year, Amon and Pedro Rodriquiez drove the car to a 4th place finish at the Brands Hatch 500. The car was subsequently rebodied by Pininfarina and transformed into the Ferrari 512 S 'Speciale', and was displayed at the Turin Salon later the same year. Interestingly, HotWheels made a diecast of that body style as well in the 1972 Redline Series of diecasts.
This Redline was picked up on eBay for $11, including shipping. It seemed as though it would be a bit more challenging than the McLaren as the body appeared to have a lot more wear and tear, but this was not the case. The rear clip was tight, although the windscreen was too beat up to salvage, but replacement windscreen are available from The Red Line Shop, a supplier of replacement parts for Hotwheels Redlines. Coincidently, like the McLaren, this HotWheels diecast restoration candidate wears the same number plate as the real car that will be re-created. |  |
 | Wheel choices were researched for each of the restorations, looking for examples that most accurately represent the original cars racing rims. Hotwheels made a few series of cars with gold coloured 5 spoke rims that suit this re-creation perfectly. A parts car was found with a set of wheels like the one pictured below, but in gold. There are several cars from the FAO Schwartz collections that wear these wheels. Patto has an incredible decal set for this car as well. These sheets are $8 AUS each (plus $3 AUS shipping) |
The paint colour used on this restoration is Tamiya TS-8 Italian Red. Tamiya paint is available in 100ml spray cans. A lot of time was spent preping this car for paint, and it seems to have paid off. The finish came out much smoother than the first resto attempt. Below are pictures of the resto after the second coat of paint, and later after the third coat of paint and the decals were applied. A blemish was noticed in the paint after the first coat, so a piece of batten (used to stuff furniture pillows) was used to buff it out. It was just abrasive enough to smooth out the blemish without scuffing the surrounding paint. |
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After the decals were applied, a Sharpie style marker was used to paint in the headlight area. I worked very well, but when the clear coat was applied, the ink ran heavily and made a mess of what was almost the first fully completed restoration. The paint and decals had to be stripped. The side roundel was a bit too large anyways, and wasn't adhering the curved side of the car properly, so a couple of peel and stick roundel decals were ordered from The Red Line Shop for teh next attempt.
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Otherwise, the chassis came together nicely. Two sets of front wheels from the "American Spirit" T-bucket hot rod where transplanted onto this chassis, which is from an F.A.O. Schwarz 4 car set. (The same front wheels can be found on the Camaro and Corvette from the same set.) Most of the other 5 spoke gold rims are too big, and look out of proportion with this body. This Ferrari Redline had a white plastic strip which held the old axles in place and acted as a suspension unit. The new axles were simply glued onto the same piece, and then the axle holder was glued back onto the chassis (pictued above).
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