Congratulations!  You are visiting the coolest Hot Wheels site on the internet.  Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya?  I do!  After a lengthy haitus in Korea, and through the immense good graces of Trish I have been allowed to return.  I hope to add some of my own insight and commentary to our hobby, along with the rest of the knowledgable regulars here at CB's.  And to rant a little, and also point the direction to a few other auto-enthusiast type thingies that might interest us all. 

Take the 2001 FE Cunningham C4R for instance.  A worthy car indeed to cast in miniature.  With this car, Mattel has 3 historic Le Mans GT cars in their lineup.  Add the modern Mercedes and Porsche GT cars and you've got a Le Mans 5 car pack.  But we know Mattel wouldn't dream of that.  And why should Mattel release the D-Jag in the same paint scheme as the Cunningham?  Briggs Cunningham III had one of the most successful sports-car racing companies of the 1950s.  Founded by Cunningham’s father, Briggs Jr., Team Cunningham challenged the all-conquering Europeans and beat them at Sebring, Watkins Glen, Riverside and a host of other circuits. The thundering white-and-blue roadsters and coupes, built in West Palm Beach, Fla., carried the American flag to racetracks where Detroit feared to tread. And they helped make team drivers John Fitch and Phil Walters heroes of the era.  Cunningham also impressed the world with its many top-10 placings at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Though never winning the great race (their best result was 3rd overall), the C-2R, C-4R, C-4RK, C-5R and C-6R always proved fast and durable.  Cunningham's stable also included the venerable D-Jaguar at Le Mans.  Briggs Cunningham’s passion to win Le Mans sparked such national interest that Time put him on its April 26, 1954, cover.  There is an excellent coffee table book called "Americans at Le Mans" (author and publisher unknown) that has fabulous photos and text of Cunningham and and others in thier battles at the Sarthe circuit.  It faithfully captures the drama of that era.

And speaking of photos, props go to this great site for photos of full-bodied GT racers of the past and present.  I highly recommend a look through their gallery at Le Mans 64-67 and Monthlery in the 60s:  http://personal.inet.fi/business/gtrace/gtyes.htm

Now that I've mentioned the Census, I'd like to take a little poll.  Everyone who has read this far (and if you've read this far, I really want to know what's wrong with you) please email your AGE to:  bigarv65@yahoo.com.  Time period for this poll is about 20 Feb to 20 Mar 2001.  This is strictly confidential and purely for the purpose of seeing just who is checking out our site so we can better tailor our editorial content to match the demographic most represented.  Dude.

Until next month, be patient in your quest, for envy leads to the dark side, hhhhmmmmmm!  Many will the cars show up in the Bin of Woe through the course of time, yes.
 
 

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