CB's Die Cast Review: June 19, 1998
1998 Pro Racing
CART Collector's 1st Editions
In
1997 Mattel released the premiere models in its new Team Hot
Wheels Pro Racing collector’s edition line based on NASCAR
stock cars. Due to the popularity of the items, Mattel has
expanded the Pro Racing line this year with the addition
of the CART Indy cars. The CART racers are beginning to
appear in the stores.
The Alumax, #16, has the most intricate paintscheme of the three, and
appears to have been duplicated extremely well. The white section
on the body is masked beautifully over the metallic blue base paint,
with crisp lines everywhere except for just a little fuzz around the rear
fin. The light blue and red stripe tampos are perfectly aligned with
the mask and each other. The detail on the Reynard 97-I die cast metal
body is good, and appears to be faithful to the prototype. Most of the
sponsor tampos are present.
According to the CART information web page at
www.cart.com, a
real CART car consists of an aluminum and fiberglass body housing
a turbocharged four-cycle eight-cylinder engine that can generate
700 to 850 horsepower. On the average, an Indy car can travel
from zero to 60 mph in 2.2 seconds, and zero to 100 mph in 4.2
seconds. Indy cars have been clocked in excess of 240 mph,
which is faster than the speed needed for a Boeing 747 airplane
to take off. The fact that a car stays on the ground at that
speed is due to the front and rear wings, and the aerodynamic shape
of the body. These combine to create "downforce," which is the
reverse of an airplane’s "lift." Indy cars run on methanol,
which is not a fossil fuel. Methanol has a high octane rating
and good flame control -- water is an effective methanol-fire-fighting
agent. The are approximately twenty major CART events per year.
Mattel has done a good job capturing the essence of these vehicles.
Eight cars have been released so far. I picked up Patrick Carpentier
(Alumax, stock# 19246), Michael Andretti (K-Mart/Havoline, #19247) and
Christian Fittipaldi (K-Mart, #19248). As with the NASCAR editions,
each car comes with an Upper Deck trading card depicting the driver on the
front and the car in action on the back.
The other two cars share the same Swift 007.i die cast metal body. They
are not as accurate in the wing areas, but still well detailed nonetheless.
The gloss black enamel Havoline car, #6, has more sponsor tampos than the Alumax,
and looks sleek. There was a slight warp to the body on this one, as one
of the front wheels didn’t touch the ground. A gentle twist of the chassis
corrected this problem. The K-Mart car, #11, is finished in a gloss fire
engine red enamel, and looks great with all the tampos. The only glaring
concession here is the omission of the sponsor’s large "Budweiser" decorations
on the sides (due to the alcohol affiliation). This is a very noticeable but
unfortunately necessary modification. All the cars ride on simulated
rubber tires tampoed with Good Year markings on the outer and inner walls.
The chassis/wheel supports piece is made of plastic, with minimal detail,
and held in place with two screws.
These cars are a little more expensive than the NASCAR offerings, probably
due to the fact that they are more labor intensive to assemble. The
other five cars released to date are: Max Papis (MCI),
Andre Ribeiro (Honda), Alex Zenardi (Target),
Gil De Ferran (Walker) and Mark Blundel (Motorola).
I don’t know if the CART cars will sell as well as the NASCAR line, but
they are quality pieces and an excellent offering for the CART enthusiast.
