The New York Toy Fair
was bustling with activity at the Javitz Center on opening day, as it always is. While
the major diecast toy car manufacturers were exhibiting elsewhere in Manhattan, or not at all,
many of the niche high-detail collectible manufacturers and importers had display booths.
One such company was Georgia Marketing & Promotions, better known as GMP. They manufacture
intricately detailed racecars and muscle cars in 1:18, 1:24 and 1:43 scale. After I drooled
over their 1:43 scale McLaren M8’s and Chaparral 2’s and newly announced 1:18 scale Ford GT-40,
they gave me one of THEIR promotional Toy Fair cars. Since I like collecting finely crafted
1:43 scale counterparts of Hot Wheels Spectraflame-era vehicles, imagine my surprise to open the
box and find a 1:43 scale Lola T70 inside. Of course, the Hot Wheels model was marketed as a GT-70,
but it is actually based on the T70 Mk3B racecar from 1968.
This casting has an incredible amount of detail packed in. Most of the detail parts are plastic,
but nearly all of them are either painted or plated. The body and chassis carry a
blackened mirror chrome finish and are held together with three tiny black screws. The
bottom of the chassis has some additional detail parts added to simulate engine components
extending below the floor line. On the body, the doors and panels have good subtle relief,
and the two caps behind the front fender tops are well defined. The rear engine cover is
comprised of two diecast pieces for added detail. The glass and headlights are formed of
clear plastic and the rear lights are translucent red and orange plastic – the only unpainted
plastic components on the model. All of the glass panels are outlined in black trim,
including the headlight covers. The glass shield on the engine cover over the air intakes
is trimmed in silver.
Much of the interior appears to be nickel-plated, with some exceptions. The well-detailed single
driver’s seat, dashboard and steering wheel are painted semi-flat black, and the dashboard gauges
and steering wheel spokes are painted silver. The fire extinguisher is neatly painted gloss
red with silver trim.
Lifting the engine cover reveals an exceptional amount of detail represented by only a handful of separate
components. The most intriguing component is the part that simulates the distributor
wires. The definition is so good along with the flat orange finish that it truly appears
to be comprised of separate wires. The one visual that detracts from the appearance – the
only detriment to the model really – is the mold separation lines on the exhaust pipes. Of
course, this is noticeable only when the engine cover is lifted.
A pair of thin parallel red and white lines is tamped around the circumference of the lower sides, from
one rear wheel around the front to the other rear wheel, in perfect registration. A wide red
stripe outlined in white is tamped on top of the car from nose to tail. The GMP oval herald
is tamped on the nose and side doors in black, red and white, while the Toy Fair designation is
tamped on either side of the engine cover.
The wheels have simulated six spokes painted in gray graphite with chrome-plated rims. The tires
appear to be some type of rubber composite, with generic tread detail. Ubiquitous Good
Year logos are tamped on the tire walls neatly in white, along with thin blue lines around the
perimeters. The model has the GMP logo and a 2001 copyright date embossed on the bottom of
the chassis. It is manufactured in China.
When I spoke to the GMP representative, he said he wasn’t sure if the company was going to release the
model in its regular line, and that this promotional might be the only issue of the model.
I hope that GMP resolves any issues they feel exist and release the model in prototypical
paint. If they don’t, I might have to acquire another of these New York Toy Fair
promotionals and paint one myself. This Lola T70, along with the other items GMP had on
display, is as exceptional model.
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