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In-Box Review
124
Cobra Daytona Coupe
High-Tech Model Cobra Daytona Coupe 1/24 Scale
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by: Gary Lane [ TRANSITIONMODELLER ]

Introduction

The Daytona Cobra Coupe is an American sports coupe designed and built by Carroll Shelby. It is loosely based on the chassis and drive-train of the AC Cobra. The car was designed and built for racing and specifically to take on the Ferrari 250GTO in the GT class. Just six Shelby Daytona Coupes were built between 1964 and 1965.

The Cobra Daytona became the first American built car to win a title on the international scene at the FIA World Sportscar Championship in 1965.

WHEELBASE 2286mm
WIDTH 1727mm
ENGINE V8 OHV
DISPLACEMENT 4736cc (4.7 Liter)
MAX POWER 385 hp

Contents

The model comes in a white box with photos of the model and parts in color and black & white on the cover and edges of the box. Most of the writing on the box is in Japanese with some English translation. This is a multi-media kit and upon opening the box, you have the following contents:

- Color placard showing views of the built model suitable for hanging
- Black & white instruction sheet
- Decal sheet
- Body in white styrene
- 3 small bags of white metal parts
- 1 small chrome tree
- 1 clear tree
- 2 black soft vinyl trees
- 1 small light grey tree
- Inner tube in light grey styrene
- 1 bag containing 8 metal pins
- 1 fret of photo-etch
- 2 brass tubes
- 2 steel tubes

Review

The body is very cleanly molded in white plastic. No mold lines, ejector pin marks or sink marks are evident on the body. Clean-up will be minimal, if any at all. The body looks very well proportioned with crisp detail. This is a curb side kit so there is no engine detail and therefore the hood is molded into the body. The large air intake on top of the hood is molded open as are the air intakes and vents at the front of the body.

The other plastic parts are molded in light grey and contain the interior tub, gas tank and outer rim of the steering wheel. As with the body, detail is crisp and flash is non-existent. There are some very shallow ejector pin marks on the interior tub but these will clean up easily. That being said, the marks are in areas where it is unlikely they will be visible on the finished kit.

The kit includes five tires molded in soft black vinyl. As with the plastic, there is no flash and tread detail is crisp. Being racing tires, there is no sidewall detail. Surprisingly, the seats and interior doors are molded in the same soft vinyl as the tires. I think this will make painting difficult.

The clear sprue is thin and very clear with only minor optical distortion. As with the rest of the kit, there is no flash and detail is crisp

The chrome tree is minimal and the chrome appears thin and evenly applied. It contains trim rings for the wheels, buckets for the lights, knock-offs for the wheels and gear shifter.

The photo-etch fret contains 41 parts and attachment points are very small. Clean-up should be minimal. All bends are clearly indicated.

Suspension, exhaust and wheels are all white metal. Detail is crisp and clean-up appears minimal, with only small areas of flash and mold lines present. The lower engine and transmission are also molded in white metal.

The kit also contains metal tubing that must be cut and assembled to create the frame and some interior/frame bracing. Measuring, cutting and joining will be required for these parts of the assembly.

Conclusion

Despite being nearly 30 years old, the detail and crispness of the molds can stand-up to most newly tooled kits today. With some care and work it should build into an exceptional example of a very rare subject.

I would recommend this kit to experienced modelers only and experience working with several different materials would be a definite asset to this build. Building the kit will require measuring, cutting, drilling and joining of metal.

The one drawback of this kit is the price. This is a very rare subject and Gunze Sangyo is the only large scale manufacturer that offered this car in 1/24 scale. Adding to this is the fact that this kit has been out of production for quite some time. While not exceptionally hard to find, expect to pay well in excess $100 for this kit.

SUMMARY
Highs: Clean molding and crisp detail of what is a very rare subject appeals to me.
Lows: The seats & interior side panels aremolded in soft vinyl and the very high price.
Verdict: This is a very nice kit and a great addition to your collection.
Percentage Rating
90%
  Scale: 1:24
  Mfg. ID: 12/1986
  Suggested Retail: $100.00
  PUBLISHED: Aug 31, 2015
  NATIONALITY: United States
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 90.00%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 90.00%

About Gary Lane (TransitionModeller)
FROM: NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA

Copyright ©2021 text by Gary Lane [ TRANSITIONMODELLER ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of ModelGeek. All rights reserved.



Comments

Always loved the iconic Daytona coupe. One of the best looking racecars of all time. Is that the gearshifter boot cover in the vinyl sprue? Thanks for an excellent review Gary.
SEP 01, 2015 - 11:44 AM
Thanks. Yes thats the gear boot on the vinyl tree. This looks like a great kit.
SEP 04, 2015 - 11:17 PM
Great review of a great kit of a great car. I literally would kill to own this kit.
MAR 08, 2016 - 06:56 AM
   


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