[69Stang]

Picked this up off Ebay this week for $7.50. This is my first Audi R8C and also my first 1:43 STARTER brand model.

The car is not done very well, and on top of that, the original seller mentioned it had problems. I spent the better part of the day trying to get this casting sorted out and I think I'm OK with it now. I am glad to add it to my collection for such a good price. But based on the overall stye of construction, I will be pretty selective on my future Started purchases.

But the truly fun part of the car is the subject matter it's self. This is Chassis #102, RTN / Audi R8C designed by famed engineer Tony Southgate and built by Racing Technologies Norfolk (RTN). This is one of only two R8C's ever built and they only ran in one race ever...the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The cars sucked (this one DNFed at 43 of 45 cars) completing only 55 laps before a failed gearbox. But again, I think it's neat to see such a rare and unsuccessful car re-created in miniature!

As always, thanks for the looks and comments,

Ward

 

[PWSchuh]

What did you have to do to fix it? My experiences with Starter have always been pretty good.

 

[69Stang]

Though not mentioned in the auction, when the car arrived the rear wing was at an odd angle, the wiper was missing and the left mirror was broken off. I believe this was the result of an over delicate model, as the car was very well packaged and shipped with quite a bit of care.

What was listed was the tires (what are they made of...vinyl, rubber, some very soft rubber like compound) were all split and separated. The seller had several Starter's and all were exhibiting the same malady.

I had to break the car down and re glue the rubber to the wheel, trying to pull the two halves back together again hiding the 90 degree seem. The "axles" were both broken and had to be re-glued and one of the very crude , large boring screws used to hold the car to together was trying to penetrate the resin casting.

I found it to be very "home made" in comparison to a IXO, Minichamps or even another resin company like Spark. The car has an overall nice look, but had I paid $35 or $40 dollars , I would have been extremely disappointed, even were it mint.

 

[ranchero]

Those Starter models have been around for a long time - since the '80s I think. I have a few and I know the quality is poor. They are French. They are resin. I think they also did some "transkits" - resin transformations of standard issue die cast cars. The Starter company must have very limited production runs; it is probably a one or two man business. I would only buy one at a model show where I could inspect it - but that's just me.

But for that good price you probably still have to be pleased to have a model of a unique car in the collection - rescued by your own ingenuity. Good deal.

- ranchero -

 

[k1w1taxi]

Starter were originally a resin kit manufacturer. The factory handbuilts came along after the company was taken over by Provence Moulage (at that time also a French kit manufacturer). The built range included a lot (every?) Le Mans winner as well as various others from their range. At the time they were quite a large business with several new releases per month covering everything from Road cars to LM to NASCAR.

Cheers
Lee