During the years I collected the 2 kits. Italeri one was the hardest to get, despite the many reissues of the kit. My interest about theme come with the purchasing of a racing Mercedes. I was hoping it was smaller than this big boy arrived at my bay:
This was one of the legendary winning racing trucks from MB, think today in a museum. I had the possibility to see a truck race some yrs ago and was incredibly nice and fun to see those fat buddies running around. Incredible powers (often up to 1000 hp) and nearly all with an RPM stopper in the engine to avoid theme to pass the 160kmts/hours.
After this speed, the shape of the racing object start to matter a lot (Porsche cit.) and for safety reason they are all limited in speed, despite they could arrive easily up to 280 km/hours
The fact this german toy was driven by Stve Parrish, (read UK motorbike rider +barry sheene team mate + UK SBK + TT = HERO for me..) makes it very very very intersting item,even more when I read from his wikipedia some facts like those:
A notorious practical joker, Parrish is known to have carried out various pranks.
He is permanently banned from the Chinese administrative region of Macau after blowing a brothel up with a home-made bomb made out of firecrackers, when several of his fellow riders were being 'serviced' inside.
He burnt down a toilet block in Poland.[14]
He once posed as a medical doctor to allow John Hopkins to fly from Japan to the Australian GP.[15]
He upset his fellow village residents by registering PEN 15 as his car number plate.
He once sabotaged a Mini Moke belonging to Team Bike, (a group of benefactors, mechanics, racers, journalists and helpers) by undoing every single wheel-nut to the last thread, in a revenge prank. The prank was discovered shortly before the vehicle was going to be driven off.[14]
He once posed as Barry Sheene in a qualifying session when the two were team-mates, as Sheene had turned up to the session with a hangover. Parrish put on Sheene's helmet/overalls and qualified on his behalf, then put his own clothing back on and qualified further down the grid as himself.[14]
Parrish owns an ambulance and has been seen using the ambulance to park on double yellow lines with the doors open in visits to his local bank.[14]
He also owns a fire engine and once hosed down the inside of a friend's packed pub on a Sunday afternoon.[14]
Steve appeared in Beadles About pranked by one of his best friends Beadle launched a military assault in the back garden of the ex-champion motorcycle racer. Beadle's About - S02E04 Steve Parris
