Eighties Contest Entry: 1986 Ferrari 288GTO Evo

[lotus_man]

Well, I'm kind of hoping I can sneak this build into the contest as a curbside entry.

First the history bit(!). Everyone here probably knows about Group B from the rally cars that were build to those regulations. Fire-breathing cars that sounded amazing, went like a rocket and tended to be a little unsafe when crashed, rather sadly. That last fact helped the demise of the Group B cars, and this car as well. Less people know that Group B was to be extended into the sportscar field, as a sub-formula to the Group C cars of the day (thing GT1 vs Prototype cars as we have today). Had that happened, this car would have formed the basis of Ferrari's efforts, and would have had factory blessing. The death of Group B killed that plan sadly, but several of these cars still exist and still run from time to time... I bumped into one at the Festival of Speed earlier this year. Needles to say I have quite a few photos to help with the build, especially the interior which is quite wrong acording to photos I have. More on that later I suspect. Anyway, I've attached a photo of the original for those that aren't familiar with this most rare of Ferraris.





The kit is a PM 1:43 resin, one of the last of the kits the company produced before they folded, and such is no longer available. I'm indepted to Peter Mooshammer for providing mine. So far I'v cleened up the body and added a few etched ancilliaries ready for priming and paint. I'm aiming to make swift progress on this one, so keep watching this space. As always, let me know what you think!

[robrex]

Good luck with this one! The original looks gorgeous!

[RallyRaider]

Great looking car, you can really see the evolution towards the F40 in it.
The cancellation of Group B robbed us of some fantastic sports cars on the track and stages.
What year was this developed?

[Murray Kish]

I've never seen that before! Definitely interesting.

Surely it'll be a masterpiece when you're done!

Looking forward to the progress

Murray

[D_LaMz]

this is going to be great! ever thought of making the evo from a fujimi kit?

[lotus_man]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

Great looking car, you can really see the evolution towards the F40 in it.
The cancellation of Group B robbed us of some fantastic sports cars on the track and stages.
What year was this developed?

That's so true. The 6 Evos were built betwean 1985 an 86. The chassis numbers are here (BTW a very usefull site for Ferrari fans!).

[RallyRaider]

Yeah that'd be just like Ferrari, build it in '85 not race it in '86 then blame the no show on a Group B cancellation for '87. Just kiddin'. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and call it 1986 - for thread title purposes you understand...

[klutz_100]

Looking forward to this

Don't lose anything this time! j/k

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

Great looking car, you can really see the evolution towards the F40 in it.
The cancellation of Group B robbed us of some fantastic sports cars on the track and stages.

Yeah, mechanically the 288 Evo and the F40 were nearly identical. When Group B was killed, the 288 Evos essentially became F40 prototypes. The demise of Group B also killed the 959, which was to be Porsche's answer to the 288 Evo. Like with the F40, Porsche just put them into a limited street production run instead. Shame- it would have been a spectacular series!

Interesting subject, should be a cool build!

[lotus_man]

Originally Posted by MPWR

Yeah, mechanically the 288 Evo and the F40 were nearly identical. When Group B was killed, the 288 Evos essentially became F40 prototypes. The demise of Group B also killed the 959, which was to be Porsche's answer to the 288 Evo. Like with the F40, Porsche just put them into a limited street production run instead. Shame- it would have been a spectacular series!

Interesting subject, should be a cool build!

Actually the 959 did race... as a 961 at Le Mans in 1986 when it won it's class (OK, it was the only car in its class but at least it finished!). It also ran at Daytona and Le Mans the following year.

You can find more info in it here , and yes I do have a kit of it somewhere

[rallymaster]

Originally Posted by lotus_man

Actually the 959 did race... as a 961 at Le Mans in 1986 when it won it's class (OK, it was the only car in its class but at least it finished!). It also ran at Daytona and Le Mans the following year.

And don't forget the 959 ran in the Paris to Dakar rally 1985 and 1986, winning the 86 race !!

Phil

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by rallymaster

And don't forget the 959 ran in the Paris to Dakar rally 1985 and 1986, winning the 86 race !!

Phil

Phil,

Is there a kit available of this DAK-PAR 959? I'm kind of getting interested in this rally in it's own right and trying to get kits for it.

Sorry Lotus_man for hi-jacking your thread for a second here

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Is there a kit available of this DAK-PAR 959?

Gunze put this one out a while ago-



Turns up on Ebay occasionally. No idea about the kit quality.

[gionc]

AWESOME
I saw that beast at Bologna's Motorshow in 1986, I think, the first year with Memorial Bettega, with group B cars (delta S4 and metro V6 with 450/500 cv in a suare circuit
fantastic choice: is from when l built italeri's gto(and after fuji entusiast) who I want convert une in those for show the 3 evolution's steps: 288-evo-F40 what descourage me was rear grids: too much holes!
I sould have some photo somewhere, I just check

[rallymaster]

Originally Posted by klutz_100

Phil,

Is there a kit available of this DAK-PAR 959? I'm kind of getting interested in this rally in it's own right and trying to get kits for it.

Sorry Lotus_man for hi-jacking your thread for a second here

Hi Stevenski,

available now, not...
but Starter (1/43) or Gunze sangyo as ever said here have produced some 959 kits.
only Starter made the 86 winner.

quality of Gunze 959...?
inferior to other brands on my opinion, car lines aren't really wrong but the car seems not long enough...
you should know that this kit is part of the motorized serie, then...
but 1/24 scale it's the only one !

you can easyly find some starter 959 on ebay, around 30 euros, sometimes less, but Gunze is more difficult to find, even on ebay where prices would quickly increase...

I have two 1/24 gunze kits, I will buy only one of them but a friend from my modelling association has ever reserved the second !
I have 5 or 6 starter kits on the two years, cos' i would try to build all the team each year !
but that's not done...

and now, sorry lotus_man, back to your great 288 !

Phil