Deriving its name from its country of origin, the 458 Italia is the latest from the Ferrari stable. All the usual things you would expect from a Ferrari are there including incredible performance (top speed over 200 mph) and styling that makes it look fast just standing still. There are some firsts for Ferrari including no floor shifter and direct fuel injection. The gear changes are handled by paddle shifters coupled to a dual clutch, 7-speed transmission. A former Ferrari team driver Michael Schumacher helped design the interior layout. Cooling air is introduced by some clever intakes around the headlamps and behind the rear quarter windows. Another neat innovation is the airflow vanes in the front grille that actually deflect as speed increases to reduce drag. The 458 has been in the news lately for a rash of fires that destroyed several cars. The problem was traced to a wheel well adhesive that couldn’t take the heat.

History

“The Mongoose” is a name that conjures up a lot of memories for me. I remember the Hot Wheels renditions of the “The Snake” and “The Mongoose” as any Hot Wheels collector worth their salt had those cars in their case. What I didn’t realize at the time was the marketing savvy behind those shiny little toys cars. As it turns out, Tom McEwen, the driver of “The Mongoose,” was a master of promoting drag racing and one of the key figures in developing sponsorships that although common today, were a novel idea in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Toms racing career would span 40 years and while he didn’t accrue the winning record of his nemesis Don Prudomme, the rivalry Tom created with the Snake and the Mongoose has become the stuff of drag racing legend.

The Kit

The Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR (which stands for American Club Racer) is the latest Viper from the Dodge Boys built for hard core street and race enthusiasts. The ACR comes equiped fron the factory with a built for racing aluminum 8.4 litre V10 rated at 600 horse power. Additionally it comes equipped with Brembo discs brakes all around the size of pizza pans; creature comforts include a 310 watt 7 speaker sound system and a 220 MPH speedometer…all for a MSRP of $110,055. This Viper ACR is no longer in production but it is certain to be a collector’s item in the future.

The Kit

Revell's new release of Chevrolet's uber-Muscle Car is molded in white plastic, and is a modification of their basic Corvette mold, with extra parts included specific to the ZR1. A little reference to part numbers is needed because the regular Corvette C6 ones will fit on the ZR1, but I’m not sure things like the exhausts and headers would match up if they were interchanged.

The build is straightforward with no vices, though a little parts cleanup helps things fit together better. The four-lobe Eaton supercharger isn't a great fit to the engine block unless the top of the block is sanded flatter along its seam. On the plus side, the headers have real locating pins to fit into the block, not just nubs which sit in shallow depressions.

The Kurtis Kraft company built some of the first specialty race cars of the post war era. Started by Frank Kurtis in the 1930s, the company would go on to build race cars ranging from midget racers to the “big cars,” that raced the grand prix circuit which included The Indy 500. This model represents a 1955 Kurtis Kraft 500C model powered by a 255 ci Offenhauser engine producing 400hp. These cars could hit 170 mph. Nine of these cars were built. In fact, between 1950 and 1955 Kurtis Kraft cars won four of five Indy races.