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Fangio's coupe Chevrolet '39 from Provence Moulage
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Juan Manuel Fangio was five times Formula one World Champion, this is known by all the lovers of motoring. Perhaps all do not know that before those successes in Europe he ran in his native country, Argentina, in a very popular category then, which was for Saloon Cars. This category was called "Turismo Carretera" (road tourism).
The dangers of these Saloon Cars inspired men with a great sporting spirit... and a desire to race. They used the Coupes of Chevrolet and Ford from the decades of 30 and 40. They worked on improving performance of the motors and reinforcing the suspensions as well as
lightening the cars.
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A race lasted several days along routes, some of which were dirt and often divided into stages. These cars weighing 1500kg, ran at very high speeds (150 km/hour) , on road tyres and suspensions that today would make us smile.
In this series of road races Juan Manuel developed the skills that would later be seen in Formula One, and with these few lines I would like to remember and to honour his name.
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The kit
Coupe '39 of Provence Moulage, is a basic multimedia in 1/43. If you wanted to begin with this scale, would be perhaps a type of kit to start with. The main parts are in resin, the body is divided into two parts, which are smooth and well finished. My example had a small breakage in an edge of the front left mudguard. This would be easy to solve with a little filler paste.
The resin sprue can be trimmed off with a sharp knife and finished with fine sandpaper. The surface should be cleaned with an old toothbrush, a mix of washing up liquid and crème cleaner to remove grease and dirt before painting. I advise to apply, a base layer with automotive primer or Humbrol matte paint.
The kit also contains a photo etched sheet, where among other things are the belts that hold the bonnet. The expert modeler will surely look for a more real material.
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Although the model is simple, has some finely detailed parts, as PE windscreen wipers, metal lights, windows frames and several other small parts. The wheels are of turned metal, with small cast resin parts to detail their bolts. The windows and windshields are made of vacuum formed acetate.
According to my references, the cover of the trunk is of heavy fabric to reduce the car's weight, thus if you decide to build this kit, this has to be modified.
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A detail that could have been improved is the radiator's grill for ventilation, the kit has a decal to represent it, but a photo etched part would be better.
The instructions are also poor, but if you have a minimum of experience they will be enough.
Finally the kit provides a good decal sheet, several resin and metal parts of very good quality, with which you'll be able to detail the gearshift, the rear view mirror, etc
A curious point to stand out is that this automobile had steering wheel to the right while on the cars were driven by the right hand of the road.
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Conclusion
A fine model of a beautiful car, which should be easy to
build, with simple painting and decal placement. This would be
the type of kit that would be recommended as a first 1/43-scale resin
kit. Definitively, an invaluable piece to be added to an all times F1 collection, as one of the first cars that the greatest Motor Racing Champion had.
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