Philippe de Lespinay started with Heller, the French model kit company in the 1960s as a designer and project engineer. He also also worked for Cox, who are now known for their remote control and gas powered vehicles, but also created many kits over the years. More recently, he was the curator of the Los Angeles Slot Car Museum. And he’s on the hobbyDB Advisory Board, so yeah, he’s our kind of guy.
hobbyDB will be regularly sharing his insights on particular models he has worked on including production kits, never-produced projects, and his own custom builds. We hope you enjoy the journey through his career as well.
Read more about his history in the toy and model business here.
Balsa Wood Alfa Romeo 33: A Major Mistake (but what fun it was!)
In search of the ultimate lightweight, I built this crazy car in 1968 using a Dynamic Alfa Romeo “33” body over a balsa-wood cum light-gauge piano wire chassis, that for unknown reasons, survived for the last 41 years and counting.
The original body was French blue, I will have to paint this replacement some day, or maybe not because it clearly shows the intricacies of my engineering heresy!
The original was powered by a Champion “Bob Cozine Signature” motor, and that thing was fast, but the noise was incredible as the chassis resonated like a violin!
Wow – I would have love to seen that one run. What happened to the original body? Did it disintegrate over time or wrecked?
I’m going to guess the original body was a victim of rough racing!
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