Intended Accelerators

Reading between the blurred lines

A great number of us want to be in control of everything around us. Such is man’s voracious quest for control over the physical world, the society, his emotions and his desires. But in spite of that, man can’t completely get what he wants, tooooo badddd that it will never happen. Nothing can be perfect!
End of story?
Not really, there is such a word as; compromise. Now that seems kinda fun, when you look at it from an optimistic perspective. More like learning to accept cheerful improvisation and adapting to known limitations. There is always a child in us that says; I’ll make do with inadequacy and imperfection.
Take the case of these vaguely controllable toys that are such fun.

THE Bump car!
Steering is mayhem, it accelerate like stink! Never mind the brakes; there is none! What fun!

(Shown are EnchantedKingdom Roadsters, shot by ECM 21Feb10)

THE Slot car!
Steering is fly-by-wire control guessing game, its throttle control stinks even more! I love slot racing!

(Shown is OCR Porsche 935)


The Pull-back car!
Steering is surface dependent, it accelerates but bumps to a stop! You gotta like the hybrid drive (free wheeling / friction wound combo) it has! I do, Darda is my fav of the genre!

(Shown is DARDA VW Golf Cabrio)


Something coincidentally similar to cars nowadays?
Unintentionally Intended? Hmmmm….

Something NEW, Something gOLD

Side-by-side feature

The VW Scirocco GT24 was raced in the 2008 Nurburgring 24 hour even before the actual market launch of the production model.
The result is a 1-2 victory in the 2.0-litre turbo class. Impressive!

Then comes HotWheels, racing to bring this to our pegs and the result is a winner as well! Equally impressive!

Joining it at the background is the original Mark 1 Scirocco.

Something NEW, by HW

Something OLD gold, by Polistil-Italy

And something to look forward to from HW...
the red version as raced in 2009.

914 / four

My partiality to the car wearing both the marques that I loved most is obvious.
The VW-Porsche 914 is such an automobile of queer amalgamation due to its parents.
An offspring brought about by a volume car company on one hand and the other the purveyor of specialty sports cars. The result is an interesting combination to say the least.
Today the union has come full circle, Porsche is now owned by Volkswagen AG.
My interest was reinforced with the recent introduction of MB of the 914. This makes it a 3” quartet of one of my favorite car.

Matchbox

Siku V-series; Germany

Faller; Germany


Schuco; Germany

Poster Poser

Those my age would know this;
As a little boy, the exotic wedge fast shape is an ultimate dream ride.
The menacing look even captures the childhood fondness of robots then.
I remember my classmate would draw this endlessly until he masters the car's details.
Most of us would have pictures of it. A poster is the ultimate on the wall décor.
Ah those were the days!


Reliving that age of naïve automotive amazement is embodied in this heavy 1:43 diecast.

Bandai Lamborghini Countach

Best find of previous year

Looking back with a wide smile

2009 was a great year for my growing collection!
Of the many wonderful cars to come my way,
This one is the best I got for that year. A truly great holy grail found!
Actually it was send over to me and found by a wonderful friend..…
I can’t thank him enough.
Incidentally was received on my birthday week last year!
From the 1960’s Rail Route Series by Majorette.
The only known Porsche F1 (Type 804) in real life and 3" diecast.

Happy Holidays!

A wonderful time of the year has started already!
Allow me to greet you a “wonderful season ahead”.
It was a blast to start this season with you in mind;
Great family, great friends and great fun!
Cheers!
May your season be merry and bright!
Love and peace to one and all!

VW Day 2009 Snapshots

Pictures paint 1001 words.
I’ll let the photos do the talking then!
Enjoy!

Vdub lines




...more Vduds






& much more

2 x 2 = twice the fun

Finally my quest for the HW anniversary version Gulf 917 #2,
has been realized!
This was made possible by the generosity of JDMike.
I couldn’t thank him enough for the RAOK!

The Gulf team is steadily growing and is experiencing a much welcomed expansion.
To celebrate it, would be to join the two #2’s in a fun shoot!
Enjoy….I am!

Hard working Pups

I remember in my teen years, my hard working Dad always envisioned owning a ranch of a farm for leisure time. He would describe vividly going to that place in a beat up pickup truck with paint-faded rusted body work. Of course he’d patterned this vision from the Western films he loves to watch. Many years later, the ‘leisure’ farm of his dream did come true, and I’m happy for him.

My Dad celebrated his simple birthday this November and this reminded me to post these much played-with Pickups. I wouldn’t dare restore their paintwork as this is how they should look like….paint faded rusted….Hey! I’m becoming my Dad (haha).



SHOUT Out:
Thanks to a wonderful friend in Belgium for the yellow version, and JDMike for the white one! Both were given to me this November. The green Pup, I have this for decades and is a delight having a trio now!

Husky VW Pups!

Custom MBx Regular Wheel Karmann

More than a "Lazy Custom" series

Back in 2006, I wrote in my blog a glimpse of my liking of a weekend warrior….
http://ekomenda.blogspot.com/2006/08/rebel-racer-weekend-warrior-everyone.html
It is this blue Karmann Ghia I sketched.


3 years after, a few weeks back….I gave it a go!
I did though revised a bit, since after that blog entry….both HW and Jada had some pretty wild concepts of Karmann coupe racer and I wouldn’t want to repeat them in this custom. Sticking to my wanting of a vintage weekend racer, but in another guise is the route I pursued. I always loved to have some Matchbox regular wheel VW’s (donations, RAOK are welcomed :) ), and this is a good excuse to make one.
From the recent MB Karmann Ghia…

Initially I wanted it to be just a lazy custom, but the original stance is too high. So a new chassis was grafted, then fitted with skinny regular wheels from a beater Siku…

To make this Karmann Speedster in one of my fav livery.



Some more views.
Showing the fabricated front lip spoiler,

tonneau cover, roll bar & twin tail pipes.

Cheers and Enjoy!
Erwin