Sunday February 01, 2009

It is not often that we see new arrivals from Auto Art. Although they have released several models in the last few months none of them really caught my eye. This changed when I learned of the Jaguar D & C types. I have a soft spot for old classics regardless who makes them and it would be only a matter of time before one of them arrived here.

I chose the D Type because a racing friend of mine Jim Troye who visits here often purchased the C Type and I wanted to see how they would match up together. I also found this model interesting as it has a important part in history, albeit a sad one. Although this car won the Le Mans 24 hours the victory was nothing to really celebrate as the worst tragedies in racing happened during that very event. Just a few years later Hawthorn himself had an accident in yet another Jag and racing lost another great driver.

So this model here has a morbid past to say the least. But that was then, this is now. Here we will allow this model to re-live the past victories it achieved and we can do it with a much better safety record!

Hopefully the photos can let you know how wonderful this model looks. Auto Art being a primarily die-cast company knows how to create a model with high marks in accuracy. This is why I found it odd that they made the driver so small. In fact, our version of Hawthorn is more 1/43rd scale. Does it really bother me? Sure it does. With all the research they must have done to produce this model you have to think they could have made a better effort on driver accuracy.

Will it stop me from racing it? No, of course not. The rest of the model is stunning to say the least. I cannot tell you how deep the shine is on this model. You can see a country mile into it and still keep going. The clear coat is also nearly the best I have ever seen in our scale.

Little items like the hood straps and handles really add to the scale realism. For the most part this model should please most enthusiasts on appearance. And for those that do not like the small driver, you can change it out using some creativity. I have already seen one of our forum members do just that.

Wheels and tires seem well enough although I did notice there was work to be done on the tires. They seemed a little out of round to my eye but we will confirm that in the road test. The neat part was when we get up close. The wheels have the Dunlop logo on them. That is a pretty nice detail to add. Things like this just allow me to enjoy the model even more. It draws you in to look closer and I like that.

Road Test

Plastic Magnet Track - PARMA 25 OHM Control - 12 Volt DC (Pyramid 29KX)

In stock form this car screams. For those who like high speed magnet racing this car will deliver all you can handle. It reminds me of the Carrera version on the speed levels but the braking is actually a little more pronounced. We were dicing it around to a 3.3 second lap time average which is pretty quick on old Dixon Hills.

So out of the box the car "passes" with flying colors. It functions as intended. Is it what I personally like in operation for a classic? No, but I cannot fault Auto Art for not making a car exactly the way I want it. For me it is too fast but that is the beauty of this hobby. We have more options in parts than ever before. I can change it if I want to. Jim had tuned his C Type with a new motor so I will have to change mine to make things fair in comparisons later.

And honestly with the low price these are going for, even if you put a little more investment into it, you are not hurting your budget that much. At the time of this writing BRS Hobbies has these models for $37.95. That is a great price point for a new release at this point in our hobby. I cannot help but think these cars an excellent value.

And I am not the only one. As I write this review, readers of our message forum are saying almost the same thing. First, Auto Art did a great job on the body and overall finish. Stunning is how we would sum it up. Sure the driver is small. That is clearly seen. Aside from that most feel they did well on the model scale wise.

However as nice as the model is, there was a small issue to contend with. I noticed my front wheels were rubbing on something. I looked closer and noticed the wiring of the lights was rubbing the right front tire. I took a small screwdriver and pushed the wires back away from the tire and all was well.

Looking Closer

Turning the model over we see that only 2 screws mount the body to the chassis. Be careful when removing the body as this car is fully lighted front and rear. There is a nice quick disconnect feature however which I always like to see. Once inside we see that the car is a front motor configuration. It has a 10 tooth pinion on the end of the driveshaft that turns a 28 tooth crown gear.

I don't know any RPM ratings for the motor but it certainly has enough speed for most of you out there.

Up front we see an interesting design for the front wheels. Many veteran enthusiasts have seen this type of independent front wheel before. However, unlike versions we have seen from other companies, this one actually works very well. They are using metal pins that are machined very well and press fit into the wheel. There was very little slop in my model and it should please most of you.

I'm glad they work well and there was no need to try and adjust or change them. Because Auto Art made these metal pins to stay. I am not sure what method and/or adhesive they used to mount these pins inside the wheel, but rest assured they will NOT come out without a fight. I tried several times using a large needle nose pliers and could barely get it to budge. I decided to leave them be before I ended up with a broken wheel.

Quick Tuning

There are some things you can do to this car to make it run a little more smoothly. First is lubrication. This car was odd in that I saw no signs of oil or grease anywhere. Adding a light drop of oil on all 4 bushings really made the car a quiet runner. Also give the driveshaft bushing, each end of the motor and if you want to, a little on the gears. Sometimes even something as simple as proper lubrication goes a long way.

Next we take a good look at the wheels and tires. I noticed a good amount of hop to the car on our wood track. I looked closer and saw that the tires were not seated properly.

The usual suspect is flash molding on the wheels and sure enough there was, and quite a bit of it. Easy enough though to sand away. I used sand paper by hand on the front wheels and removed the rear tires and sanded them using our old stand by methods.

After cleaning up the wheels I did a quick tire sanding. I sanded the rear tires first and then removed them and placed them on the front. Then just sanded again and we were ready for the track.

Non Magnet Wood Track Racing
Routed MDF - Flat Latex Surface - Copper Tape Conductivity
Pyramid 26KX Power Supply @12 Volts - PARMA 25 OHM Controllers

As already mentioned, just a little tuning goes a long way. This car is now very smooth and a very nice runner on our track. The tires are not too bad either and hook up rather well. It does not last long though so many of you will look for after-market tires. I used K&D NINCO classic tires and they fit perfectly with the body off but are too wide for the body. I will send these tires into them and have these custom made. Still, with sanding and cleaning the stock tires were better than I expected.

I only wish they would have used more conventional gear ratios. To make this car a part of our current classic field I will need to change out the gears to a 9 tooth pinion and 27 tooth crown gear. I do not really fault Auto Art for choosing the gear ratio they did. They really are not producing models to be competitive with any other brand.

Final Thoughts

By itself this is a really nice slot car. It will not appeal to everyone of course but I think it is well worth the investment if you like the classics. It also has plenty of potential to satisfy a variety of tastes. It can be re-motored and tuned rather easily if you want to tone things down a bit for more of a classic feel. With a great price point it also appeals to those on tighter budgets. I will have the C type to go with it and who knows? Maybe another D type for some re-paints. I suggest you take hard look at what these little cars have to offer.

- Harry

As always feel free to contact me about this article or just the hobby in general at harry@homeracingworld.com, or better yet drop into our Message Forum and share your thoughts with other enthusiasts!

Thanks Go To BRS HOBBIES For Sponsoring This Review!