Friday November 21, 2003

Grand Entrance!

The New Monogram Corvette Grand Sport!

One of the biggest releases this past year came as a welcome surprise when Monogram came back to the hobby. The Cobra they brought us was simply a great first effort by them and we have collected them all. As nice as this model was, all it did was fuel the fires for Chevrolet enthusiasts who knew the next release was to be the Corvette Grand Sport.

Well they have arrived! Both versions of this model have a great history to them to say the least, with names like Jim Hall, John Cannon, Augie Pabst and A.J. Foyt having piloted them. On the back of each box cover, Monogram gives you a short history of each model as they did on the Cobras. Our models are the #2 from Sebring 1964 and # 65 Nassua 1963. I think this feature is nice for those enthusiasts who might not know all the details of each car, and you would be surprised how many people don't. Slot cars have a strange ability to grab you and take you in without even knowing what you have purchased...you just know it is a car you felt looked fantastic and couldn't wait to race it.

Well racing is just what Monogram built them for I assure you. Taking a look at the body and overall shape,  my un-calibrated eyes tell me they re-created these historic beauties quite well. There are always going to be some scale issues with just about every slot car we have, but for my money Monogram has brought us about as close as you could ask for. As I always like to do, I try and allow the photos to tell most of the story and allow you to decide for yourself.

Overall body fit and finish are excellent on both of my samples. Tampo-stampings were all clear and opaque with good color and minimal fading with an even clear coat sealing everything adequately. The clear coat here isn't the thickest one I have seen on a slot car, but at least Monogram applied one and you can always easily add to the effort. You will notice this the first time you de-slot and put your #2 on its hood as the roof line will most likely rub away a little of the white to expose the body.

Details such as the side pipes, hood and interior work are all here and are right with the standard set by the Cobra. Although the interior is sealed in place you can peer inside and find our drivers are once again painted nicely and are sitting in a realistic interior. Items like interior detail mean a great deal to some enthusiasts and I think Monogram has done well enough in this department for most of you.

Wheels and tires are new to this model and again Monogram appears to have done well in the detail department. Some might feel these are on the small side, but again comparing to prototype photos I think Monogram has came very close. The only issue I could find were these tires will need some sanding to get them round and true. However, tire sanding is pretty much a common standard in our hobby so I cannot really fault Monogram on this.

You might find some front end "hop" while driving them for the first time, and this is where sanding the tires comes into play. On the #65 model we noticed this and luckily the front tires slip on the rear wheels cleanly for sanding. Once we sanded them down, this cured the front end hop completely. Since our other Vette was free of this issue I have to think it is isolated to very few models, however if your model has this hop it only takes a few seconds to get things right.

Underneath we see where 4 screws mount the body to that chassis, front guide and adjustable bar magnet. These screws are easily removed as is the body with no pinching or delicate pieces to worry about. Here we find a change to the chassis in the form of a indentation created on the front of the motor housing to prevent the guide from rubbing as it did on some of the early Cobras.

Inside we see the familiar Mabuchi motor sitting in the front-motor configuration. So far this set-up has proven itself to be not only durable, but very smooth as with our previous Cobras and such is the case here. Monogram makes sure the crown gear and pinion are well lubricated but it won't hurt to add a light drop of oil on each end of the motor and bushings before hard racing.

Another welcome change is also located at the gear system. Although the crown gear is still 26 teeth, Monogram changed the pinion gear from a 10 tooth to a 9 to help increase the braking effect and allow it to be better suited for smaller home tracks. I can tell you now that this DOES make a difference as our testing here has shown, even on our longer Artin 4 lane track with 20 foot straights. Monogram did listen to the enthusiasts on this matter, as well as the front guide, which is something they should be complimented on as not every car maker in our hobby does. The rest of the chassis components, most notably the axles and bushings were straight and true with the bushings held very firmly in place. I still advise a light drop of adhesive on these bushings as a preventive maintenance measure in case the do begin to come loose under hard driving conditions.

The front axle on both our releases had very minimal free-play which I was happy to see. I did find on the #65 one wheel was a little loose on the axle itself, but a quick drop of Testors cement cured that quickly. One thing that slightly bothers me is the wiring from the front guide to the motor. These wires are certainly long enough but it is the fact they are tucked underneath the front axle and make contact with it and over time this will wear away the coating of the wire. The fix for this is easy enough of course for the veteran enthusiast by removing all the excess wiring and re-routing them over the top of the axle. I will do this on both my models soon, but I had to race them first!

I can say easily that these cars are simply a blast to race! As with the Cobra before it, you should happily discover a whisper-quiet and smooth drive-train along with the braking action and acceleration more pronounced. We found we could dive a little deeper into the corners with them as well as have great punch swinging out of the corners. The magnet is strong enough for most enthusiasts tastes although some might even add more. I enjoy having a little more window of correction for controlling a slide, so our models are raced with the magnet placed in the far forward position. This slight difference also seems to help keep the model pinned down just a little more up front, and this is where it suits my individual tastes.

Time for a comparison! Out of the box the Grand Sport was an average of .5 seconds faster than a box stock Cobra. Changing to a 9 tooth pinion helps the Cobra a little but it cannot make up for the wheelbase advantage the Vette has and this is where the Grand Sport seems to just have more control overall and was easier to drive. Lap times on our new Artin 4 lane system were an average of 4.5 seconds with the Cobra at 5.00. Best lap times were 4.1 and 4.6 respectively.

Some may not agree...however the bottom line for me is that Monogram has produced another winner. Die-hard Chevrolet fans will most certainly want to add these to their collection as well as those of you looking for more variety in your current stable. With a smooth, reliable drive-train and decent scale appeal it should easily please most enthusiasts. Given the release date is early December on the #65, you should have time to grab one for that lucky slot car enthusiast on your list (if they have been good of course) with the #2 slated for a January release. This second effort by Monogram has just made me look forward to even more releases by them, and I can't help but recommend these models as they could become a very fun part of your current slot car collection.

- 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!

For some great history of these models try these related links: Make sure to check out the Monogram Review Section too!

http://www.grandsportcorvette.com/gs/

http://www.illustratedcorvetteseries.com/No19_1963_GS_Coupe.html

Thanks got to Revell-Monogram for providing us with these models!
Make sure you check their website often for all the latest news on upcoming releases.