The past few months have seen a whirlwind of releases hitting the market. I think it’s safe to say that if you have a favorite Lotus model, there is a manufacturer out there that will produce it! Spark continues to be
Matt’s Models – August 2009
One Man’s Junk is Another Man’s Treasure
Sometime around 1992 I was in the middle of acquiring parts for a Lotus Cortina restoration project. Former Lotus Corps member Dennis Duncan who had seriously raced a Lotus Cortina had stockpiled a warehouse full of parts, some new and some old. If you
Matt’s Models – August 2006
Spark models is a manufacturer out of Macau, that has started producing Lotus models along with various other marques. I was a bit hesitant about ordering one, due to the fact that they are hand made out of resin (1 am a die
Matt’s Models – March 2005
Minichamps, or Paul’s Model Art, is another Chinese company that has released probably thousands of die cast vehicles in all forms of racing. Their subject matter ranges from street, formula one, IRL/Cart, and rally 1/43 scale models. Recently they have also gone into the
Tale of Two Tinas – Epilogue
In September of 1990 I embarked on a mission. I bought two rusty, beat-up, parts scavenged wrecks that were once Lotus Cortinas. I spent hundreds of hours over the next seven years tearing them both down, picking out the best body and parts, selling
A Tale of Two Tinas – Part 51
Tina’s coming out party! Her first car show! The British Car Festival is an annual event held in my hometown of Des Plaines, Illinois. Every year for the past 10 years, Oakton Community College has lent (for a small fee) it’s large parking
A Tale of Two Tinas – Part 50
Time to work on some more of the bugs. The exhaust leaks were two problems. One, some idiot didn’t install the number three exhaust gasket right. It was on one stud but not the other. Guess I’ll have to fire the mechanic. Wait
A Tale of Two Tinas, Part 49
There were some bugs. Lots of little bugs. But bugs I can handle, at least it’s running. Now I can pick away at the bugs till they are all gone. There was a couple of exhaust leaks. The timing must be way off
A Tale of Two Tinos (Lotus Cortinas) Part 13A
I need an instant replay. Or at least a video tape I can review later. I know what happened, after it happened, I just missed a big portion on it. I was there. I was definitely involved. I must have blinked… or
A Tale of Two Tinas (Lotus Cortinas) Part 13
Now the next thing I have to do is shovel, sweep and dispose of 850 pounds of sand! I didn’t want to leave the mess with Greg, so as I made trips from his house to mine, I put 5 gallon buckets of