T54, is this one of the Cox prototypes?

T54,

I read were there were a few prototype models made for a rally 1/32 scale Cox set that never materialized (with a 240Z and a Porsche 911). I got this at the Los Angeles Porsche Model & Literature Show a couple of years ago, and the gentleman claimed it was one of those. Did I what he said it was, and if so, how many of the prototypes were made? It is definitely has hand airbrushed dirt/grime, and the markings are partially decals from other Cox slot cars (like the 917/10 L&M Porsche), and a few are from glued on paper, because you can see how they protrude off of the surface. You are the man when it comes to anything Cox and slot cars, so I was hoping you could help. Is it really a rare bird, or story I fell for. Thanks for any info you can provide.

Edited by Cam2InfoNeeded, 08 November 2010 - 22:44.

Yes, it is! Good find...

Incredibly enough, we actually have the racing set's sister car, the East African Safari Nissan 240Z, that I found on... eBay for peanuts years ago.

The two models were devised (by moi!) in 1974, while I was doing time as project engineer of the slot car line for the famous Santa Ana company. The "East African Safari" racing set never saw production, because the management felt that the extra cost of special paint plus adding accessories would send its retail pricing too high for the market.

These two models were the first toy cars suggested for production, to be painted with a simulation of mud on their body and windshield, with a simulation of windshield-wiper action. The first production toys with such detail were late 1970's Polistil 1/20 scale rally cars. The extra lights etc, were injection molded in prototype aluminum molds.

Several bodies of the Porsche RSR and the Nissan were painted by the model shop in the special colors, but only one of each model was fully completed. I have no idea where yours came from but obviously it escaped the company and was on the open market...
However the other painted bodies survived (I saved them!) and are today in the vault of the LASCM (www.lascm.com) with enough of the special parts to be completed some day.

Here is the other car from the prototype set:





If you want to get rid of your Porsche for greed and profit ( ), please let me know and the LASCM will be pleased to purchase it from you.

One good thing: this Porsche originally designed for the Cox toy line with the Brumos decor put me in contact with a man who became a truly good friend and remained that to his last day: Bob Snodgrass of Brumos Porsche fame. Bless his soul.

Thank you for your quick reply and especially your photos. I will let you know what I plan to do with it. It sat on the seller's table all day, and I went back near the end of the show to see if it was still there, the seller had already packed up and left. I was able to contact after the show and he mailed it to me shortly afterwards. It is a very good thing that know both of these one-of-a-kind models have survived and are accounted for. I'm a Porsche fan, and very pleased to know it is "the real thing".

If any of you have never been to the VW & Porsche Model and Literature in Los Angeles, you have really missed something. It started by around 1985 when the Porsche factory sent some if its racing cars over to the Porsche Parade held in the LA area that year (as I recall). It has gone from a room above a small convention building down on Sepulvada Blvd, to taking up several ballrooms in the Hilton Hotel just up the street from LAX airport. It has buyers and sellers of VW & Porsche items from all over the world attend it. That's why when I saw this model setting on this dealer's table all day with no one showing interest in it, I was initially a little leery of it.

If you want to get rid of your Porsche for greed and profit ( ), please let me know and the LASCM will be pleased to purchase it from you.

Wow, that sounds good to me. About how of my kids can I put through college with it?

I was more thinking of enough to buy lunch with a decent bottle of Pouilly Fuisse...
OK, and with Pousse Cafe of course.