Among my 1:43 cars I have a growing collection of land-speed record cars - almost all of them lovely, steamlined things that are extremely good looking. Among the cars I like most are the Auto Union LSR cars from the '30s, in particularly the sixteen cylinder C from 1937, which in its best, closed-cockit form was sleek, simple of line, and elegant (and a record holder, at least for a while) - the quintessential land speed record car.
The only model I can find was the Brumm version of the AU C in its ugliest form: open cockpit, anti-glare paint on the fenders, racing numbers on its sides (back of photo below) one of which I had. I bought a second one and removed the open-cockpit windshield, used Goo Gone to remove numbers, anti-glare paint, etc. Then the hard question; where do I get the new closed cockpit windshield? It tried my wife's patience, for it took nearly half an hour patiently checking pens at Staples, but it cost all of $5.
Here are both models, original form in back, and modified one in front. No much difference, really, but a lot of different to me in the look.
The new cockpit cover is plastic taken from the area indicated on the four-pen packaging shown below. It took half an hour to find exactly the right width, angle, etc., and only two minutes to cut and mount.
Top: I was very tempted to leave it a bubble cockpit, but this was several years before they because common in fighter planes, so I painted all but what was really windshield. Of course I have three more "cockpit covers" I can use if i change my mind.
By the way, I left, for now, one flaw on the Brumm model that is about the dumbest thing imaginable, something not on the real cars but on the models, which I may come back and remove, but it is so funny . . . why would an LSR car - the fastest car in the world - have rear view mirrors?
