Sports Car
Built by Richard Marsden in April 2023 for the Page 15 Models Secretary’s Challenge
I think the instruction book for this model dates from the early 1960s. I can’t be sure; my copy is missing its covers. It can’t be earlier because it features the flexible plastic plates. There are no step-by-step instructions, just a parts list (numbers only), a photograph of the finished model, and a partly-cut-away drawing labelled with the part numbers.
It would have been quite an appealing model at the time, although it looks quaint today, and I can imagine some first-timers being tempted into building it. It would have been a serious challenge. I found a few inconsistencies that I needed to resolve, and the neither the photograph nor the diagram show all of the model well. Some plate bending is involved too. I do hope it didn’t put any potential Meccano enthusiasts off. It took me about five hours to complete, although admittedly some of that time was spent searching my collection for a decent set of matching parts, not entirely successfully – I apologise for its rather scruffy appearance! It’s because I don’t like dismantling models to recover parts.
The model was very flimsy in the early stages of construction. I was tempted to add extra nuts and bolts and strengthening strips. But once the body was complete and married to the chassis, it became a lot stronger. It is an ingenious and pleasing design, given it had to be made from a limited set of parts, and I enjoyed building it.