Hope everyone enjoys this one! My fingers sure didn't...
Kyosho Lancia Stratos Rally Review
This model is one of my favorites for many reasons, one big one is sentimental. When I was a kid, I built this model as a plastic 1/25 scale kit and I loved it. I didn't build it too well, as I was probably a pre-teen, but I loved it. So, when I saw the Diecast version of the very model I built as a kid, I had to have it, just for that reason alone. The detail, build quality, etc, was all irrelevant to me, I had to have it because it brought back fond memories of my plastic kit. Well, this model is a Kyosho, so everyone knows that it's going to be well built and well detailed, so that was an added bonus! Anyway, I love this model, but I had to go through a lot to get it. My first two arrived damaged, both physically and paint wise. It's a delicate model, especially the rear section. But this one, my 3rd and final replacement is perfect in all ways (but that does not mean a perfect score! It doesn't get one, I try to be impartial regardless of my "emotional attachment" to this model, so it, nor any of my models, receive a perfect score just cause it's a favorite). It's close though…read on…
Paint: 8
This model has a very intricate paint job. It's base is white. On top of this are ton's of additional colors. The predominate colors on top of the white base are red and green. But there are additional colors, such as yellow, blue, black, and orange. The intricacies of this paint job are astounding! Different colors cross over panel gaps, vents, intricate curves of the body work, and it's all perfectly applied. No over spray, no miss-applied paint, nothing. Perfect! The front hood alone has 48 recessed vent areas, which are painted flat black (they are not see through, but that will be covered later). These 48 black painted recessed vents are painted onto the white hood, and then on top of, and between them are the green and red stripes. No over spray or miss applications. Perfectly applied. The red and green graphics are painted on top of the black vents, and it's just perfect, like they are actual see through vents.
In regards to this models paint job, I must say however, that this is my 3rd one. The first 2 arrived damaged. The 1st one had a broken off engine cover, and the 2nd one had a broken off front hood. I contribute that to shipping. But, both of those models did have miss applications in the paint, i.e., skewed tampo'd on graphics, and partially applied graphics. That could not be anything but factory error there. But, this models paint job is perfect! And it's very intricate, so to me that says a lot.
Exterior: 7out of 8
Again, I'll split this into 3 sections…front and rear covered here, with the interior being covered in the Interior section.
The front:
The front is gorgeous. It has 2 pop up headlights, 4 auxiliary driving lights mounted on top of the hood, 2 fog lights, and two turn signals. All are clear plastic in their respective colors. The headlights reside in black painted pop-ups, and they are surrounded by chrome trim rings. They have no problem staying up by themselves. The semi-opaque lenses are wonderfully engraved. You can see mounting posts, but barely. Reason I bring up the mounting posts, is because they don't look like bulbs, but more like an antique key hole. Anyway, they aren't that noticeable honestly. It's my feeling that the pop up headlights holders are black in color so as to not produce a glare for the driver.. The auxiliary driving lights reside on top of the hood, between the pop-ups. They are always in the up position, as there is no down position. The rear side (towards the driver) of the light holder is black in color, again, I believe to avoid a glare. The front is painted white, and there are 4 driving lights here. They each have individual chrome ring surrounds, their lenses are nicely engraved. Their mounting posts are somewhat visible, and do not look like bulbs. The outer two driving lights have a black tampo'd logo on the lenses. With that, you are not able to see the mounting posts on these two lights. This driving light holder has a white painted cover to protect the lenses when they are not in use. It is tampo'd with "Alitalia" in green and red, and "Carello" in green. Perfect tampo's, very sharp. On each side of the driving light holder, right below each pop up headlight (on the "bumper" of the car, we see "LANCIA" tampo'd here in black letters. Perfectly sharp.
Right below this driving light holder is a black mesh covered grill opening. The mesh is actual mesh, meaning, you can see through it, back towards the radiator. In the middle of this mesh is a black license plate with the characters "N41648TO", in white tampo'd letters.
To each side of this center grill, you see two additional mesh openings, 1 on each side. These mesh covered openings are again, actual mesh, and they are silver or unpainted metal in color. They are framed with the fog lights and the turn signals.
The fog lights are on the inside side of the mesh openings. The are an unusual shape, rectangles that are vertically inclined. Mounting posts are visible here quite obviously. On the outside side are the clear plastic amber turn signals. They are round, and shaped like the top of a snow cone. Mounting posts are not visible here. The fog lights are not engraved, the turn signals are.
The top of the hood has 48 recessed, flat black painted vents. They are only represented by paint and are not see through. I'm not sure why they are not, unless Kyosho thought maybe it could damage the "structural integrity" of the hood; meaning, all those vents, which comprise I'd say half the surface area of the entire hood, would make the hood weak and very fragile. It would have been simple for them to do. But that's my thought as to why they were not.
Again, the hood is painted white, and there are 4 green stripes and 2 red strips, coming down from the end of the hood (windshield area) towards a point that would end right below the driving light holder. These stripes are separate and do not touch one another. The white base paint separates each strip, so that in essence, there are white stripes separating the red and green stripes. Again, perfectly applied, no over spray what so ever. A multi-color triangle, perfectly applied. In the center of this, right above the vent area is the "1977 RALLYE MONTE CARLO #1" logo. It is outlined in black, with white lettering, and a black "1". Again, perfectly applied.
On the sides of each hood, we see a orange painted side marker light, that sticks out from the side of the hood. I don't think it would have been too difficult for them to make this a separate clear amber piece. Above these marker lights is an "Alitalia" tampo in green and red. Shall I say perfectly applied again? Behind the front wheels and in front of the doors are black rubber grommets that would hold the hood down. They are two separate pieces and have no function other than a cosmetic one. Ok, lets actually open the front hood:
Opening the hood, you notice that it's underside is painted flat black, nicely applied. You see a spare tire here, with the yellow rim and rubber tire. It is compressed here, meaning, it isn't inflated, so it is slightly smaller. Ahead of each front wheel, you see the compartment that houses the pop up headlights. No guts here…
You also see a silver painted corrugated pipe going from the almost, but not quite, vertically mounted radiator, to the very curved firewall. This radiator is solid black, resides in front of the spare tire, and has two small, black colored fans. These are separate pieces.
On the drivers side, you see two light blue, turquoise colored horn trumpets, with gold connectors. Behind that is a flat olive colored compartment for something. Also seen are two additional separately molded black colored accessories, what their for, I don't know. Then, along the firewall, there is an additional accessory, white in color with a gold cap and a black cap. Separately molded again.
Right above the firewall, you see the single arm, single blade wiper.
Also, the way the car is designed, opening the hood reveals the front suspension. This will be covered in the wheels section.
The rear of the car:
The rear of the car has lots of great detail. You see here, right behind the "rolled up" door windows, an open, mesh covered vent. The mesh covering this triangular vent opening is painted green, to match the green stripe of paint that flows along the side/top of the car. These vents are see through.
Right below each of these triangular mesh covered vents, you see 2 holes, one on each side of the body, right before the rear wheels. Looking into these holes reveals silver gas caps, 1 on each side.
Right below these gas cap holes, you see another rubber grommet, one on each side of the car. This grommet starts behind the rear area of the c*ckpit doors and reaches onto the rear tilting hood, to keep the rear hood closed. These are somewhat functional, i.e., the are flexible rubber and when the rear hood is closed, they reside perfectly on it as to hold it down. With out being careful, you can close the rear hood and squish these grommets.
The rear wheel wells have huge fender flares that are tacked onto the rear hood. And they are supposed to look tacked on, and the effect is carried off very well. We see on these flares the now familiar "Alitalia" tampo, in red and green, again, perfectly applied.
The top portion of this hood has the red and green stripes which began under the front driving lights as a triangle, and they've continued here, and end up at the rear spoiler as another triangle, with the same "1977 RALLYE MONTE CARLO #1" logo, in red, black and white. Again, perfectly applied, each green and red stripe being a separate piece, separated by the white base paint. These stripes, by the way, are perfectly applied over a top, roof of the rear hood, mounted spoiler, go down over 4 slats that cover the engine compartment, and end at the rear spoiler. These slats are see through and are very well applied.
The rear of the car is one of my favorite areas. It has these two, beautiful, flexible rubber, huge mud flaps, which are held up by great little gold chains. These gold chains are connected to the rear of the body, right below beautifully designed rear tail lights.
The tail lights are round, and are clear amber and clear red in color. They are surrounded by flat black trim circles. They have some funky engraving on the lenses, curves going everywhere. They look really cool, but you can see mounting posts. On each inside of these tail lights, you see rectangular, horizontally inclined back up lights. These are clear plastic, with a silver colored background. They are textured, but again, you see mounting posts. They are obvious here, where as on the round rear lights, they are not so obvious.
Above these lights is a tacked on spoiler, that is supposed to look tacked on. It has a nice, upward curve to it, as you'll see in the photos. Here, on the back side, we see "LANCIA" tampo'd on in black, and "Alitalia" tampo'd on in red and green. Beautifully applied. On the sides of this rear spoiler, we see "Pubbli Auto Torino" tampo'd on in tiny letters, in black. So tiny, I'm not sure if I have "Pubbli" spelled right. (I guess they were a very minor sponsor!) Right below this rear spoiler, on each side, are tampo's, medium blue and yellow in color, outlined in black. They say "BILSTEIN" and "Gas Charged Shock Absorbers" in black letters. Also seen within this tampo is a rendering of a black shock absorber. Again, perfectly applied.
On the top side of the rear spoiler, we see yet another tampo, colors being green, yellow, black, red, and medium blue. These colors are in horizontal stripes, colors listed above going top to bottom. Above these stripes is "CAMPION DEL MONDO" in black letters.
OK, that's the spoiler! Below this and the rear lights, we see that the white body curves up in the center, sort of like half an oval. The area in this black oval, we start to see the interiors of the engine compartment. But first, we have a white, oval tampo with "90" in black letters on the left side, and on the right side, a matching white oval tampo with "I" in black letters. "I" being for "Italy". Between these two oval tampo's is a separately applied black license plate, with the characters "TON4 1648". It's different from the front license plate, and I don't know the significance of this difference. The characters are white in color. Above this license plate, you see a separate, black colored license plate light holder.
Below this, we see the exhausts. The left exhaust is connected to a muffler that is side mounted, meaning, the side of the muffler line up with the ends of the body. The left exhaust is a good deal lower than the right exhaust, and sticks out about a 1/4th of an inch further than the right exhaust. The right exhaust connects to another muffler that is perpendicular to the rear end of the body, meaning, it's sides follow along the sides of the body in reference, while the left exhaust muffler is "transverse". This right muffler is also higher, more than 1/8th of an inch higher than the right muffler. Great detail here!
Before we open the rear engine cover, I've got to cover the exterior of the c*ckpit area in this section, so lets do that now…
On each EXTREMELY tight fitting door, we see lots of tampo's. First, we see the drivers names right below the rolled up windows. They are "S.MUNARI" AND "S.MAIGA", in perfectly applied black letters. To the right of these names, right past the rear of the door is a yellow and black tampo, almost a "star" shape, with "Britax" in black lettering. Right below this, and framing the rear part of the door is a huge "A". This is Alitalia's symbol (Italian National Air Carrier by the way). This green and red tampo flows perfectly along the door edge and winds up going over the rear wheel fender flares.
We also see several other tampo's, a light blue #4 surrounded by a thin black circle, a white and medium blue tampo with the words "MAGNETI MARELLI". Also, a white "PIRELLI" that shows up perfectly on top of the green stripe along the sides of the door, a black #1 on top of a thicker red #1, a red, green, and black tampo with "CAMPAGNOLO" in black letters (wheel manufacturers), a tampo that is yellow and black that says "OLIO FIAT", with the black letters residing in yellow squares, one square per letter. The last tampo (thankfully!!!) seen on the doors is a white "HF" which is outlined in thin black, with the Italian flag above it (green, white, and red blocks). There are also what appears to be a herd of animals running across this "HF". Whew!
The drivers door has a flat black colored mirror.
The roof of the passenger compartment, we see those red and green stripes again, and again, these are just continuations of the stripes that start at the front of the car and go towards the rear. But we also see 2 additional tampo's on the roof. They are white and black, and say "ROME". They are on top of the red stripes. "ROME" is printed on top of a white background, and above the red stripes.
There is also a chrome "thing" that resides in the center of the roof, I don't know it's purpose. But I made a purpose for it! The one thing I customized on this model is that I placed an additional spare tire on this "thing". I think it looks great, and if I ever need or want to remove it, it's simple.
OK, lets finally open the engine compartment:
Opening this up, we see that the engine compartment cover is painted on the inside in a flat black color, with the aforementioned slats being white in color.
We see the tanks, one on each side with the silver caps. The caps were discussed earlier, as they are visible through holes in the rear cover. There is a large, rectangular shaped brace surrounding the engine that is made up of square tubes. At the end corners of this brace, we see two silver round impressions, 1 on each side, the top of the shock absorbers. From this rectangular brace, we see two additional braces. They are round, and rise from the rectangular brace and go towards the c*ckpit firewall, ending on each side of the rear window. Also on this brace, on the rear drivers side, we see a white battery with a light blue top. There are two silver covers on this top, representing where you would add battery acid. There are two terminals, one red, one silver. Battery wires are not present.
The engine:
The engine is really awesome. It is silver, a V-6. The block, transmission, valve covers are all silver. Atop of the engine, residing between the valve covers is a rectangular black box. This box has real mesh openings on each side, with the mesh being silver in color.
The spark plug wires are orange in color, are flexible, and come out from the passenger side mounted distributor. The go into the spark plug housings, which are on the tops of the valve covers.
We also see some plumbing here, a couple of tubes, and some additional, separately molded engine accessories. It's somewhat difficult to see the detail on this engine (which is there, by the way) on a casual glance. That's because of the bracing and how far back the engine cover tilts back. There is a white oil filter, we can see the fan belts, but I am not able to tell due to where it is located, as to whether they are rubber or molded, it's a transverse mounted engine.
The rear shock absorbers are black in color and are coil over's, with actual metal springs. The suspension is not functional, a little disappointing, but that's ok.
Why 7 out of 8? I would want to give it a perfect 8, but well, the mounting posts in some of the lights, the painted side marker lamps up front, which personally, I can live with, because it is a raised molded in piece, and painted perfectly, no over spray.. Also, the silver corrugated radiator tube going from the radiator towards the firewall has a noticeable mold line running right down the center, perfectly visible. The other highlights in my opinion would make up for these items, but I want to be impartial. I'm not going to take off for the painted vents on the hood. They are recessed and painted flat black perfectly. As I said earlier, I think it would be hard, with all these vents taking up so much area to make the hood anything but overly fragile if they were actual see through vents.
Interior: 7 out of 8
First, I'd like to comment about these doors. They are the tightest fitting doors I've got in my collection. So tight, they make a little snap when I finally get them open! I believe that is because of the tightness of the gap between the windows and the roof. Their that tight. Since I'm on doors, lets talk of the insides of the doors.
They are flat black in color and are somewhat sparse. Both sides have actual pockets that run the length of the door, and progressively get wider towards the rear of the door. This is intentional and for a reason. One of the requirements of Lancia when they gave Bertone the styling job was that a drivers helmet be able to fit into the sides of the doors. Thus, the progressive thickening of the door pockets. Both interior doors have a silver painted door handle, and a handle to SLIDE the window down. You can see the track that this handle would take to slide down the side windows. But they don't slide, and I have no problem with that.
There is one curiosity on the passenger door. There is a separately molded chrome piece that runs the length of the passenger side window, on the doors interior. It's for something, what I don't know, but it's neat. Maybe a jack handle to change a tire, who knows. The passenger door also has another separate map pocket.
The dashboard is all racing, not the same at all as the street version, actually nothing in the interior looks the same from what I see. Of course, being a rally car, there is no carpet, but that's how it should be. On the drivers floor board, we see silver painted foot rest, clutch, brake, and gas pedals, all individually rendered and nicely textured with a grooved appearance. On the passenger floorboard, we see a large, silver plate, angled almost 45 degrees towards the front firewall, with large holes drilled into it. I assume it is a foot rest.
The dashboard is all business, almost all black, except for the 10 switch knobs, which are silver in color. Also, there is a red, vertical piece, what it's function is, I do not know.
There are 6 gauges in varying sizes. They have black backgrounds, white letters, and red needles. On top of the dashboard, we see two textures. The texture closest to the driver is well, textured! Like really smooth sand if that makes sense. The remaining top of the dashboard, going to meet the curved windshield is smooth. In this area, we see two round defroster vents.
The wheel is 3 spoke and all black. You see the steering column going down through the firewall, between the foot rest and the clutch pedals. I feel it is supposed to be shown, as this dash is all business. The center transmission tunnel has the gear shifter, which is black with a wood colored handle. Behind that is silver emergency brake with a black handle.
Residing on the flat white painted rear bulkhead, between the seats, is a red and black fire extinguisher. This has a chrome label on it with red and black lettering. The rear window resides above this bulkhead, and the paint surrounding it is flat black in color.
Up front, we are greeted with a wildly curved windshield. All I can say is look at the photo's. It's awesome.
The roof is completely painted, flat white, and a black rear view mirror resides there. Now, whether it could be considered "finished" or not is up for discussion. I could see both sides.
The racing seats are soft and supple, gray in color. Nicely textured as leather with nice side bolsters. The 4 point racing seat belts are nice, but could be better. These 4 point belts are 1 piece, painted to resemble separate pieces. The top (shoulder belts) are yellow, the lap belts are red, with the connectors being silver in color. The belts attach to the floor and the rear bulkhead.
Why 7 out of 8? The seat belts are rubber vs. fabric, and the fasteners are painted rubber vs. photo etch. Also, there is a question as to whether the roof can be considered actually finished.
Wheels/Brakes: 5 out of 6
The wheels are 3 colors…predominantly yellow, with silver lug nuts, and a black and silver center. The disk brakes are silver in color. The calipers are also silver in color. However, the brakes and calipers are one piece, and the disks do not rotate with the wheels.
The tires…the rear tires are much wider than the front tires. All tires, including the spare(s), are labeled "Pirelli" and have a really nice tread pattern.
Why 5 out of 6? Although the wheels and tires look great, the disk brakes do not spin with the wheels, they have no texture at all, and the calipers are molded into the disks.
Engine & Undercarriage Detail: 7 out of 8
The engine:
The engine is really awesome. It is silver, a V-6. The block, transmission, valve covers are all silver. Atop of the engine, residing between the valve covers is a rectangular black box. This box has real mesh openings on each side, with the mesh being silver in color.
The spark plug wires are orange in color, are flexible, and come out from the passenger side mounted distributor. The go into the spark plug housings, which are on the tops of the valve covers.
We also see some plumbing here, a couple of tubes, and some additional, separately molded engine accessories. It's somewhat difficult to see the detail on this engine (which is there, by the way) on a casual glance. That's because of the bracing and how far back the engine cover tilts back. There is a white oil filter, we can see the fan belts, but I am not able to tell due to where it is located, as to whether they are rubber or molded, it's a transverse mounted engine.
The rear shock absorbers are black in color and are coil over's, with actual metal springs. The suspension is not functional, a little disappointing, but that's ok.
The undercarriage is flat black, mostly one piece, except towards the rear engine compartment. I think it is a little plain, but I also think it is actually accurate, as many models chassis' are not accurate, especially racers. It has depressions where depressions don't have to be unless they designed it that way.
The front suspension is a mixed bag, comprised of pieces molded into the chassis and separate pieces. It is well represented however. Same goes for the rear suspension.
Towards the rear of the car, you see the really nice detail of the bottom sides of the engine, mufflers, and exhaust.
Why 7 out of 8? Because of the suspension pretty much. Functionality is nice, but not necessarily a necessity for me. But the suspension could be much better rendered in my opinion. Also, the battery, even though it's got lots of color, could be better detailed, and it should have battery wires.
Competition: 6
Kyosho also makes a "street" version of the Stratos, but it is significantly different. The front hood section does not have the fender flares, nor the rear section. The interior is "civilized", and the engine is not so "race ready". Also, different wheels and tire sizes, no mud flaps…etc… Solido also has made the Lancia Stratos Rally, and I believe a street version also, but it is not in the same league as Kyosho.
Desirability: 6
It's my opinion! I love this model, even with the items I brought up…it's one of my favorites for many reasons.
Overall: 46 out of 50
Lots of good pics here...
