The 330 TRI was driven to victory at the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans by Phil Hill and Olivier Gendebien, and in doing so became the last front-engined car to win the race overall.  Two other notable achievements from the race are that Hill and Gendebien were the first co-drivers to win the race three times, and Gendebien was the first four-time winner of the race.

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This model is a my first fully-opening, scratch-built model for some time. I have used my own, scratch-built prototype to form and solder the bodywork in brass.  The scratch-built chassis-frame has also been made using soldered brass tube and sheet.  I wanted to use brass as the material is thin enough to create a very fine and realistic body, which will fit perfectly over the chassis frame. As fine sheets of brass are also very strong, it's possible to create bodywork that is more to scale than if using other, thicker materials. 

 

The model has fully opening doors, and front and rear covers for the engine, fuel tank and spare wheel. These covers have also been made from brass sheet, as have the aerodynamic roll hoop, rear spoiler, fuel and oil flaps, and the various air vents.   

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I used the Renaissance TR engine as a base for this engine, and added various scratch-built parts in plasticard and turned aluminium, and added various fuel lines and cables such as the spark plug wires. Individual rivets have been added to the bodywork, and there are scratch-built tyre valves in turned aluminium.  The windscreen has also been entirely scratch-built with the use of wire, rather than a decal, to create the special windscreen particular to the Le Mans version of the 330 TRI.  The rear fuel tank has been scratch-built in plasticard and painted to resemble aluminium. 

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The photographs shows the development of the model from the very early work in the spring of 2021 up until completion in September 2021.

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The model was on display at Retromobile 2022.

 

The model has now been sold, but if you are interested in getting a quote for a similar model, please do not hesitate to Contact Me.​