Don, I've seen a few of the Mclarens and never thought that they weren't a factory issued car. I may have seen packaging sometime in the last 40 years but I don't remember. Garvic isn't anything I ever collected and I doubt that even in 67 they cared about state of the art cars, but just selling whatever product they already had.

 

A quick search on worthpoint reveals that 10 complete cars listed as "Garvic Mclaren" have sold in the last 15 ish years. Of those two didn't have clear chassis shots but can see enough to make out that it is black suggesting a sidewinder, three had black sidewinder, four had gold sidewinder & only one had the blue inline. None had any packaging. Curiously the drop arm of the sidewinder fits behind the nose of the chassis. Obviously this doesn't take into account any unidentified cars sold. But my money is on all of those being bitsa's made from all those old stock bodies that were floating around 10 years ago & still pop up fairly regularly.

 

Great subject guys. Hi Don, Matt, Lee.
I have the parts and have had plans to build this car for way too long.
I would build as if the factory did or thought about doing. Who knows, I just want one.
I will use the sidewinder chassis for the reasons mentioned by Lee.
Then you have the option of a driver/interior too. That is a must in my books. Even though Garvic was not big on interiors. Did any of there car have drivers?
There was a lot of these factory painted bodies around at one time, glad I was able to grab one.
Martin.

 

Even though Garvic was not big on interiors. Did any of there car have drivers?

None of the thingies did, which only leaves the often forgotten Ford GT kit which I'm fairly sure was sans driver but I could be wrong?

 

Looking at your setup Don , I think it needs the Garvic sidewinder chassis , as per pic , it's shorter and will fit under the front . Possibly , this body came with the sidewinder setup , I don't think Garvic were that slack to sell it with an overhanging guide arm . And the sidewinder chassis has a stop bar , so the guide arm will travel as far as the bar only . As for rear tyres , I would look for lower profile tyres , to fit under the rear guards .
Zig

 

Thanks much guys, that's the kind of feedback I was hoping for - altho I was kind of hoping the inline blue would work!

That would sort of make sense that it was the much more common sidewinder chassis that was used, but in the example shown by Lee, those are very un-GarVic like rear tires... and they still stick out past the body.

Maybe I'll do an alternative chassis to see what it looks like... or maybe i'll still try cramming that pickup under the body one way or another.

Seems pretty clear that the car itself was never issued, at least in any packaged form.

Don

 

Inline is still viable Don as Gavic did a trailing guide according to Mr Okeefe over on Slotblog.

or substitute a Cox trailing guide.

 

Yep, I have a couple of those and considered that option Lee. Not really a well-designed part in terms of installing braid and lead wires, not to mention it's a 1/8" post, but will maybe try that option.

Don

 

You beat me to the option of using a trailing guide, but again the sidewinder chassis gives room for an interior.
I knew of the Cox version, but did not know of the Garvic trailing guide.

 

I think I have one Cox trailing guide left, which I'm saving for a rainy day...

I've tried using the GarVic guide already, but it's not very practical. Still, seems more appropriate on this car than a Cox guide would.

Don

 

Agreed, nice to keep brand loyal parts on any resto build.
What would Garvic do? Is where my thinking goes.

 

On the other hand, just briefly tried a shorter guide, and that might do the trick. It's not going to be an original, no matter how I slice it!

Don

 

Don , I've seen In-Line Garvic chassis offered for sale , but the sidewinder chassis are quite rare, if wanting to go original .
Zig

 

Au contraire Zig!

I've seen quite a few GarVic sidewinders lately, but few inlines.

A year or two ago I found myself with a couple extra bodies, so I started looking for some sidewinder chassis; couldn't find many at first and they were expensive, but recently I've seen them all over the place, and not selling too high.

Don

 

I was looking for some sidewinder Garvic chassis about a year ago ....didn't see one offered for sale . I had a few original bodies .. but gave up the hunt . So fair enough , if they have appeared lately .
Zig

 

Yep, take a look now; there were five or six that just finished I think, so hopefully some more will come up again!
Don

 

The guy selling one on ebay, as part of a lot, just added a shot of his, with the guide well within the nose...

1/24, Garvic, 6 RTR Slotcars, 3 boxes, 1 bodykit, 2 chassis | eBay

Unique opportunity due to collection dissolution. All kits and cars are in excellent condition, unless otherwise described.

www.ebay.com

I asked him how he did that!

Don

 

Just to be clear: the McLaren Mk2 was projected to be a RTR model but it never happened, and all the bodies, some carded, most not, were liquidated by Gar-Vic to REH in Cincinnati, which sold them for years and years as there was quite a quantity of them. The "cockpit" was to be a simple piece of black card like on Revell cars.

 

Yep, that's the way I understood it Philippe.

Why do you think it was planned with the blue inline chassis, did GarVic announce anything on the car?

The seller didn't understand why his car has the guide under the nose either! Seems to be same chassis and everything... some GarVic guides are shorter than others, but probably not enough to make this much of a difference.

Don

 

It does look like it's a little shorter drop arm compared the the in line I have,
Just my opinion.
John.

 

I think you're on the money John . The guide arm could be shorter .
Zig

 

I did look at these 2 arms side by side. The guide it self may be a bit smaller. But the drop-arms are the same IMO.

 

Don,
these McLarens were never designed to fit the inline chassis. Below is a sample I got many moons ago (in the 1970s!) from Baldwin Specialties, a hobby distributor in the Los Angeles area. It has the factory decals on it, and the sidewinder chassis. Packaging if any, unknown. As you well now, it was common for the manufacturers to send pre-production samples to distributors in an attempt to generate orders.
Some of the carded bodies (under blister) I have seen of the McLaren also sport the racing numbers.
Please note that ALL the Gar-Vic RTR cars had the same black guide. All other Gar-Vic guides you see were aftermarket stuff produced before the 1966 RTR cars.

 

But they do fit the inline chassis... well, except for most drop arms!

I was referring to your book, where you say it was supposed to be released with the blue inline chassis... I liked that idea, just because it made it easier to get the rear wheels under the fenders!

Don

 

This was one error in the book that I was unable to rectify, as while the inline chassis kind of fits, it was designed for the sidewinder that kept the guide under the body.

 

Here's mine. A chassis and two bodies.
I picked it up years ago (along with a Sonic Needle that had suffered a catastrophic crack in the nose cone).

The mounting holes line up but the inline won't fit unless the drivers compartment is cut out.