Vintage 1/12th Scale Tamiya Lola 7-70 MkIII Collectors Guide

This is the first in a series of guides being created to assist Collectors, and Builders, of Tamiya's "Big Scale" series of of plastic model kits. As a "side" hobby of my Automotive interests at The Woodward Avenue Garage, I've amassed a substantial collection of Big Scale Automotive and Motorcycle kits over the years. Along the way, I've learned much about these kits. None of the information I'm providing is available in any forum (that I am aware of), and so I've created this guide as a way to assist collectors and hobbyists. Emphasis will be on kit History, Identification, Features, ect. Ebay has become "The" place for collectors of Vintage Model Kits, and hopefully this Guide (and more to follow) will be a useful reference on the particulars of each featured kit. Feel free to email with comments, corrections, and any requests or inquiries.

** "The Original c.1970 1/12th Tamiya Big Scale Kit #6, Lola T-70 MkIII (Fully Motorized)" **

IDENTIFICATION: An original issue of this kit is very rare today, and due to it's high cost when new, was a scarce kit in it's day. The quick way to identify this kit from later issues, is the lettering on the box will be in "Purple". Later issues were lettered in "Green". Another quick identifier is the Black and Gold "Model Racing Classics" decal on the front of the box. This decal identifies all Tamiya export kits from very late 1969 and into the early 1970's (see photo).

This kit will carry the kit number BS1206 1798. The 1798 was not part of the kit number, but was the kit's price (in Yen) when new. Another way of dating Tamiya kits is the address on the box. Tamiya has changed addresses 4 times, and a basic list is below;

1946-1969              915, Oshika Shizuoka-City, Japan.

1969-1974          50-01, Oshika Shizuoka-City, Japan.

1974-1980             628, Oshika Shizuoka-City, Japan.

  1980-2005           3-7 Ondawara Shizuoka-City, Japan.

 2005-Present    3-7 Ondawara Suruga-Ku Shizuoka-City, Japan.

A first issue of this Lola kit will have the 50-01 (1969-1974) address. The instructions and parts for this first issue also differ from the later (motorized) issue. Very few people are aware that only this first issue was Motorized and Lighted. This kit has two wheat bulbs that build into the lower front driving lights (not the large main headlights). The first re-issue of this kit had a significant redesign and the lights were deleted. Also, only the first issue had a two position switch under the main body of the car. One position powered the Motor Only, and the second position powered the Motor (And) the Headlights. The second issue of this kit not only deleted the Headlights, but also changed the Belly Pan of the Body and does not have the "molded in" provisions for the two position switch. The On/Off switch for the re-issues was moved to the Oil Pan on the lower Engine. This original kit also had a battery box designed for (2) AA batteries, and the box mounts high and to the rear of the Engine. Re-issues have a re-designed battery box for (3) AA batteries that "plug in" high and directly above the Engine. Decals have the cryptic Tamiya date code on the rear of '70. This is the earliest date I've ever seen in one of these kits. Kit photos below;

As you can tell, re-issues have a different body, electrical hardware, switch and oil pan moldings, and a totally different set of instructions with an altered build sequence. From a collectors viewpoint, original kits have different contents from later issues and it will be easy to spot an original box with later parts. As an added note; The last issue of this kit was done in the mid 90's and was non-motorized. The front of the box will say "Static Display". It was not cheap then at a suggested retail price of $150.00. Today, the "Static" kit is what most often comes available. "Motorized" kits are the most collectable, with a First Issue in complete unbuilt condition valued at??

**1/12th Tamiya Lola T-70 Mk III Kit History**

Tamiya's Lola kit set the bar pretty high for Big 1/12 Scale kits in 1970. They had previously released the 1/12th scale Porsche 10 Carrera kit in late 1968, and with the release of the Lola kit, there were now two Prototype kits available. The Porsche was, and still is a killer kit. But the Lola is bigger and contains almost 400 parts. The kit is molded in Dark Blue for the body, Black, Dark Gray, Light Gray, Chrome, and Clear. There is a small typical water slide decal sheet, and a self adhesive decal sheet of White Prototype Racing Stripes. The Lola GT was unveiled by Erick Broadley in 1963, and was powered by a Ford 4.7 V-8. It just so happened that the pending Ford purchase of Ferrari had just fallen through, and the old man at Ford was determined to teach Enzio Ferrari a lesson! Ford was impressed by Broadley's Ford powered Lola, and gave him a one year contract to help develop the now legendary GT40. The Lola T-70 Mk III was unveiled in January of 1967, and the Erick Broadley GT40 pedigree can clearly be seen in it's design. The Tamiya kit is modeled after the car driven by John Surtees at the Nurburgring 1,000km race on the 28th of May, 1967. The early Mk III cars were powered by Aston Martin V-8's, but the Aston powered cars were a disaster, and all subsiquint cars were Chevy powered (this Tamiya kit is modeled with a Chevy 5.5 Litre V-8 which was a later engine). The Lola was hard to beat in short races, but was prone to mechanical failure in longer endurance races. All Lola Mk III's were privately raced, and there are a few variations of decals available. F-1 Specialties makes decals for the White and Green 1968 Denny Hulme #42 "Tourist Trophy" winner, and the Red and White 1967 David Hobbs / John Surtees "BOAC 500" car raced at Brands Hatch (this set has Firestone decals for the tires and waterslide White Prototype Stripes). Everyone would like to build the 1969 Daytona 24-Hours Winning Lola T-70 MkIII B driven by Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons. It would be a difficult Scratch Build due to the body and chassis differences of a Mk III and Mk III B. I've seen photos of a reworked body of the Donohue car out of Europe, and it looked incredible. As with most of Tamiya's Big Scale Car kits, there is incredible detail in the Lola kit. Very complex with a very high parts count. Add in the electrics, motorization, and unlimited variations in Privateer Paint Schemes and you get the picture.

**Kit Features**

**Almost 400 parts molded in 6 different colors.

**FA-13 Mabuchi Motor fits into a Super Detailed Fuel Injected 5.5 Litre Chevrolet V-8

**Steering Wheel works through a "Rack and Pinion" Steering System.

**Full Detailed Working Front and Rear Suspension with Operating Coil Over Shocks.

**(5) Semi-Pneumatic Rubber Like Tires (Firestone) with Realistic Tread Patterns.

**Accurate Opening "Gull Wing" Doors with Functioning Door Handles.

**(2) Functioning Driving Lights in Lower Front Valance.

**Removable Front and Rear Cowlings to reveal Internal Parts.

**Fully Detailed Interior, Instruments, Switches, and Shift Lever Moves Right/Left.

**Operating Floor Jack to Display Car with Tires Removed.

**Kit Pros and Cons**

Let's start with the Pro's. A highly detailed kit with many build possibilities. Typical Tamiya Quality of parts and fit and finish (circa 1970). Can be built as a motorized and lighted version, but easily built as a static kit without any compromise to detail. The large 1/12 scale provides incredible detail not found in smaller production kits. Although kit contains nearly 400 parts, the fully illustrated instructions are very descriptive with very few "gray" areas. Detailed parts lists helps keep track of this monster.

Cons. Kit is very rare (38 years old and counting) and getting nearly impossible to locate in unbuilt condition (especially nice complete kits). If you do locate one, be prepared to clean out the piggy bank. If you get lucky and do find a nice kit, it's so rare that you don't want to build it. Mold quality of parts has been very high in all kits I have examined. For the purist, body fit is not up to modern standards and the kit will require a lot of filler in seams (especially the engine). A few detail items are missing such as the Alternator/Dynamo/Generator and some of the correct engine plumbing. Beware of the mystical Tamiya Rubber Tire Fairy. Due to some long-term and little understood problem, Tamiya's Rubber Tires can degrade over time. Collectors know. You find a pristine kit, perfect sealed parts, and 1 of the 4 tires in the kit has mysteriously "melted" away in it's blister. The other 3 look perfect! All I can say is the tires must have been made in lots, and then mixed together in the packaging process. Tires that had some kind of deficiency in the vulcanization process "go flat". If you do get a kit with "flats", you pretty much have to find a donor car for replacements. Remember, built cars that have been parked for years always "flat spot' their tires just like real cars do! Tamiya probably won't have replacements for OOP kits. They can help you out for Zerox copies of instructions (helpful for instructions written in Japanese) and they have sent me copies For Free! Decals can develop condition issues over time, and originals do come available from time to time. As mentioned in the history, Mk III's originally raced with Aston Martin V-8's. This Tamiya kit is of an early Mk III, but is Chevy Powered, and so it is not technically correct for an early car build. Most later cars (all?) were powered by various displacement Chevrolet Engines. These later Mk III B cars were known as lightweights and had significant chassis changes. The front facia also made major changes to the headlights.  

Hope this guide has been informative, and I welcome input and comments. Take the time to give it a vote below. Look for more guides in the future. Let me know if you have a kit you would like to see a "guide" for.