By Antonio MalaraThe story of this “Speed Champions” model was born from a suggestion given to me by eBay. As is normal today, algorithms try to understand our tastes based on our searches and offer us articles that in theory should interest and please us. When I saw this green 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback set, my mind immediately went to the legendary film Bullitt, however there was something about the model that didn't convince me. It was a very old and out of production “Speed Champions”, I can't say in what year they presented it. The fact was that looking at it in the photo I saw strange proportions, however I put it among my favorite objects. I decided to buy the set only after a couple of months, paying almost double what a similar set of those offered today costs. I love the Mustang and I talked about it in my post “Lego Ford Mustang Shelby GT500” where however I also described some frustrations with that reproduction. In addition to being a Technic model, what I didn't like was the reproduction of a detail that I really love like the rear lights which had been reproduced with stickers. In the Lego catalog there was another Mustang, presented in the "Creative" section, it was the seventies version, a highly accessorized model with finished measurements of around 35 centimeters in length. To avoid the second disappointment regarding the Mustang with the “Speed Champions” set, I also purchased the “Creative” version to counterbalance this possible hypothesis. Assembly ProcessInside the box there were 3 envelopes, a small, a medium and a large one, outside the envelopes as usual for a "Speed Champions" set there was the body of the car except that this was very unique; an exaggeratedly narrow and long black body! The platform had very strange proportions which at first glance did not represent any type of car or any type of modeling concept. That detail immediately alarmed me but I wanted to be confident. It took me about seven minutes to place the bricks and the first four steps involved assembling an external sign, then I began the actual assembly of the car. The set was planned to be assembled in 53 steps, right from the first steps I started applying stickers and after the first five steps I realized that the shape of the car was totally wrong and disproportionate. In the first twenty steps I mounted the rear part while up until the 28th I mounted the front one finishing with the hood. At steps 37-38 I assembled the sides and in this regard I liked step 41 how a series of white bricks ended up forming part of the livery together with the stickers. I have said several times that I prefer such a solution for the reproductions of certain details rather than stickers. I assembled this Mustang in approximately 50 minutes. Clearly I cannot say that I’m satisfied with this reproduction, the doubts I had at the beginning were sadly confirmed after assembling the car. I don't know if these old "Speed Champions" all had these incorrect proportions or it was just the case of this Mustang, but in addition to this I noticed another unique detail. In the car's livery there were also the Lego and the "Speed Champions" logo, a promotional solution more suited to a toy than a model. I had the impression that these sets in the past were not taken seriously but were more a sort of cute parody. I’m of the opinion that today's Speed Champions are something serious and a very faithful form of modeling that require a certain skill and attention during assembly. I saw this Mustang from the perspective of a toy rather than a poorly made reproduction, I believe that initially this type of set was not conceived as real modeling. This observation made me somewhat accept the Lego 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback rather than make me hate it. I must say that seen as a toy reproduction this set has its meaning and in reality it disappointed me less than the Technic version of the Shelby GT 500. In the end the assembly process as well as the number of pieces is identical to today's sets and I must say that if I ever find old “Speed Champions” at reasonable prices, I will probably buy them, so I can do a separate show with a more childish tone. Pictures: Antonio Malara
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