Hasegawa KP61 Starlet

[fumi]

To be released in November.

http://www.hasegawa-model.co.jp/product/hc63/

[stitchdup]

cool, these were proper little sleepers

[niteowl7710]

[DJMar]

Ummm, yes please!  And while you're at it, I'll have one of those '89 MR2 kits as well.

There goes my hobby budget for the end of the year.

[Radretireddad]

I often wonder how well an inexpensive basic rwd hatchback like this would sell in today’s market.

[64Comet404]

I'll probably get one, because I remember the real cars on the road. I think the Tercel was more popular here becase: a) it was larger inside, and b) it had Front-Wheel Drive. 

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Ah, Hasegawa - continues to drop my jaw with funky little JDM contraptions I didn't know I wanted.

??

[Spottedlaurel]

Brilliant news, thank you Hasegawa! Be interesting to see what other versions they come up with, maybe the pre-facelift, round headlight model?

I had a 5-door version in the '00s, with the 1.2-litre and 5-speed 'box it was such a sweet thing to drive.

This generation of Starlet became the short oval racer of choice in various classes of stock car and hot rod racing here in the UK and Ireland back in the 1980s and '90s. Tempting to build one or two in that style and maybe the aftermarket will provide the necessary arches etc?

[niteowl7710]

15 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Brilliant news, thank you Hasegawa! Be interesting to see what other versions they come up with, maybe the pre-facelift, round headlight model?

I had a 5-door version in the '00s, with the 1.2-litre and 5-speed 'box it was such a sweet thing to drive.

This generation of Starlet became the short oval racer of choice in various classes of stock car and hot rod racing here in the UK and Ireland back in the 1980s and '90s. Tempting to build one or two in that style and maybe the aftermarket will provide the necessary arches etc?

Based on the CAD (and the built test shot) the floor has the "bare bones" stamped texture.

I can all but promise you some form of race car is coming out of this tooling in 2025.  The only time Hasegawa does this is on their subjects that are dual use tools (R32, Mk III Supra, AE92 Levin, etc). The 61 Starlet was used in touring car and rally spec (the kit description even mentions this), and Hasegawa did that series of 1st Gen Civic Touring Car kits, I suspect this will get the same treatment.

As for the various arrangements of features the kit is labeled "Mid-Late" and if the past 8 years of new tooling are anything to go on I'm sure there will be an Early, Late, Mid-Afternoon, Early Evening, Late Morning, 3am, et al versions coming.

Edited September 8, 2024 by niteowl7710

[OldNYJim]

On 9/7/2024 at 4:03 AM, Spottedlaurel said:

Brilliant news, thank you Hasegawa! Be interesting to see what other versions they come up with, maybe the pre-facelift, round headlight model?

I had a 5-door version in the '00s, with the 1.2-litre and 5-speed 'box it was such a sweet thing to drive.

This generation of Starlet became the short oval racer of choice in various classes of stock car and hot rod racing here in the UK and Ireland back in the 1980s and '90s. Tempting to build one or two in that style and maybe the aftermarket will provide the necessary arches etc?

Interesting!  Went down a rabbithole finding some pics of these UK asphalt cars…some cool build ideas there!

[Spottedlaurel]

2 hours ago, CabDriver said:

Interesting!  Went down a rabbithole finding some pics of these UK asphalt cars…some cool build ideas there!

Nice! They all look to have been taken at my local track of Foxhall Raceway, Ipswich where I've spent many happy hours of my life. It was (still is) the track which hosts the World Championship and other major events. They raced on shale as well as asphalt - there are still shale oval tracks, but I don't know if the Nationals visit them.

Back in the 1980s and '90s the National Hot Rods (the fastest class) were still based on a steel, production bodyshell so they looked somewhat like a road car but with very purposeful mod's. When the Starlet became the thing to have the main engine choice was a 1700cc Ford X-Flow, but later on modern multivalve units came in.

The Starlet was also popular in the 1600 Hot Rods formula, and also the 1300 Stock Cars but for some reason never so much in the 2-Litre Stock Cars (in which Horry Barnes used to race).

My Starlet was one of the lucky few not to end up on the raceway:

Possibly due to the oval racing scene some years ago they became popular here and in Ireland as a hi-po road and drag racing car.

I don't think you got them in the USA. They sat below the Corolla in the range with engines from 1- to 1.3-litre.

[martinfan5]

On display at the All Japan Model & Hobby Show

[OldNYJim]

On 9/15/2024 at 12:41 AM, Spottedlaurel said:

Nice! They all look to have been taken at my local track of Foxhall Raceway, Ipswich where I've spent many happy hours of my life. It was (still is) the track which hosts the World Championship and other major events. They raced on shale as well as asphalt - there are still shale oval tracks, but I don't know if the Nationals visit them.

Back in the 1980s and '90s the National Hot Rods (the fastest class) were still based on a steel, production bodyshell so they looked somewhat like a road car but with very purposeful mod's. When the Starlet became the thing to have the main engine choice was a 1700cc Ford X-Flow, but later on modern multivalve units came in.

The Starlet was also popular in the 1600 Hot Rods formula, and also the 1300 Stock Cars but for some reason never so much in the 2-Litre Stock Cars (in which Horry Barnes used to race).

My Starlet was one of the lucky few not to end up on the raceway:

Possibly due to the oval racing scene some years ago they became popular here and in Ireland as a hi-po road and drag racing car.

I don't think you got them in the USA. They sat below the Corolla in the range with engines from 1- to 1.3-litre.

Nice 1:1!  And thanks for the interesting info on the oval stuff - I enjoyed reading about that.  More rabbitholes to fall down!

[niteowl7710]

[stitchdup]

On 9/15/2024 at 6:41 AM, Spottedlaurel said:

Nice! They all look to have been taken at my local track of Foxhall Raceway, Ipswich where I've spent many happy hours of my life. It was (still is) the track which hosts the World Championship and other major events. They raced on shale as well as asphalt - there are still shale oval tracks, but I don't know if the Nationals visit them.

Back in the 1980s and '90s the National Hot Rods (the fastest class) were still based on a steel, production bodyshell so they looked somewhat like a road car but with very purposeful mod's. When the Starlet became the thing to have the main engine choice was a 1700cc Ford X-Flow, but later on modern multivalve units came in.

The Starlet was also popular in the 1600 Hot Rods formula, and also the 1300 Stock Cars but for some reason never so much in the 2-Litre Stock Cars (in which Horry Barnes used to race).

My Starlet was one of the lucky few not to end up on the raceway:

Possibly due to the oval racing scene some years ago they became popular here and in Ireland as a hi-po road and drag racing car.

I don't think you got them in the USA. They sat below the Corolla in the range with engines from 1- to 1.3-litre.

you can probably blame street machine mag for these going racing. they featured and built a few in the 90s just before the hotrod guys started bying them up.

[Spottedlaurel]

15 hours ago, stitchdup said:

you can probably blame street machine mag for these going racing. they featured and built a few in the 90s just before the hotrod guys started bying them up.

Often with Harris engines as I recall?

[stitchdup]

Just now, Spottedlaurel said:

Often with Harris engines as I recall?

yeah, there was a white one that got featured and one that looked like saloon version of a starlet