After years of waiting for the Automodello ONE12 1967 Eagle Gurney-Weslake V12 is nearing release.  The team at Automodello have officially published a press release today, we share it with you below.  If you’re interested to learn more about the ONE12 1967 Eagle Gurney-Weslake V12, please utilize the link HERE.

I know over a 100 of you have waited anxiously for up to 4-years for this model to be released.  For some of you, this was your biggest leap of faith in Automodello.  And even for those who had already experienced Automodello’s 1967 Lotus 49 in 1:12, the leaps necessary with this model tested you too.

When we embarked on this journey, Dan Gurney was still alive and continued to leapfrog industry norms even in his eighties.  A time when most have retired or at least thought seriously about it, Dan continued to toil away with his AAR team.  So when Dan passed, our model development ground to a halt.  We did this out of the respect we had for Dan, realizing his team had to process the passing of their legend.  We can all make succession plans, but when you have a genius at the helm, no amount of planning prepares you for the void to follow.  From my personal view, it was more important to respect AAR and give distance…I wrote about this once before, yet the passing of time improves the 20/20 hindsight.  And with 20/20 vision, we would not have changed anything.

The extra time did not go to waste as it allowed Raffi to test various parts and have them recast in ABS instead of photo-etched.  This was done to increase strength.  We were also able to refine the paint process for a better color match.  The livery was set to match Dan’s wishes.   In essence, we used the extra time to build a better model.  And in the end, we were able to expand the initial offer into 3 models based on requests:

Signature Edition’s Certificate of Authenticity was hand-signed by Dan Gurney.
Standard Edition’s Certificate of Authenticity is hand-signed by me.
Pure Edition’s Certificate of Authenticity is hand-signed by me and model is free of livery.
It was a leap of faith to build this model, paying homage to both Dan as well as the courage you all have had in waiting for it’s debut, so we are releasing it on February 29th, 2020 – Leap Day.  

For those who PreOrdered, shipment will begin this coming Monday with the balance shipping on Tuesday, March 10th.  The reason for the delay is I will be exhibiting at the Amelia Island Concours in the Ritz Carlton on Friday/Saturday March 7th/8th and on the show field on March 9th with Classic & Sports Car UK magazine.  If you live in the Chicago area and want to pickup or plan to visit during March, I will be exhibiting at the Countryside Toy Show on Sunday, March 15th in Countryside, IL and then at the 42nd Annual Ferrari Literature Art & Model Expo on Saturday, March 21st in Hinsdale, IL.  Last I will be exhibiting at the 3rd NNL on March 28th at the Simeone Museum with Harrell’s Miniatures in Philadelphia, PA.

If you’d like a copy of the new brochure, please email me, though each order shipped will receive the new brochure too.

Happy Leap Year,
Jim Cowen, CEO
Automodello.com
877.343. 2276 US/CANADA or +1.847.274.9645 INTERNATIONAL