About the kit

The origins of the kit

The kit is a Ferrari Dino lookalike. Note that I do not say 'replica', as there are some obvious differences between the styling of the two. The overall shape is that of a Dino, but the cooling holes, rear window, doors, and rear quarterlights are significantly different.

I believe that the Kit originated in the USA, and was taken to Finland, where Roger Wooley (hence 'RW') bought the moulds over to the UK in the late '70s, early '80s.

The kit

There are two versions on the basic kit, a VW Beetle based kit, and a mid-mounted engine version. However, a number of slight variations to the moulds have occurred, mainly due to improvements to assist in the manufacture of the final product.

From what I can gather, there were three main evolutionary changes to the design:

1. The original kit had a rear window similar to that of a Dino - ie. a vertical window as opposed to a sloping window that follows the roof line. It also had a dashboard that had a bulge in driver's side to put the instruments in.
2. The next version (which is my version) had these features removed, probably due to difficulty in manufacturing. It is possible, though, that the vertical rear window was for the mid-mounted engined version, to allow cooling á la Dino.
3. The final version had extra support for the front quarterlights inside the door itself, to assist in the assembly of the kit. These are very useful!

The kit was available in a number of gel-coat colours, or not gel-coated (ready for painting).

Options

As well as having a VW Beetle option and a mid-mounted engine option, you could buy the kit with extras such as a wiring loom, wheels, instrumentation and so forth.

There were a number of 'copies' made of the body, and were sold independantly of RW Kit Cars, but these did not include hinges, windows, rubbers and so on. It is probably best to stay clear of these copies, as getting the parts could be potentially difficult.

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