Maisto "Last C4" 1996 Chevrolet Corvette
Something here appeal to my sense of irony: that the real Corvettes are made of plastic, while the model is metal. Oh, well...
I liked the C4 series Corvettes from the first spy photos I saw in 1982 -- I thought it was an excellent refinement of an otherwise gaudy design (I never really liked the C3s). The C4 series added a huge boost to the lackluster performance of the late C3s, and, besides improving the styling immensely, added a level of sophistication. This was the first Vette since the late '60s that could run against a Ferrari and have a fair chance of winning.
So now the C4s have had their day -- in 1996 they were replaced by the 5th generation Corvette, widely known by its Chevy development name, C5. Sure, the C5s are better, but the C4s deserve to be well represented in the history of sports cars.
Maisto offers several C4s, including a plain 1996 coupe, a convertible, and the king of the C4s, a 1994 ZR-1.
So here I am with Maisto's model of the Last C4 -- a specially decorated specimen, a limited edition, and all that. Of course the main model's identical to the regular Maisto 1996 Corvette; the only differences are the decoration and the wheels. This car is white, with two red hash-marks on the left front fender, a pair of nice-looking decals aft of the front fenders, Illinois license plates reading, "Last C4", and a windshield decal that says the same thing. The wheel spokes are painted white to match.
This model continues my complaints about Maisto's painting: As usual, the underside of the hood has no real paint, only some overspray. In addition, the white paint really shows some rough edges in places -- on mine, it's particularly noticeable at the trailing edge, where the hood ends at the windshield. On top of that, it's rough where the clamshell hood meets the forward edges of the doors, a fact which draws attention to the relatively poor fit there as well. There are a few other places, but those are the worst.
While we're near the fenders, let me add another complaint: the fender vents are represented by surface modeling. On Bburago's Ferrari 550, they cut the vents all the way through, and did it so well you'd never know it was a model.
The hood lifts easily to reveal a fair rendition of the Vette's 5.7L engine -- but you have to be careful lifting it. The red decals that make the hash-marks on the fender end in acutely angled points, and if you're not careful the tips can get curled back by your fingers. This would no doubt impact the future collector value of the car. Anyway, there is a prop rod, rather thick in scale, but with a little care the hood can be balanced so that you don't need it.
The white roof panel lifts off and -- surprise! it's plastic! This is one instance in which Maisto got the finish exactly right -- it matches the body so perfectly you might swear it's metal, until you touch it. With the top removed you can see easily into the cockpit, and it's a reasonable facsimile of the real thing. It is marred somewhat by a sprayed black finish on the dashboard that exhibits far too much gloss; it looks as if the paint is still wet. The glossy paint highlights the rather crudely rendered sun visors, and the central rearview mirror is at an odd angle: it would give a 1:18 scale driver a fine view of the sky overhead. Good thing the top comes off...
While I'm mentioning mirrors, let me just mention this: the side mirrors on this Vette are part of the metal door casting (good, in theory), but they look awful. The rims are too thick, and the mirrored surfaces are too small, badly placed, and rough-edged.
The rear hatch opens easily and props itself in the open position -- not quite the same open angle as a real C4 (a little lower), but pretty good. In addition, the lines of the electric rear defroster are beautifully rendered. The removable top stows underneath the hatch, just like on the real C4. The little "checkered flag/Chevy flag" Corvette emblem that covers the fuel filler door is supposed to be set into a matching depression, but the decal on mine is misaligned. In fact, many of the decals on this car don't look too good: either misaligned, or the edges are far too visible. Another quality control point bites the dust.
Turning the steering wheel of course causes the front wheels to turn -- and here lies one of my biggest complaints: the front wheels seem to be almost disconnected from each other. There is an amazing degree of looseness in the system. Inspection of the steering gear quickly gives the answer: the transverse linking rod between the front wheels has a total of four ninety degree bends, allowing it to dip below some other chassis components. Each of those bends allows some flex to enter the system, with the result being what I consider to be an unacceptable amount of slop. The slop also leads to a tendency of the front wheels to wobble in the vertical plane, so that the upper edge of the tire is further into the fender than the lower.
Moving on: I also have objections to the tires themselves: they are far too shiny. They feel good, but they look more like plastic than rubber. The tread blocks look crudely formed, as if the gaps are too wide. And in a bit of carelessness they seem to have mounted one of the rear "Gatorbacks" on my sample with the directional tread facing the wrong direction. I simply worked the tire off the wheel and reversed it myself, so that's not really an issue. But I know Maisto can do tires better; they certainly did on their Ferrari F50. (In looking at one of Maisto's regular '96 Corvette coupes, I found that both tires on one side had the tread running the wrong way! Do these people know what they're doing?)
At first I thought that the white spokes on the wheels looked like plastic, but on further consideration I decided that they looked like enameled metal. Gotta give Maisto points for that one.
The center brake light (in the industry called a Center High-Mounted Stop Light, or CHMSL) is weakly portrayed by a red decal on the rear fascia, whereas there is a sort of vestigial lump that seems to at one time have been another CHMSL atop the hatch's hinge. Checking a real '96 Vette confirms my guess: the lump is wrong, should be gone. It may be part of a multi-use casting that represented an earlier Vette -- I suspect Maisto's ZR-1 -- but if so, they should spend the extra money to get it right.
All told, this model isn't up to Maisto's usual standard. If I just wanted a C4 to represent the type in my collection, I'd keep looking.
To sum it up:
Strengths: Excellent removable top, rear hatch, fair undercarriage.
Weaknesses: Abysmal steering linkage, poor interior paint, generally poor Maisto paint, poor quality control.
Overall: A potentially collectible model, flawed by quality problems. Unless you GOTTA have the Limited Edition status, look for another.
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