Shown here are Pierre Laugier’s collection of scratch-built, 1:43-scale, super-detailed chassis of classic sports-racing cars. This project was a new departure for him and was in development for almost a year prior to its first presentation at Retromobile in Paris in February 2008.

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The idea behind the concept came about from a realization that many collectors want the pleasure of viewing the uninterrupted lines and shape of their models, but also want the pleasure of viewing the chassis and internal workings of the car. However, the two pleasures cannot be united in the one model car without sacrifice. Therefore, why not try to give the collector both. This realization lead Pierre to build a number of scratch-built, highly-detailed chassis models, which are ideal for displaying alongside a complete model of the same car and would particularly complement a model from an existing collection.

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The Building of the Chassis Model 
Like all models by Pierre Laugier, attention to detail and craftsmanship are paramount, so the building of the model could not begin until there had been extensive research on the original car, in particular detailed study of historical documents such as photographs, drawings and blueprints, together with testimony from those involved in the car’s original development and production, as well as present-day restoration.

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Afterwards an accurate plan of the chassis was drawn up in 1:43 scale. The intention was to try and follow a process as close as possible to building the real car.

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The next step was the chassis frame, which was hand-made from scratch by soldering together various lengths of fine-diameter tubular brass. The parts of the chassis were then bolted together using hand-made nuts and bolts in sizes ranging from 0.3 to 0.5.

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The cockpit and fuel tanks were then moulded from 0.1mm aluminium sheeting. Except for the engine, radiator and tanks, which were cast from prototypes made by Pierre, each part was individually made, from the suspension, gearbox and shock absorbers, to the smallest connection.

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With so much of the model being individually hand-made, each chassis had its own unique identity.

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Finally, Pierre believes that there is beauty in a race car that has seen some competition, so using oil-paints to achieve the desired effects, the exhaust pipe proudly displays its heat history, and the seats show evidence of contact with the driver after a hard-fought race.

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The Finished Chassis Model 
Each chassis is best appreciated alongside a model of the complete car, either from an existing collection, or one made especially by Pierre. The collector thereby gets the pleasure of viewing the unbroken lines of the closed model whilst at the same time admiring its chassis, gearbox, transmission… all the little details of the internal workings of the car.

 

Nevertheless, each chassis can be displayed by itself and enjoyed for its own merits, and because each one is individually made to order, the choice of how each model is displayed is down to the collector.

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All the chassis models featured here are no longer available.