Fly Porsche 908

Remembered.

by Tom Dandes

When is the last time old slot cars made you smile as you remembered sliding them around the track? My smile came back to me today with the Fly Porsche 908.

I have a number of these cars that unfortunately sit around until it gets to cold outside to work. Then out of boredom I’ll start to cycle through all the cars giving each one a little track time. Always thinking back to the day I brought them home and what had to be done to get them to run. I also see all the times I had racing them with my son and close friends. Good memories that will be around for a long time.

The 908’s are not the latest and greatest release by any means. Nor are they up to the details or scale of the newest releases. In fact they are slightly over sized compared to the 1:1 cars. But they are still great workhorse cars that can be ran with or without magnets and take a lot of abuse.

Good things about the 908’s:

1. Low center of gravity.                                        2. Sidewinder configuration.

3. Room for lead.                                                  4. Good paint.

5. Good tampo’s.                                                  6. Mild magnet.

7. Good driver/engine detail.                                  8. Tripod effect with guide and rear tires.

9. Responds well to tuning (loves sillies).                10. Can be made into a rocket.

11. Still can be found cheap if you look hard.

 Bad things about the 908’s:

1. Tires need trued.                                                2. Add straight axle to the front.

3. Mirror will bust off (what mirrors don’t).            4. Rear axle may need shimmed.

5. Front tires may rub fenders.                               6. Rear tire may rub pinion.

7. Classics are getting harder to find driving prices up.

All the bad things listed here are easy fixes considering the cars responsiveness to a good tuning it is well worth it the price.

Note: If you decide to try one I recommend you do it soon. Classic Fly’s like the Ferrari’s, Lola T-70’s and now the Porsche 917’s are getting harder and harder to find in the more favorite liveries. Because of this prices are slowly being driven upward as dealers no longer have them on the shelves and they become harder to find.

Give the 908 a try if you don’t already have one. Tune it up to the max looking out for the things I mentioned above then run it. If you already have a 908 remember to take it off the shelf once in a while and relive some of the memories of days past. I guarantee you’ll have a smile on your face.

  See you at the track.

           Tom Dandes

(Tripower55)