# Pirahna Spy Car



## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

After three paint jobs and being reassembled twice, i've declaring this finished. This is still an awful kit, with it's janky door mounts, split body and ill fitting parts. I ended up replacing the hinges with metal rod, but keeping them aligned was difficult, so i ended up gluing them closed. I also cut out the rear suspension from the body so i could glue it in after assembling the body and align the wheels with the ground (didn't work, still janky). After the silver paint went bad, i repainted it gold. when that started coming off, i repainted it again in Tamiya Blue metallic.

DSCF8582 by aus_mus, on Flickr
DSCF8583 by aus_mus, on Flickr
DSCF8584 by aus_mus, on Flickr
DSCF8585 by aus_mus, on Flickr
DSCF8586 by aus_mus, on Flickr
DSCF8587 by aus_mus, on Flickr


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Apart from all the difficulties - it still looks okay! Thanks for sharing it with us despite that. It reminds me of an Alfa Bat car. Are they related? :lurk5:


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

It was made by Gene Winfield for AMT for The Man From UNCLE. Totally fiberglass except for steel cages for the suspension. Corvair engine. AMT also released a model of it.

History of it and Winfield.

https://www.c-we.com/piranha/page4.htm










https://www.autoworldstore.com/product-p/amt916.htm

EDIT

Found a full size race car;

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2018/02/14/the-amt-piranha-racer


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## NTRPRZ (Feb 23, 1999)

Being an UNCLE fan as a kid, I HAD to have that model. I have to say it was pretty awful, for all of the reasons cited above, and I don't think I would have done a very good job on it.
When it was reissued, I decided to try again. I got only so far before deciding to consign it to the shelf again. I found another kit on sale and got it as well and have started trying again.
I guess I don't know when to say enough is enough. I will finish it, though.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Yeah, I would definitely skip the working door hinges and glue the doors shut. You get a good view of the interior anyway through that wrap-over door glass.



terryr said:


> It was made by Gene Winfield for AMT for The Man From UNCLE. Totally fiberglass except for steel cages for the suspension.


The frame of the Piranha was fiberglass, but the body panels were made of a molded thermoplastic called Cycolac. The body of the real car was molded in upper and lower halves, the same way as the model kit.

Back in 1969 or so, I had the "French" version of the kit (including bilingual English-French instructions). Inside the box it was exactly the same as the _Man From UNCLE_ edition, complete with embossed UNCLE logo on the license plate.










AFAIK, "Mademoiselle L'Agente Secrète 97" isn't a character from movies, TV, comics, or any other media. She looks like a pretty cool babe, though.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

FWIW ParaGraphix makes a photoetch set that solves the door hinge problem, and I think it also helps detail one of the 'features' of the car that was omitted by AMT. 

Isn't it funny? two key icons of '60s TV that AMT helped fund in exchange for the kit rights, UNCLE Car and Star Trek's Galileo shuttlecraft, and the kits end up being fairly trash. 

Oh that's not fair. The Galileo is OK if you're not too critical and the UNCLE car CAN be built, as this thread proves, but neither is a completely happy experience. 

LOL! But on the gripping hand, all history says the UNCLE Car was nothing but trouble, as bad as the Batmobile or Black Beauty (or for that matter Ed Straker's car in UFO) in terms of being a reliably functioning practical vehicle. So I guess it fits that the kit is problematical.


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

scotpens said:


> AFAIK, "Mademoiselle L'Agente Secrète 97" isn't a character from movies, TV, comics, or any other media. She looks like a pretty cool babe, though.


There was a Girl from UNCLE, and Agent 99 From Get Smart. I guess they merged them together.



Steve H said:


> Isn't it funny? two key icons of '60s TV that AMT helped fund in exchange for the kit rights, UNCLE Car and Star Trek's Galileo shuttlecraft, and the kits end up being fairly trash.


He also did The Reactor from Star Trek and Bewitched, The Wraith, and many cars from Blade Runner and Back to the Future II.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Barris, right? I'm not faulting the design per se, but poor choices were made regarding power plants, transmissions, shocks and so on. Beautiful to look at, crap as far as actually driving them goes.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Steve H said:


> Barris, right? I'm not faulting the design per se, but poor choices were made regarding power plants, transmissions, shocks and so on. Beautiful to look at, crap as far as actually driving them goes.


The Piranha (_Man from UNCLE_ car) and the Reactor (Jupiter 8 from _Star Trek_'s "Bread and Circuses," also appeared in _Batman_ and _Bewitched_) were built by Gene Winfield.


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

Steve H said:


> Barris, right? .


Barris gets credited for other peoples work more than any other designer... and Barris wasn't the type of guy to correct them.
eg the Barris "Knight Rider" car (he built a replica _after _the show had finished)
>


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

scotpens said:


> The Piranha (_Man from UNCLE_ car) and the Reactor (Jupiter 8 from _Star Trek_'s "Bread and Circuses," also appeared in _Batman_ and _Bewitched_) were built by Gene Winfield.


Right, right, duh on me. And hence the AMT connection as well. 

I need a new memory CPU, the old one isn't flopping properly.


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

Secret agent 97, pretty cool, I would drive that car in traffic or around town just to get thumbs from other drivers, I wonder if they ever made a "kit" car version for it?:nerd::grin2:


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