Greetings,

I reluctantly gathered one for myself, at the initial price point of about $230 U.S. The wheels and tires employed front and rear are the same size which struck me as weird given the '71-'72 Replicarz Trans-Am Javelins at least featured slightly better footwear in this regard/respect. Indeed - the tires seem narrow, the wheel diameter too large. The body shape is just O.K. by my estimate, albeit not stellar especially with regards to the rear third of the car. Know it isn't as awful as the Franklin Mint atrocity of old, while I didn't really note a pronounced banana profile as you'll remember and recall from the FM release.

It does help to refinish the wheels which are fairly bright and not exactly what's called for, while the flank lettering in the form of 'Chaparral' as well as 'Camaro' wasn't well chosen for font, although with concerted effort can be replaced with 1:18th waterslide decals sold via eBay if one is determined to alter/fix things. Unless one is daring for use of a heat gun and prepared for the possibility writing off an example for damaging the paint, the interior is glued in and everything short of the photo etched trim and axles are rendered in resin. I mention this given I want/wanted to refinish and fix things across the interior which is paint white on the model even as it ought to be light gray. Oh - also beware that some models displayed under lamps or displayed in cases before the sun have been known to pop their photo etch window trim - so be alert to this if purchasing something that's been out of the box.

Other things to relate is that the bumpers front and rear as well as the headlamp bezels aren't chromed, but rather phoned-in affairs painted an unremarkable silver. Also - rather than coming up with proper fill panels for the headlamps, Replicarz fit lenses that certainly seem out of place here. I've modified my example to correct/improve what I could, although I'm hardly about to toss wholly aside what I'd worked up across time with an old ERTL release with a GMP engine, wheel arch flares, roll cage, etc. I might repost some modified Replicarz Chaparral Camaro images to communicate what can be addressed with light effort, while referencing my lead in, Replicarz via their Memorial Day Sale is now selling the models for $169.95 which is far better than before.

Mike K.