diecast racer? I bought an old damaged Schuco 2000GT for a quick and dirty project to put the world record time trial car livery on the model without having to do a full repaint. The model is the proper yellow but had a gloss black hood that needed to be changed to matte dark green and different decals needed to be made.

I had to take the car apart to fix the hatchback that no longer stayed closed. Since it's disassembled I could remove the driver figure but somehow this old model has a toyish charm that has me torn between leaving the driver in it or removing it to give the model a more realistic look. It’s not possible to do the body mods to make it into a true replica of the prototype 1:1 so it's going to be more of a tribute model. Any thoughts on which way I should go as far as the driver?

Photo of model as purchased (hatch stuck open, many paint chips, one mirror broken off, loose exhaust):



Model after disassembly, decal removal and hood re-painting started: