Carrera DIGITAL 132 Dodge Charger 500

Carrera DIGITAL 132 Dodge Charger 500 Andy Hampton, No. 58, Daytona 1969 Item

No.: 30686 Product Line
: US
only Availability in the Club Shop: Late July 2014Review

by CoMod Alex: “ARCA Racing Series”When

the Dodge Charger 500 and the Plymouth Superbirds were released in 2003, they were all cars with race livery. Start numbers, sponsor decals, racing stripes. Race cars, in other words.

That’s exactly what I envision for my Carreratrack: race cars! No sports cars in standard paint schemes—I look for those in the parking lot when I feel like it.
In the years that followed, several versions of the aforementioned cars without racing features were released, all for the American market. I just found these cars too boring, even though I’m a huge fan of the big American cars:
They handle exceptionally well! Long wheelbase, wide track, great drifting potential, and quick acceleration. Sure, compared to a modern DTM, they clearly fall short (they did the same 10 years ago against the DTMs of that era, by the way), but the cars just have a certain charm and are a blast on the track.

The muscle cars have been in the lineup for 10 years now, and Carrera at least one car is added to the lineup every year for the American market . For the past few years, they’ve finally been available again in proper war paint. ;-)

That brings us to the current Charger 500 for the market across the pond:
You’ve probably already wondered what the headline is all about. Well, this time it’s not a racing team, as the name might suggest. Any racing fan knows what NASCAR is without even having to think about it. It’s the world’s largest stock car series. Almost unknown here in Europe is the “ARCA RACING SERIES,” also a stock car racing series, which is ranked about two tiers below the NASCAR SPRINT CAR SERIES—NASCAR’s top racing series. And one tier below the NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES, the “feeder series” for the SPRINT CAR SERIES. The ARCA racing series has been around since 1954; NASCAR cars from the previous season were often used in ARCA races. For many privateer drivers, it was—and still is—the gateway to stock car racing.

The current model No. 30686 from [company name] Carrera is therefore not a fantasy design; the black-and-yellow No. 58 500 actually raced the 300-mile Daytona race in 1969. The driver was Andy Hampton, the only ARCA driver to have won the 300-Mile Daytona race twice (in 1968 and 1972). Incidentally, he finished third in 1969 driving the No. 58 car.

Best regards,
CoMod Alex

P.S.: Of course, in addition to the U.S. model available at the end of July 2014, the other new items from the U.S. lineup will also be available in the club shop. More information to follow.