I think I got really lucky with my TopCat project, I got mine for around £80, from the eBay pictures it looked in poor shape not helped by the fact that someone had managed to build the gearbox with the spur gear sticking out from the wrong side of the casing!!! But somehow I could see that with some work it could look really nice... In fact on receipt of the car it became apparent that it had probably never run (not surprising given that there was no way to mount the motor to mesh with that spur!) I had been looking for the right car for a long while.... (the TopCat completes the collection of the cars that I had from when I first started racing), I had been offered new built & good condition cars but for more that I could justify spending. I guess the moral of the story is that if you are willing to wait... keep hunting & be willing to put in a little work, your 'top' TopCat can be had for a more realistic sum.
Strangely I have seen more new built - even NIB TopCat kits than Cougar 1s. I guess on the release of the Cougar un-sold kits of the troubled Top Cat remained on the model shop shelves, indeed, my original TC was brought at a special offer price, because the Cougar had just been released. Like most TopCats that saw track action, mine ended up bring converted to a Cougar.
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