Back when I was a teenager in the early '70s I bought this kit at Kmart for $20.00. This was the least expensive and least complicated of the line of large scale car models that Pocher produced at that time and usually went for $100. Other models in the Pocher line started several hundred dollars more and went up to nearly a thousand dollars. The higher end models had real leather upholstery, crank-up windows, metal parts, and such.

This particular model, being essentially a wagon chassis with a huge four cylinder engine with rear wheels driven by chains, didn't have the refinement of the other cars depicted in the Pocher model line. However, while most of the parts are plastic, much of it was fastened together with small screws and bolts. The drive chains came completely disassembled and I remember using a punch and a small tack hammer to build the chains link by link. That was quite a challenge. I wonder how many people were driven mad attempting to assemble those fussy drive chains.

Though it doesn't look like it, the real car could go over 90 mph. With safety equipment not even thought of at that time, I can't imagine the guts it took to race these cars.

Here's a video I found on Youtube describing this car: https://youtu.be/0PuCkTiKEh8

In this thread, I am going to attempt to revive my nearly 50 year old copy of the Pocher 1907 GP race car. This particular model has been sitting on the shelf in the basement for the past 20 some-odd years and looks more like a barn find than operational car. So follow along as I try to bring the old Pocher Fiat back to life. It should be a "fun" ride.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Looks like a wonderful, though utterly difficult project to me, my friend @gwfabian!
Your skills will tackle it greatly, though.
Really looking forward to see it coming along!

I'm going to need some luck on this one, @chinesegeorge. At least I don't have to bang out any dents.

I might run out of patience long before talent (or, more likely, the other way around) @fiveten. But I'll give it a shot anyway.

Looks like there's quite a bit of work ahead of you, my friend @gwfabian!

Well, for sure patience will pay you back! I believe when one by one the subcomponents will be refurbished, mojo will be boosted and counteract the loss of patience!

Bottom line is that this will be a wonderful result when refurbished!

P.S. If those rubber hoses fail, do you have alternate solutions? You might consider applying a very light coat of vaseline onto them, as to maybe soften them (not sure if this is gonna work, though...). Is there a possibility to rework the areas without removing them? (probably not...)

Work continues, albeit slowly on the Pocher Fiat. So far, I managed to remove the side skirts, both seats (the glue joint had given up the ghost years ago), brake cables, gear shift and break lever mountings, and the exhaust system, which was hanging on by one of its two screws. Regarding the rubber hoses, I found a supplier on the web, however, the hose would be black instead of red. One issue that did come up was that the model is fastened together with brass screws, bolts, and nuts. I was worried about finding a wrench small enough to work with the nuts when I had a flashback memory and visualized the wrench that came with the kit. I still have the toolbox I used as a kit when I was modeling which I now use for sorting and storing various screws, nuts and bolts. One of the drawers has an old, dried-up tube of Testor's glue, a machine gun from an old Italeri Zundapp motorcycle/sidecar kit, and, lo and behold, the wrench that came with the Pocher Fiat! Just goes to show you that you should never throw anything away because you never know when you might need it. Nearly 50 years later, I needed that wrench, and there it was! After removing the rear platform where the seats were mounted, I found a missing foot pedal, so that's one less part I will have to fabricate.

Greg, that is so true - never throw anything away! Never.

It shall be nice to see this getting some TLC soon now that the tools are at hand.

The tedious job of disassembling and cleaning/checking, Greg @gwfabian...