My 4th trip up and 2nd trip this year. Though i had to work through the 1st and 2nd night finishing my Volvo article, everything else about the trip was fantabulous. Lovely weather, Great food and Fantastic company set in a the most wonderful location this side of Asia. (Outside Japan of course…)

Managed to make my pilgrimage to that all important store, Model Car Expo! Great stuff they had this time round, but sadly, i had other things in mind for my money and had to drag myself out of the store before i spend my money. There was one car i regret not picking up, the Kyosho Fiat 131 Abarth. The subject matter already made interesting with the always beautiful Alitalia Rally colors, the quality of the model is top notch and at Kyosho’s price range, superb value. It will surely be a future classic in everyone’s collections in year’s to come. My guess is, prices will rise for such a wonderfully made model. Silly me for not grabbing the car… Can’t find it locally.

The Fiat X/19 Bertone. Some people call it the “Baby-Ferrari”. Debuting to the World in 1972. It was a mid-engined rear wheel drive sports car and it was small. Really small. But, it had a very unique wedge shaped styling which was attractive as well. The design allowed for 2 seperate luggage storage compartments. Performance wise, the engine pumped out a meagre 75HP (Very litle by today’s standards. But remember, this car is now over 30 years old!) But the weight as kept low and coupled with the mid engined layout, allowed for some really fun handling. I had the chance to sit in one of these before and it was really a small car, the seating position was really low as well. But, it had character. I still like the car quite alot and maybe one day, i would like to have one for myself. It wasn’t very fast though, but i guess with most classic sports car, you don’t need to be going fast to enjoy the car. Top speed was quoted to be at 170km/h. Yeah right…