BY BILL ENGAR

ATLANTIS MODELS #M6894 -- MSRP $39.99 -- 33 PARTS -- HOBBY KIT REQUIRING ASSEMBLY -- RECOMMENDED FOR AGES 14 AND UP -- 2-AA BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED -- COMPLETED MODEL 8" (20.3 CM) IN LENGTH -- ADHESIVE STICKER-TYPE MARKINGS INCLUDED.

Atlantis Models' 2022 release of Snoopy and his Classic Race Car is distinguised by a large, square box.

The original Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel was a huge hit for Monogram.  Advertised on TV, the market for the kit expanded way beyond hobbyists and scale plastic model builders thanks to the pop-culture appeal of Peanuts comics and a Snoopy fanbase of millions.
 
Since the first Snoopy model was a huge seller, It was natural that the kit line was expanded.  Snoopy in an airplane was a winner and putting Snoopy in a car of some sort would be a logical progression in a growing Snoopy model kit collection.  What kind of car would Snoopy drive?

Compare box art!  Monogram's original 1971 version of this kit had a different title and a rectangular box.

Perhaps following the WWI flying ace theme, a golden-age racer was selected.  Snoopy’s fertile imagination in the comic strip never put him in a race car, but Monogram decided that Snoopy would be right at home a few years post-WWI wearing his trusty flying ace leather helmet and goggles in a European Grand Prix race.  If a Sopwith Camel was the dogfighter of choice in WWI, only the best race car would do in the mid-1920's.  Snoopy's choice is the marque that won the 1926 Grand Prix World Championship, the Bugatti 35.

Multi-colored plastic parts mean very little if any painting is needed.  The motor and contacts simply click in place--no wires or soldering required!  Just supply a hobby knife to trim the parts and a pair of AA-batteries and you'll be ready to go in no time!

Well-engineered with innovations such as alloy wheels, the Bugatti Type 35 became legendary for its impressive history of winning races and only a discerning beagle would choose such a vehicle.  Retaining his red WWI Flying Ace scarf, Snoopy takes to the track, constantly scanning the road and terrain ahead as he races towards victory.

The model is molded in red, white, and black styrene plastic.  Rubber tires, two metal contacts, and a motor are included.

Snoopy and his Classic Race Car has 27 plastic pieces, a motor with two copper contacts, and 4 soft vinyl-rubber tires to round out at 33 total parts.  It is easy to build and doesn't need paint or glue.  It was very well engineered.  I remember building one myself at about age nine and recall it was a fun and easy endeavor for me at that age.  I'd had experience building other models and complex Lego sets, however; inexperienced kids younger than 12 or so might benefit from some parental assistance.

Snoopy's head is very similar to the version that comes with his Sopwith Camel kit.  His eyes and teeth will benefit from a little black paint.  Two black sprues include Snoopy's nose and helmet.  Axles and mechanical parts are also included here.

I built Snoopy and his Classic Race Car easily and quickly.  I did some parts-cleanup including trimming sprue attachment-points and a little flash, and minor scraping on some mold-parting lines.

The parts simply clicked together and held very well.  Before I realized it, I hadn't even used any glue and everything held together tightly.  Many snap-together kits benefit from the extra security that glue provides; the only place I could see where glue might be beneficial is Snoopy's head halves.

The only part where builders will really have to pay attention to the instructions is installing the motor and contacts.  Be sure the parts are oriented the same direction as the instructions indicate while installing the contacts and you should have no trouble.  Getting the contacts to fit will be similar to building a simple 3D puzzle; there are some plastic tabs and slots that lock the contacts in their proper locations.

Assembling the linkage to make Snoopy's head turn while the car is going might also be tricky; there is a linkage that has to be connected between an offset-gear and the shaft holding Snoopy's head.  The head pieces have two holes that fit over tabs on the shaft.  Study the parts and instructions ahead of time, don't try to rush, and you should get everything fit together just fine.

Soft rubber-like tires have a detailed vintage-racer tread pattern.

No wires or soldering required!  The contacts and motor click in place on the chassis.

Self-adhesive stickers decorate Snoopy's race car and the included base.

Use a sharp single-edge razor blade or new #11 X-Acto knife to trim a little flash on the tires and trim the tire sprue attachment points and your tires will look great and the car will roll smoothly.  Getting the tires on the rims might frustrate younger or inexperienced builders; simply schmooze them in place with your fingers.

The model looks great with no painting, other than some detailing for Snoopy's eyes and gritted teeth.  Snoopy and his Classic Race Car was originally referred to as "Snoopy and his Bugatti" back in 1971.  At the time, the Bugatti name probably required no licensing, but today, that's a different story.  To keep costs down, Atlantis kept the Bugatti name off the box.  An official license with the owners of the Peanuts and Snoopy images was obviously required.

If you want to paint your "classic race car" in authentic colors, we'll provide additional details and information about the Bugatti Type 35 classic race car in our bonus features accompanying this article.

The back of the Atlantis box shows a built model.

Building the car took a half-hour or so.  I liked the original 1971 kit sticker-treatment for the base; the original "Snoopy and his Bugatti" script.  The back wheel is not a special effect in this picture-- we took the photo with the motor running!

The motor is similar to the flip-to-start version that was so much fun in the Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel kit.  Different here is the use of two batteries in parallel.  A little more current is needed to drive the wheels through gears as opposed to a simple free-spinning propeller.  Adding another battery in parallel does the trick.  Be sure and point both batteries the same way!  It's a little different than what you're used to for, say, your TV remote.  I'd recommend removing the batteries when you're done racing Snoopy and his Classic Race Car around your floor.

Atlantis preserved the original well-written Monogram instructions graphics.  It's an 8-page booklet with large text and diagrams.

We did a little painting to produce the model you see here.  Snoopy's eyes and teeth received a little black paint.  We used Testors black enamel applied with a very fine paintbrush.  

The Snoopy figure is a good representation of everybody's favorite cartoon/comics dog.

Two AA batteries, not included, are needed to make the motor run.  Note that they both face the same direction!

Also recommended in the instructions is use of a grease-lubricant on gear and axle parts.  I assembled my model without it initially and it ran just fine, but I'll add it later.  Petroleum jelly such as Vaseline-brand will work just fine and not much is needed.

Snoopy and his Classic Race Car was a fun build and it looks just great built out-of-the-box with minimal effort.  There is plenty of latitude for the more experienced modeler who wishes to add some detailing to the Bugatti racer or even give it an authentic finish.  There is enough empty space inside the car for an advanced modeler who could even consider an RC conversion!

We had a lot of fun building (and playing with!) Snoopy and his Classic Race Car by Atlantis Models.  It's great to see this classic return along with the other awesome Snoopy kits that Atlantis has released!  We give this one an enthusiastic four thumbs up!

​SPECIAL THANKS TO ATLANTIS MODELS FOR PROVIDING THIS AWESOME KIT TO REVIEW AND ENJOY!

BONUS FEATURES

ATLANTIS MODELS SNOOPY LINEUP

Atlantis Models has so far re-released five of the original Monogram Snoopy-licensed model kits.  The first of the Snoopy kits was Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel in 1970.  This was a huge hit for Monogram and other Snoopy kits followed.  Now available from Atlantis Models are Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel, plus his nemesis Red Baron.  Check out our popular feature article on these two kits.  Snoopy Ice Hockey is a built-it-yourself game, and Snoopy is Joe Cool has Snoopy doing tricks on a surfboard.  Each of these kits is now available from Atlantis Models!

Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel was a massive hit for Monogram when first released in 1970.  Other kits followed.  We have a comprehensive webpage for Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel and Red Baron as well as a YouTube video.  We discuss the evolution of the Peanuts comic strip, the emergence of Snoopy's popular imaginary World War I flying ace persona, as well as the history of the Snoopy model kits.  Check them out!  Atlantis Models has re-released most of the Snoopy kits.  Two we haven't seen announced at time of posting are Snoopy and his Motorcycle and Snoopy High Wire Act.

There were a total of seven Monogram Snoopy kits released in the early 1970's.  Photos of Snoopy High Wire Act and Snoopy and his Motorcycle are Scalemates images of the original 1970's kits.  It is unknown at this time whether or not Atlantis Models is planning on releasing these.

Snoopy didn't spend much time in the car in the Peanuts comic strip, unlike his stick-time as an (imaginary) WWI flying ace.

Snoopy did imagine himself as a chauffeur in one strip and pictured himself in a vintage car while conversing with Woodstock about the differences between birds and dogs.  But it was the imagination of Monogram Models kit-makers that put Snoopy in a classic race car in 1971. 

BUGATTI AUTOMOBILES AND THE LEGENDARY TYPE 35

Monogram Models was legendary in the model kit industry as a maker of authentic, detailed models of famous vehicles.  When they engineered Snoopy and his Classic Race car (known as Snoopy and his Bugatti originally), they decided to use a famous automotive marque in similar fashion to Snoopy's choice of the Sopwith Camel for his imaginary "WWI Flying Ace" persona from the comic strip.  They could have created a vintage-style generic racer, but they chose the Bugatti Type 35.  While there are certainly some cartoon concessions, the car is an authentic nod to the original legendary racer.  We thought it would be fun to learn a little more about Bugatti Automobiles and even throw in some authentic painting information for those who want to customize their Snoopy and his Classic Race Car models.

The Type 35 has been referred to in some circles as the most beautiful racer of all time.

Ettore Bugatti proudly drives one of his most well-known cars, the Type 35.

Ettore Bugatti was born to an Italian family of prominent artists in 1881.  He possessed exceptional artistic abilities combined with brilliant mechanical aptitudes and was designing award-winning prototype cars by his early 20’s.
 
Before he was 30, he established the company which bore his name in Alsace, a Germanic region of what is now part of France.  The Type 13 is acknowledged as the first Bugatti model produced in 1910 and it was produced until 1920 with an understandable interruption during WWI.  In 1924, the Type 35 was introduced.  Lightweight alloy wheels were a pioneering feature of this car and its major components were perfectly balanced.   The car quickly developed a reputation for winning races.

Ettore's sons Jean and Roland (Jean at top).  The tragic death of Jean, Ettore Bugatti's expected successor, dealt a fatal blow to the original Bugatti company post-WWII.

The diminutive Bugatti Type 13 first debuted in 1910.

The arched radiator-grille became a trademark of the car and many components had a very high level of engineering precision and even decorative machining.  The exceptional workmanship, aesthetics and historic wins of these cars has made them among the most desirable and valuable collector cars to this day.  It isn’t uncommon to find examples selling in seven and even eight figures in auctions.
 
Ettore Bugatti’s son Jean was presumed to succeed his father in management of the Bugatti company, but he died tragically while testing a Type 57 racer variant in 1939.  World War II put Bugatti’s factory operations in a shambles and when the senior Bugatti died in 1947, there was not a viable succession plan in place and the company folded in 1952.

The current Bugatti corporation has no business link to the original company other than the name.  It is now owned by Volkswagen and car enthusiasts will recognize model names such as the Veyron tied to ultra-performance supercars with prices to match.  A distinctive feature of these cars is the arched grille, an homage to the original on the Type 35.

CREATE AN AUTHENTIC BUGATTI 35

Perhaps my first real exposure to the Bugatti name was when I built an original "Snoopy and his Bugatti" circa 1971 when I was about 9 years old.  To me, it seemed natural that the car was red; even a half-century ago in the USA, the image of the red race car or sports car was a common one.  However, blue is a more common color associated with the Bugatti Type 35.  While Ettore Bugatti was born in Italy, the French notion of nobility and passion signified by the color blue appealed to Bugatti.  If red was the color of choice for an Italian racer (which endures to this day associated with the Ferrari name), it was the color blue that was iconic for the French racer and this is how most vintage Bugattis are painted.  Various shades of blue, ranging from light to medium are commonly associated with the Bugatti 35.  

If you do decide to paint your Snoopy car a blue color, you'll probably get the best results if you apply a white or light-gray primer coat first to cover up the bright-red plastic.  Otherwise, it might show through in spots.  Or, simply apply a couple coats of the blue paint of your choice.

Perhaps the fact that Monogram had already released a Bugatti 35 influenced the choice to use the car as Snoopy's ride.  This kit was first released in 1966.

Results of a Google search for "Bugatti 35" yield a lot of blue cars!

An innovation of the Bugatti Type 35 was aluminum alloy wheels.  To authentically detail your Snoopy car's wheels, an aluminum metallic finish could be used with the spokes.  Testors Silver enamel could be brushed on, applied from a rattle-can or airbrushed.  The outside rim of the wheel, the part that shows where it meets the tire, would be aluminum as well.  You could leave the inside of the wheel black, or some cars are seen with gray brake drum housings.  The radiator surround is usually seen in a polished metallic finish.  We like a metal-finish product called Alclad II.  This must be applied with an airbrush, and a dark, glossy paint needs to be applied first as an undercoat for this product to work correctly.

Seats have been seen variously in black or brown leather.  The steering wheel hub appears to be similar in finish to the alloy wheels; aluminum.  The steering wheels are made of wood of a medium tan or yellowish-brown color, varnished to a high gloss.  Interior panels are aluminum with the dash having a circular brushed-pattern similar to the nosepiece on the Spirit of St. Louis.  The fire extinguisher is modern-era and would not be seen in a period-car.

An interesting addition to the Monogram Snoopy Bugatti in 1971 is the exhaust pipe.  We haven't seen this on the real cars; its addition could have been to slightly hide the exterior drive gear setup on the right rear wheel for the motorization of the Snoopy version.  The actual Bugatti had an inline 8-cylinder engine with two 4-into-1 manifolds for a dual exhaust system that was routed below the car to left of center.  You could paint yours the same aluminum finish as the wheel spokes with burnt metal at the front where the pipes exit the hood.  Paint the pipe exit at the rear black, or get fancy and drill it out using progressively larger bits until it has a realistic-looking opening....

...Or, just leave your Snoopy racer in its natural plastic after about a fun-filled half-hour or so of building time!  There are plenty of opportunities for customization here or Snoopy and his Classic Race Car looks great built right out of the box!

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