Grand Prix Racing Car 1970

Notes:

The Action Man Grand Prix Race car is a sought after piece by collectors. The brittle plastic windshield is vulnerable to damage when turned upside down and usually is broken or missing. The stickers (always No.7) usually are in a state of disrepair or absent. The engine block and roll bar, wing mirrors x 2, fuel cap, side pipes x 2, steering wheel and rear exhaust (two halves) push into holes on the body, and can fall out and/or break. Rather ironically the blow-molded body is incredibly strong. Some of the images below show a missing the top section of the two part rear exhaust pipes and have a repro windshield and stickers (replacement stickers available here). The Action Man Grand Prix Racing Car boxed set included a Grand Prix Driver outfit (not the figure) and has a couple of race suit variations:

The first has the same overalls as the Landing Signals Officer (this is pictured in the Equipment Manuals) and is paired with the scramble / helicopter pilot style helmet with it's aeronautics badge (with Red Devil type plastic chin strap replacing the oxygen /comms mask) and usual delicate swing-down visor. Red 'neckerchief' and black boots.

The second type is similar to the Scramble Pilot overalls, but with multicoloured panels in shades of grey/green paired with the helmet shared with the Go Kart set. The red neckerchief scarf, being unique to these outfits, is rare. Why the panels on the overalls were non-matching remains a mystery, but this set has always looked like bits and pieces were used to make something visually different in lieu of having an actual budget to produce a more costly and bespoke version because of the low number of cars likely to sell.

The Go Kart Driver also available from 1970, has a blue version of the scarf which is a little more common, although still rare. Reproduction stickers are shown in these images and are available from the Action Man HQ Shop.

GI Joe / Action Joe originally had his own 1967 race car in yellow with a red stripe (also No7). His driver, unlike the Action Man version had a unique race suit, and did not borrow heavily from the parts-bin. Some reproduction yellow (with red stripe No7) and red (with black stripe No9) race cars were produced by DeSimone in a limited edition run of 350 in the US for the GI Joe I.C.C.A Convention in 1995. These are sought after too.