My original CAT XL - freshly uncovered

[Dadio]

That dear fellow is a beauty ! , maybe I'll skip next months build off comp

[dinglem]

Haha! Glad you like it. I can't enter BOTM until next year....

[coxbros1]

Wow!!! nothing else needs to be said! except all my restos are a joke! I do have a rere Cat waitn for me to build tho

[haydn8052]

Wow! That colour scheme is amazing. Love it

[Coelacanth]

Beautiful, I love the vibrant color scheme and the belt window, as mentioned previously. Terrific execution of a build!

[dinglem]

[matt1ptkn]

Looking good! But I must apologize, I can't quit looking at your avatar!

[R6cowboy]

Looking good! But I must apologize, I can't quit looking at your avatar!

This CAT XL is phenomenal. And yes sir, I guarantee you're most definitely not the only one who appreciates dinglem's avatar(s).

[dinglem]

Glad you like the XL - this one really means a lot to me from a sentimental perspective.

....and i think we all appreciate a nicely detailed body(shell)! I shall let her know

[Mike73]

Great pics and post, got to admit I'm schumacher less, always wanted one and will have to land something. BITD I had a standard optima mid which I converted to a LWB with the Brimod conversion. However the Cat XL / XLS was a real head turner for me, If i had more bucks from the paper round Saturday job and general laboring I used to do I think i'd have got one... Big question now is if I get one now do I go modern or stick with a retro one and do parts from the modern fit on the old if needed....

[Retro rc]

Great pics and post, got to admit I'm schumacher less, always wanted one and will have to land something. BITD I had a standard optima mid which I converted to a LWB with the Brimod conversion. However the Cat XL / XLS was a real head turner for me, If i had more bucks from the paper round Saturday job and general laboring I used to do I think i'd have got one... Big question now is if I get one now do I go modern or stick with a retro one and do parts from the modern fit on the old if needed....

99%of the re-re xls parts fit, the main chassis and inner gearbox housing are a definite no

[dinglem]

My original XL was my only Schumacher car bitd, and I didn't get along with it at all. I just didn't like how it was made, and the handling was also a bit off for me - i never really got a handle on it and switched to the Mid and then the Yoke after that. It got sold on and I only fairly recently tracked it down and bought it back out of nostalgia. If i had got hold of it when I was a little older or a more proficient driver then maybe things might have been different. I was only 13 at the time.

I think the XL (in revised XLS format for Masami) was a bit of a revelation at Romsey and on the European circuit through 1987, but was soon overtaken (for me at least) by the competition. Lots of British club drivers bought into it though, and from then onwards stuck with Schumacher cars over the following years. I actively avoided them, in 2wd and 4wd formats. Visually, I find their 2wd cars very unappealing. I always enjoyed turning up at events and being only a handful of Yoke drivers in a huge field of Schumacher cars. In my head I already had an advantage! I was still running my 870c in the 1991 season - there doubt there were many XL or XLS cars running in those races by that time.

Saying that, by the 93 season you had to be running a Yoke Works 91 or a Lazer to be up there, or so the results seemed to show. Interestingly if you look at this first corner A-Final magazine shot from the Donisthorpe round of the 93 Radio Race Car Series you can see the majority of cars were Yokes or Lazers, including my spoked car starting from pole, but Matt Whitney was the only Schumacher runner, and was in fact still running an XLS!! There is also a lone Tomy Intruder at the back of the grid. I love this shot as it epitomizes that period of racing for me, proper grass and the iconic Donisthorpe club. Plus it is the only shot I have of my Works 91 on the track.

The re-release is not really something i buy into, which is why I go for modified original cars wherever possible. I really like the unusual Brimod chassis on my XL, and the funky SJP fron suspension set up. It took me ages to source the SJP stuff.... and I eventually somehow ended up with two sets including the matching rear wishbones too. I should probably offload those at some point as the ones on my XL will never break. They were sold as being 'unbreakable'.... mainly because they famously have a lot of built-in flex. They really do look the part though.

I don't remember even seeing a SWB CAT back in 1986, but they seem to have a bit of a mythical status which is why I hunted down an original one of those for my collection. I am curious how it might drive.

With my own personal vintage logic, if I was buying a CAT today I would be either hunting down an original XL with a grey bumper, the pre-XLS upright front shock arrangement and narrow rear end, or a SWB with all of those key features, just to ensure it was a period original.

[K Rob]

You keep wheeling out that photo
Can't believe the rookie error of the car in second with black front wheels and yellow rear.
But I've learnt since then

[dinglem]

You keep wheeling out that photo
Can't believe the rookie error of the car in second with black front wheels and yellow rear.
But I've learnt since then

It's the only one I have got of that car running Keith! It is funny how we all ran cars in all manners of formats back then and didn't give a toss. I ran odd wheels quite regularly on my 870c, basically because i couldn't be bothered to switch the tyres over to matching rims, and it just didn't matter. Today our builds have to be perfect! My 870c is currently (still) being rebuilt, but i almost cringe when i look at the wing we ran on it back then.... fashioned out of the side of a white nylon water drum! It was springy and tough and occasionally springed the car back over onto the wheels during a hard roll, and also housed the transponder in a much safer place than if it were a polycarb equivalent. But.... it looks shyte.

[K Rob]

It's ok Martin, I never tire of seeing it

As for the CAT, I had a couple when I was too inexperienced really to get them to work properly. Just fudged it with second hand bodgers but I think they really needed work to get them to go well.
The SWB was before my time but I guess they were pretty horrendous to drive