Found this Ferrari kids car at a dumpster and how could I improve its look?

[WiiCube_2013]

Someone threw it away but it's mostly OK with one of the headlight's plastic missing and no rechargaeble battery though other than that, it's still fun to ride however in this situation either it'd have to be pushed or pulled, or whatever.

I could give this to a charity but I bet they'd just throw it away and not appreciate it.

I've cleaned it and it's now dry so the colouring of it looks pretty bad, which is why I've thought about spray painting metallic red or another colour. What'd you guys recommend?

Photo:

Spoiler

I don't wanna throw it away as I've always wanted to own one of these and getting it for free is awesome, despite that it needs improvements.

 

[VinsCool]

Keep it for your future kid.

 

[migles]

that thing is so cool. i am glad you saved it...
since its plastic its harder to restore..
try to restore it to the original state.. (same colours for example) you know how theese things are more valuable if you are true to the original

 

[WiiCube_2013]

that thing is so cool. i am glad you saved it...
since its plastic its harder to restore..
try to restore it to the original state.. (same colours for example) you know how theese things are more valuable if you are true to the original

True. I fancy red coloured stuff and red Ferraris were always my favourite in racing games than other colours.

I'd like to restore it to its original shape and colour but to do so ideally I'd have to have a room/garage for it and in UK I don't quite have that but in Portugal I do, however, the car's too damn heavy and I guess it'd cost around £40-60.

 

[FAST6191]

That looks like classic sun bleaching/free radical fun on the body plastic, the headlight almost certainly is. There is no real magical fix like you can for old yellowed consoles, at least not outside a proper plastics restoration place. To that end get it ready for spraying with a new coat of paint, I do not know what plastic dyes are doing these days but that might also be an option though the finish will probably not be as good as paint.

Also see if you can find someone to get the battery working, or something like it

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Gonna expand on FAST6191's answer, in that if you do go about spray painting it, make sure you use about 2-3 layers of a spray paint that is rated for extensive outdoor use, and then 1-3 layers of a good sealer

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

2 words.

Bitchin'. Spinners.

/thread.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

If I knew somewhere that they'd take care of it by adding what's needed to work properly by battery, paint and whatnot for a fee I'd do that. I guess £100-150 would cover the costs, right? FAST6191

I remember back in the 90s when I was a kid and always wanted to have one of these for myself.

 

[FAST6191]

£150 would not get you far in an actual mechanics/machine shop, someone that has a few tools in their garage/workshop and knows how to use them, or perhaps someone that works in a local college or something, might be able to do it for that. In cases like this I eat my own dog food and for little passion projects like this people charge in wildly different ways.

Trouble is I have no idea a) what is wrong with that and b) what kinds of things it has inside -- I have seen those toy cars for kids range from good enough to go on a go kart track, to stuff like that video I linked, to stuff that would make a designer of the sort of stuff you see on deal extreme justifiably complain of shoddy engineering.
If you can stick an old car battery in it, grease the mechanicals, sand the shell and spray it with a few cans of spray paint over an afternoon then that might be enough, if you have to actually start diagnosing stuff or bypassing it wanting a certain kind of battery and redoing controls then that is a different matter.

 

[DinohScene]

Personally, I'd throw a small petrol motor in it.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Personally, I'd throw a small petrol motor in it.

*Kid takes off at 40mph* That's my boy *happy tears*

I think that electric is just fine in this case, unless it's so beyond help that it's just more convenient to plop a petrol motor in it, but that may pose a safety risk if it's too high-powered

 

[DinohScene]

But that's the point, living dangerous.

Then again, I'd probably say fxck you to the kid and keep it for personal fun c:

 

[FAST6191]

If you have a petrol motor sitting around then surely you would build a proper gokart. Equally petrol may be nicer to service and refuel but electric can be pretty nippy if you do it right.