Age 3, Christmas 1986 I received this set from my older cousin as a gift, Lego. Never before did I have any lego. Once I figured out how to put it together, with help from Dad of course it became the number 1 play toy. All I wanted for any birthday, Christmas or anything else after for that matter was Lego. I still have fond memories of that car, I lost the instructions years ago but I'm pretty sure I still have all the pieces, writing this review is making me want to go get my lego out and try and build this set again...

1986 is one of a couple of interesting years that feature distinct contrasts in released models, the design and parts of some sets appearing more primitive than others. As an example this Shell stock car is a superior design to a formula 1 counterpart of the same year.

Minifigures:

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White 'S' outfit with the stripes and a red helmet.

Top Stock

The Racing subtheme is a wonderful collection of cars of all sorts that bring some colourful patterns, action and imaginary engine power to the town roads. As far as stock, rally or high performance standard cars go, this model seems a real winner. Its easy to get nostalgic and biased, so a quick look around alternatives in the subtheme often give a more balanced review. In this instance only 1496 and 1497 have comparable cars so these three should make a nice collection for a race without the domination of F1. Which car here is best is probably more down to personal favourite.

The most likeable part of the build could be the simple raised rear end of the vehicle that gives a basic but effective design of increased suspension or even engine size. A clever illusion if you like. I have no love of corporate sponsorship but being pre-Octan, this is a great colour scheme with the yellow and red stripes complementing the white really well. The Shell badge, name and '16' at least look smart but the red line does not quite continue within the back bumper area.

Lights are displayed across the front in two types; yellow and clear while the back only needs the x2 chunky red. Blue tinted windscreens and white hubcaps made this a pleasure to purchase, now a prized part of any racing collection, lets hope many survived intact. There is no seat by the way so this is obviously a rough ride for the driver, naturally the roof is hinged for access.

This is almost practically a five brick set except for respecting the difference between 'best of theme' as opposed to 'nostalgic favourites'. Such treasures deserve a higher score though for possessing unique and benchmark status. There are better four stud cars but not many better in racing. Oh go on then, its also among the best four stud cars, five bricks it is!

I loved this set so much when I was younger, for such a simple kit you could do so much my fav being going convertible. Hours and hours of fun and went well with my shell station, a must for an older city collection. Great kit 

I loved this little set when growing up, even if it was my brothers. We had several cars and used the instructions to build even more cars of different colors to race with. When I was given all the legos this was one of the sets that I found the instructions for as well as all the parts with the stickers on them. We got lucky with our set and ended up with two sets of stickers. I liked them so much that I finagled the other sheet from my brother to apply to my 6698 set which has them still today.

Whether you like the stickers or not, this is/was a great classic car with an easy but fun build, and loads of playability with the repeatable instuctions.

Lego made such good cars back in the 80's like this one. It is a perfect car and the detail and color is just amazing. The Shell stickers are lame though, but this car is fantastic and gets a 5 out of 5.