Thorndyke special

maybe a little late, but...go to http://www.intermeccanica.org/vehicles/apollo/apollo.htm

does anyone know what happened to it after production?

Yeah, those ugly full surround bumpers are a terrible blight on such a beauty (I believe we have American legislation to thank for this defacement) - it looks so terrible, trying to follow the lines of the "mouth" opening at the front (the simple straight through-line bumper looked so much better) and the similar situation at the back, to prevent obscuring the number plate.
The funny thing is that on a RACE car, the heavy, extra-thick steel bumpers are always pretty much the FIRST thing to go, so their appearance on this car IN A RACE is not only ugly and totally unnecessary, it's also contrary to the objective of the sport. Were they PURPOSELY trying to uglify this classic?? I know it was driven by the baddie, but still, that's no reason, surely?

"It's too late... Always has been, always will be...
Too late."

Thorndyke drives four different cars:-

Silver Jag E-type in forst race, which sounds like it's got a V8 in it rather than the standard Jag engine;

Some kind of late 50s/early 1960s V8-powered racer in the Mexican scene, like a Devin or one of them Ol'Yaller things; you spot it when the donkey cart is towing it away.

Red late 50s Ferrari 250GT TDF in the Herbie on irish coffee race;

and the "Thorndyke Special" - an Apollo 3500GT (with a very potent V8 in it from the sound it makes, probably ws the 5-litre model; Jim says "over 400 cubes" which means it may have a 7-litre motor). wonder why Disney used such a rare car to play a relatively big part of the movie?

Also, did anyone else spot how Thorndyke's overalls matched the colours on each car he drove?