Well, any hope of finishing this by the time of the Le Mans race evaporated in the face of other activities.
The chassis, made of square and round tubing, is now essentially complete. In front the suspension consists of equal A-arms top and bottom on coil-overs. I am probably going to leave off the steering column and box (some type of worm and sector, most likely) for now.
A push in the face of extended procrastination got the rear axle complete. It's classic 50's sports racer: a transaxle for better weight distribution, a De Dion dead axle for reduced unsprung weight compared to a classic live axle, and a transverse leaf spring. Fully independent rear axles were still rare at that time; I once had the pleasure of owning a 1968 Rover 2000 TC which still had a De Dion although not a transaxle.
The rear suspension was a jigsaw of multiple little bits. The assembly sequence is important, so I repeat it here for posterity (the instruction sheet does not provide any guidance on assembly sequence): Transaxle to the frame first, then the forward subframe structure which straddles the transaxle, then the upper subframe structure, then the axles and De Dion tube with no glue so they can all move around a bit, then the rear subframe structure (which locks the De Dion into place), then the trailing arms which slide on the axles and locate to both the the forward subframe and the ends of the transverse leaf. The drum brakes round it all out. I just need to figure out where the shock absorbers fit and it's done.
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