The US version of Race & Chase arrived in 1979. The set description is indentical to PT-6000 in the Powertrack section, with one obvious difference.
The chase car in all the US products is the 'Catch me' Funny car, loosely modelled on a Chevrolet Monza - bizarrely different to the Lanechanger Chevy Monza...
The UK release featured the Corvette Stingray. The Stingray was a pumped up Chevrolet Corvette but looked much better racing than when it stood still. It retained the white body and yellow/red detailing but did not possess the 'Catch me' logo of the US version.
The US funny car shown here on the box artwork is the prelimary design for the Funny car and differs from the production version. The most prominent difference is in the front wheelarch area.
What I find bemusing is why Matchbox did not use the Funny car in the UK? Why would us Brits want a Stingray? Why not give us the Escort? Some box art and promo material in the UK featured the Funny car, yet the UK box had the Stingray. Why not let the US have the Stingray? It never appeared over there.
One other feature in early US Race & Chase sets is the inclusion of additional bridge supports to create tiers either side of the tip bridge to be an additional hazard for the yomping cars. This was dropped for the UK - why? Who actually thought about it and removed it? Strange...
