[StratosWRC]

You'll certainly have a lot of choices, Wes - Minichamps has or will release seven different race liveries and one un-liveried all-red version. To my knowledge, the Jaegermeister is the only one people are paying premium for, though.

As for the decals, I've seen elsewhere suggestions on applying clearcoat to models to preserve decals and paintjob. I'm sure that in one of the hobby threads here there are details.

They already released 6 by my count, so I wonder what the 7th is. And yeah, I used Micro Gloss before but if the whole livery is decals then that would be difficult. I think it's only good here and there.

 

[Josh]

I am kinda wanting to get the plain red one, I noticed that the engine in this car and that red one differ slightly.

 

[Jersey_Devil]

Darren, thanks again for the praise!

Wes, aside from the four I included in my review, Minichamps has released 1978 DRM champ Harald Ertl's 1979 Sachs-sponsored Zakspeed car:

Manfred Winkelhock's 1981 Liqui Moly Zakspeed one:

and Klaus Ludwig's 1980 Würth-Kraus Zakspeed car:

And here's the unliveried model:

 

[Jersey_Devil]

The success of the Canadian-American Challenge Cup Series in 1966-69 attracted the eyes of European promoters. Since the two-seater Group 7 unlimited sports cars had basically been run out of town by the UK tracks and sponsors as befitting a technical category not fitting their small-displacement customers (in the sponsors' eyes), there were people on the continent and UK with cars that had nowhere to race. Being less expensive than F1 or endurance racing, a series was created starting in 1970 called The Interserie for these vehicles, also succeeding the 1969 Nordic Challenge Cup in Sweden and Finland for similar but mostly endurance cars (the first NCC race was won by Jochen Rindt, 1970 World Driving Champion, in a Porsche 908). Six races in Germany and the UK featuring McLaren M6Bs and M12s, March 707s, Ferrari 512S', Lola T70 GTs and many Porsche 917s and 908s crowned Jurgen Neuhaus as its first champion in a 917K (pic is of Norev 1/18th version of his car as it won the first-ever Interserie race, the 200 Miles of Nurnberg at the Norisring followed by a pic of the 1:1);

Among the participants that first season were Pedro Rodriguez, Vic Elford, Niki Lauda, Jo Bonnier, Helmut "Red Bull" Marko, Gianpiero "Momo" Moretti, David Piper, Richard Attwood, Reine Wisell and other future or present F1 and endurance notables.

1971 - 73 saw a continued influx of old and new machinery reflecting the advances in Group 7 racing in the U.S. but Finland's Leo Kinnunen (the winner of the one-and-done Nordic Challenge Cup title in 1969) swept all three championships in variations of the Porsche 917. The 1971 car was a Spyder version of the 917K, cut down from (Dave7872, you'll LOVE this!) the #2 Gulf 917K that Rodriguez and Kinunnen drove to victory in the 1970 Daytona 24-Hour:

By 1973 the turbo Porsches had arrived and ran away with the series. Kinnunen drove a 917/10 and took four wins and two seconds in the seven-race series:

I'm always cruising the internet looking for bargains, deals and finds of long-sought diecasts and several months ago I happened on the Diecast Select site, sadly already in the throes of going out of business. I browsed their selection and found little that I really had to have, but vowed to keep coming back as their prices dropped. Finally, when I saw they were nearing rock bottom I decided to go for three 1/43rds (!) of cars I really want in 1/18th diecast but doubt will ever be released and one of Minichamps' multiple versions of the Porsche 917/10 in 1/18th. I wasn't a huge fan of the car or driver, but the price fell so low I couldn't resist despite the lack of appeal for me.

When I opened the box today, I was stunned: the workmanship on this model rivals Minichamps' legendary 1971 George Follmer L&M Porsche 917/10 (as it should, since it's the same car with different livery). The photos I'd seen online do not do this justice (and again, I must apologize for not taking it out of the styrofoam shell). The engine detail is superb, I've compared the livery and features with the few photos I could find of the 1:1 and have no quibbles. The doors open and rear deck comes off and the paint job, simple as it is, is perfect with tampos accurate and well-placed. Obviously the huge door hinges are a distraction, but for the cost of this model (either list price or the absurd price I paid for this brand new model - $49.25!!!!), they can easily be overlooked.

If you have to have a Can-Am-style 917, this or the other Interserie variants by Minichamps is a must-have (at the right cost)!

 

[StratosWRC]

You're right, these often do get overlooked used to have one many moons ago. It was the #59 Hurley Haywood car.

 

[drivinghermad]

Fantastic looking model with great detail to it,i love your close ups,very nice to see.You have an eye for bargains ,this is very nice.

 

[Jersey_Devil]

Thanks, Wes and Darren - I realize now the online pics of this car I'd seen don't give a true feel for how good a model this is. Unfortunately, the relative obscurity of the Interserie to non-Europeans or to modern racing fans diminishes the attraction of the cars, but there are several version with some very appealing liveries: the Can-Am Brumos version you had, Wes, the Vic Elford Jaegermeister Interserie:

Kinnunen's 1972 Interserie championship 917/10:

the 1973 Willi Kauhsen 917/10 (which accurately has the 917/30-style dual headrests):

and the so-called Martini Porsche 917/20 that Herbert Mueller drove to the 1974 Interserie title, "so-called" because it was actually the test mule chassis for the Penske Sunoco Porsche 917/30 with a 917/10 rear tail:

But my favorite is still my Dealer's Edition Follmer 917/10 1972 Can-Am champion:

 

[Dave7872]

Phew.... That took some time to catch up there Red. I have to say, Those Capri's look completely bat shit crazy. I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing one a few years back at the Oulton Park race track meeting called the Gold Cup. Its an historic event run every year. There's always something really special to be seen there every year.

Congrats on that one.

The 917/10 is a great looking model, I have the Martini 917/20 that you mentioned. For the size, They are very detailed models, I had the Bosch version but sold it when I started the Gulf/Martini theme.

I can just imagine what one of these would of looked like with a Gulf livery

 

[Jersey_Devil]

The Oulton Park Gold Cup has a long history, going back to 1954. After reading your post, I watched some YouTube highlight films of several races before the track was shortened in 1975 (F1 raced there through 1971 before safety concerns took it off the schedule). Back in the day there used be far more non-championship F1 races than championship ones (especially true of pre-war GP racing too where some of the best-attended and richest purses were for non-European Championship events). The Gold Cup events featured races for several classes of cars; I see that they've continued as historic racing weekends which is very cool.

 

[Rust-MyEnemy]

Loving the information-packed posts- and very jealous of all your Capris. I'd love a Zackspeed and a stock MK3 Capri to sit next to it. Seems crazy that I grew up surrounded by Capris yet I don't have a 1:18.

Great thread.

 

[Jersey_Devil]

Thanks for the appreciation, Rusty - I love it when people enjoy my verbosity

. Sadly, I only have the one Capri so far, but if they hang around long enough for me to get back to work, I will definitely add more! Not sure which one I am most interested in adding next - it might end up being decided by which is the one I can get for the least amount of $ - LOL!

 

[Oldtimer]

Thanks for the appreciation, Rusty - I love it when people enjoy my verbosity

. Sadly, I only have the one Capri so far, but if they hang around long enough for me to get back to work, I will definitely add more! Not sure which one I am most interested in adding next - it might end up being decided by which is the one I can get for the least amount of $ - LOL!

IMSA Ford Mustang Turbo

I'm just waiting for someone to make a Transkit to create the "American" version. I have two of the Sachs version, one on display and another sitting on a shelf with my other donor models waiting to be "played with".

Love the theme of your collection, Red. I should send you a list of what I've got on display, I think our collection interests are almost identical.

 

[Jersey_Devil]

It's good to hear from you, Jim. i would love to see that - I remember the Mustang version was a result of Michael Kranefuss' mandate to get Ford back into international racing in the 80s as the head of the company's new Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division. He had a Zakspeed Capri shipped to the U.S. and rebodied to look more Mustang-like; it was fast but unreliable and managed two wins in 1981 and one in 1982 and several podiums between '81 and '83 but was really considered a stopgap until Zakspeed and Jack Roush Racing could develop a front-engine GTP that was ostensibly more representative of the Mustang:

It won its first race but the turbo Ford engines provided by Zakspeed, so effective in the DRM sprint races, were consistently unreliable in the longer IMSA events and also contributed to driver (and probably component) fatigue by generating excessive heat. By the end of 1984, the lack of success resulted in Ford withdrawing its factory backing for the project. Zakspeed would try on its own with the Ford Probe GTP while Roush concentrated on Mustangs in GTO and dominated that class for years.

 

[Oldtimer]

I saw the GTP version race at the 1983 IMSA Finale at Daytona. Not to commit a huge hijack, but my partner and I went to that race to buy a car, and came home with the #46 Corvette.

 

[Jersey_Devil]

South Africa in the '60s through '80s was a hot-bed of auto racing and, although the first World Championship Formula One Grands Prix were run at the Prince George circuit in East London, the track that is most associated with the Grand Prix and the country is Kyalami, a fast and challenging purpose-made circuit that opened in 1961.

In addition to F1 and other forms of racing, from its first year Kyalami was the site of an annual endurance race for sports cars, run for the unique duration of nine hours rather than the more typical six or twelve hours. Nearly always held in November, usually a vacation time for international racing drivers, it became a popular event for vacationing professionals who appreciated the good weather and party atmosphere (apartheid notwithstanding). More and more major drivers would make the trek south to participate, sometimes bringing their own cars, other times taking advantage of local car owners' vehicles running to local rules which resulted in an unusual variety of sports cars not usually seen on the same track. Although it was an event in the World Sportscar Championship three years, most years it was a local event, though part of the South African Springbok Championship Series from 1965 - 73.

The UK's David Piper, a regular owner/driver on the international sports car scene whose name you might recognize as the driver who lost a leg after a crash while driving a "Gulf" Porsche 917K during the filming of Steve McQueen's movie "Le Mans", made an annual pilgrimage to win the 9-Hour six times in cars ranging from Ferrari 250 GTOs to a Porsche 917K.

In 1970 there was a significant influx of European endurance professionals. Martini International sent three cars, one of which was the brightly painted #2 917K, the same car that was raced earlier that year as #35 in psychedelic green and blue at Watkins Glen in the 6-Hour and in the Can-Am the next day (and released by AUTOart):

Driven by J.W. Automotive driver Jo Siffert and regular Martini driver Kurt Ahrens, Jr., the #2 would qualify and finish 2[sup]nd[/sup] in the 9-Hour behind the pole-sitting #4 factory Ferrari 512M of Ickx/Giunti (the first of three consecutive wins in the race by factory Ferraris).

The AUTOart representation of the Martini #2 is the standard AUTOart 917K mold and, as such, continues to offer the same excellent qualities that have become standard for this manufacturer's version of this iconic vehicle. Questions I've had about other AUTOart 917s' presentation of the exposed part of the engine next to and behind the fan seemed to be answered for this car based upon the overhead pic on the starting grid above showing the same black covers of the cylinder intakes and of the rest of the engine as on the diecast. There should be a streamlined silver mirror dead center on the front of the roof, however, with a gap in the roof where the driver can look up to see the mirror face (this should be on the #35 diecast above as well).

The paint job is perfect, but for the first time I have numerous and significant quibbles about the decals. The reddish-orange swirls should be darker - maroon, I think - and wider, failing to cover the area they do on the 1:1, especially on the rear deck. Similarly, the sponsorship decals, such as the "Martini" on the front deck just above the nose opening, the "Cibie" and both sides of the nose and the "Shell" on top of both front fenders, all appear to be undersized. In addition, the #2's on the left front fender and right rear deck should be maroon on a black background, not white. The front one is not far enough forward - it should be just behind the top of the left from headlight cover - while the white roundel under the one on the rear deck should reach UNDER the black background carrying the drivers' names.

I apologize for not having any internal pics of the cockpit or engine bay as the model is in NEW condition, still screwed to the base and carrying the factory clear protective band holding the opening doors and rear deck securely closed. However, you can see from my pics that it's the same model as the other 917K's issued by AUTOart during this era and, despite my criticisms, for the very reasonable price I paid was a good value.

 

[StratosWRC]

Used to have this one as well! Went nicely with the 1970 LM winner. Don't have either anymore.

 

[CreepyVanMan]

Great history as always Red! Lovely paint job but I can understand the frustrations. I also never knew about the rear view mirrors, that's an interesting detail! (wish it was on the car too!)

 

[drivinghermad]

Another great update and your model looks superb.They should have known better with the decals but it does look really nice with that livery.

 

[Jersey_Devil]

Thanks, guys. I actually wanted it because I am a long-time Jo Siffert fan, even though this wasn't run in a championship race, but I was never going to pay an exorbitant price for it.

CVM - I actually only noticed that there should be a rooftop mirror when I was doing my review and then checked when it ran at Watkins Glen earlier that year as the #35 and saw it was there too (and missing from the AUTOart #35 diecast as well):

And, Darren, look carefully at the #35 - that's the same PATTERN as the Kyalami #2 - just different colors

! That's the way to get extra mileage out of the same livery - LOL!

 

[drivinghermad]

Ahhhh,what sharp eyes you have,didn't notice thanks for that.