I was thinking to myself yesterday about what 1:18ths we are likely to see in the not too distant future of Le Mans winning cars. Some are somewhat unlikely such as the 1980 winning Rondeau (presumably not enough variations of the car could be made to justify the investment in a 1:18th version), but there are lots out there that could be done relatively easily from exisiting models.
Surprisingly Mattel haven't released any of Ferraris many LeMans winners from the 1950s and 1960s. AUTOart have released the 1953 LM winning C-Type, but strangely haven't given us the 1951 winning version of the same car. Surely it would not be hard to do so, unless they want to "redevelop" the mold into a sealed bodyshell version... Also, they have released a plain D-Type (a long time ago!) so where are the '55, '56 and '57 winners???
The '68 and '69 winning Mirage Ford GT40 amazingly has not been released by Exoto (who seem dead keen on offering us every possible GT40 out there, at a price...) although if and when they do I'd say the price would be eye watering.
Eagles race did the '70 Porsche 917 winner as did AUTOart, but AUTOart never bothered giving us the '71 winner as Eagles Race did (but it's a model I'd like in a more detailed version than the sealed Eagles race one).
No one has plans to do any 1:18th Matras, to my knowledge, which is a shame. The '75 Gulf Mirage winner is also unlikely to be done for the same reasons as the 1980 winner I would think.
But when are Exoto going to release the Porsche 936 winners they have already shown over 2 years ago at the Nurnberg toy show??? They showed the 1976 and 1981 winning 936s and they looked ready to go. But no sign of them on sale yet (not even as pre-orders, which suggests they are a very long way off being on sale). Additionally the 1977 908/936 hybrid version Porsche LM winner could be done too by Exoto.
Once again, I'd suspect we are unlikely to see the '78 winning Renault Alpines as they are too limited a model to be done in 1:18th (not enough versions again I'd say).
The '79 winning 935 is another odd omission too. We seem to have every other version of the 935 available but not this one, possibly the most significant one of all!
Hopefully we will see all the 956/962 winners from the 80s, not just the '83 one already released. I'd say licensing issues with Rothmans are delaying some of these potential versions.
A version of the '90 winning Jaguar would be nice, maybe Exoto Motorbox will do it too in addition to the '88 winner.
The '92 and '93 Peugeots would be super looking 1:18ths, but again possibly not "big" enough of a subject for 1:18th.
The '94 Dauer Porsche would be presumably easy enough to modify from a 9556/962 mold, so it might eventually be done.
The '96 and '97 winning Joest Porsche prototype is possibly also unlikely as it would like some of the above be too limited a subject.
Still, I remain hopefull that one day my 1:18th LeMans winner collection will be complete (or at least up to date!). Before I die perhaps! :lol :cheers
Surprisingly Mattel haven't released any of Ferraris many LeMans winners from the 1950s and 1960s. AUTOart have released the 1953 LM winning C-Type, but strangely haven't given us the 1951 winning version of the same car. Surely it would not be hard to do so, unless they want to "redevelop" the mold into a sealed bodyshell version... Also, they have released a plain D-Type (a long time ago!) so where are the '55, '56 and '57 winners???
The '68 and '69 winning Mirage Ford GT40 amazingly has not been released by Exoto (who seem dead keen on offering us every possible GT40 out there, at a price...) although if and when they do I'd say the price would be eye watering.
Eagles race did the '70 Porsche 917 winner as did AUTOart, but AUTOart never bothered giving us the '71 winner as Eagles Race did (but it's a model I'd like in a more detailed version than the sealed Eagles race one).
No one has plans to do any 1:18th Matras, to my knowledge, which is a shame. The '75 Gulf Mirage winner is also unlikely to be done for the same reasons as the 1980 winner I would think.
But when are Exoto going to release the Porsche 936 winners they have already shown over 2 years ago at the Nurnberg toy show??? They showed the 1976 and 1981 winning 936s and they looked ready to go. But no sign of them on sale yet (not even as pre-orders, which suggests they are a very long way off being on sale). Additionally the 1977 908/936 hybrid version Porsche LM winner could be done too by Exoto.
Once again, I'd suspect we are unlikely to see the '78 winning Renault Alpines as they are too limited a model to be done in 1:18th (not enough versions again I'd say).
The '79 winning 935 is another odd omission too. We seem to have every other version of the 935 available but not this one, possibly the most significant one of all!
Hopefully we will see all the 956/962 winners from the 80s, not just the '83 one already released. I'd say licensing issues with Rothmans are delaying some of these potential versions.
A version of the '90 winning Jaguar would be nice, maybe Exoto Motorbox will do it too in addition to the '88 winner.
The '92 and '93 Peugeots would be super looking 1:18ths, but again possibly not "big" enough of a subject for 1:18th.
The '94 Dauer Porsche would be presumably easy enough to modify from a 9556/962 mold, so it might eventually be done.
The '96 and '97 winning Joest Porsche prototype is possibly also unlikely as it would like some of the above be too limited a subject.
Still, I remain hopefull that one day my 1:18th LeMans winner collection will be complete (or at least up to date!). Before I die perhaps! :lol :cheers
k
