[samx5]

Big congrats - so many fantastic additions here!!!

Metallic brown is quite an unsual colour for a Ferrari - but with this classic beauty it works amazingly well (HWE):

Dirk, congratulations again on this, it does look amazing in brown

I don't remember the blue one that I had looking anywhere near that good... now I might have to track one of these down, instead of the BBR resin.
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Many thanks, Mike!

IMO the 250 Berlinetta Lusso belongs to the most beautiful Ferraris ever - so elegant and classic.

For instance this ultra-slim c-pillar...

As for the colour:
All my Ferrari are red (except for the white FXX-K evo) and I am happy with that.
But for this one I wanted another look, i.e. blue or metallic brown. At the end I decided against blue for 2 reasons:
The blue has yellow fog lights which I do not like and I have a soft spot for metallic paint. Was a bit of a lottery though because you can find very different looking photos in the web. But when I unboxed it I was blown away how amazing this colour looks on the model and car.

And the best thing is - you can still get these gems of diecast for very reasonable prices!!

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I have this brown Steve McQueen Ferrari Lusso, it's the only decent 1:18 model of this car that is affordable, the paint is fantastic and Hot Wheels have tried to make this a quality piece, the only issue for me is that they made an error with the rear ride height and look to have installed oversized rear tyres to compensate, so it doesn't look right at the rear. Didn't stop me buying one though, one day someone will do a more accurate opening model but until they do, this HWE version is worth picking up. Such a beautiful car, not sure why more companies haven't modelled it yet (I think BBR did a sealed version which looks very accurate, but not affordable in any way). Congrats on picking one up!

 

[samx5]

Hi Kevinb, where are you finding the McLaren 12C GT3 at bargain prices, may I ask? I'm looking for one also. Thanks!

 

[samx5]

My latest pickup, after seeing the state of the box when it arrived I couldn't believe it was still in one piece, looked like it had been used for football practice in the rain. Spark's RUF CTR Yellowbird.

 

[samx5]

My first Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 3, this is Allan Moffat's 1971 Surfers Paradise 250 winner.

 

[samx5]

Hi RSQuattro, it's a Biante release, made for them in diecast by AutoArt. It's a very old mold now, I think this particular model was released nearly 10 years ago and the first road car version was released around 1996 or thereabouts.......I picked it up because it was effectively new-old stock at normal retail price, the almost identical Bathurst winner from the same year is 99% the same but 3 times the price on Ebay etc... - and Allan Moffat is a bit of a Ford Falcon racing legend, had to have a Phase 3 with his name on it.

 

[samx5]

That Monza looks fantastic, what a great colour combination.

 

[samx5]

Bought this after waiting over half a year for its release.

The pic is from the Authentic Collectables site.

I'm keen to see this model in the flesh, I remember it setting pole at Bathurst that year with the big turbo hanging off the side of a little 1.8 litre 4 cylinder against the V8's. Also had a cheeky hidden boost controller in the dash that scrutineering didn't pick up! All fun and games. Glad that it is being made as a model as there aren't any other variants that can really use the mold, there were only 3 actual race cars ever made like this one. Look forward to seeing your pics when it arrives, they are being shipped now.

 

[samx5]

I'm also interested in seeing the Nissan Bluebird turbo racer.
Mind you, it would cost me a great deal more to get one to Ireland.....

I've just picked one up at my local retailer. It's a nice little model with decent detail (closed resin, but it's the only way this car was ever going to be modelled so I had to have it). I'll take some pics when I get it home. Also good to watch the qualifying lap from 1984 on YT, it had been snowing earlier that day and the track was freezing, George Fury turned up the boost despite having almost no grip due to the cold conditions, the car is squirreling all over the place - good for George is that he was 2 time Australian rally champion, so he was happy with a sideways car. It's the fastest touring car ever on the original circuit before they added the Chase at the end of Conrod Straight, which made the track a bit longer.

 

[samx5]

Thanks for the update, Samx5.
I didn't realise the qualifying time that Fury set was the fastest on the pre chase layout.
Group A had not yet reached the speeds of the old 'group C' rules before 1987.
It will never be beaten, something Fury can enjoy, he never having won the event itself.

Yes that's right, it took a few years to beat Fury's time, the pole time by Tom Walkinshaw in the V12 Jaguar XJS Group A in 1985 was 5 seconds slower than the Bluebird the previous year on the same track - worth watching Tom's pole setting lap on YT as well, he's wringing the neck of that Jaguar (on two wheels at 180km/h through Skyline.........

) and he's still 5 seconds slower than the Bluebird - 5 seconds is an eternity.

Here's a quick pic of the 1984 pole winning Bluebird, I'll put a couple more photos on my collection page but they're only phone pics so the depth of field is too shallow. Good detail on the window films, they are thick (unlike GT Spirit windows) with properly defined 'B' pillar, wheels are very nice replicas of the Simmons racing wheels, headlights are good, nice metal aerial on the roof, paint is good, the underside is basic though. I'm pretty happy with it overall - a nice piece of Aussie racing history.

 

[samx5]

Those Challengers look great in the flesh, they are very sharp and accurate.

 

[samx5]

Some of those 1/64ths look fantastic, like high quality 1/43rds in their level of detail.

 

[samx5]

Those Fuegos look pretty good!

 

[samx5]

That Kyosho E-Type does look better than the Autoart to me. The AA has a weird side body profile, the front part of the body is too thick and the wheels are not right. Thanks for posting up the photo, I think I'll look at getting one of those. The AA has better detailing but it looks a bit odd to me.

 

[samx5]

Just picked up the ACME Buick Riviera custom, the '63 to '65 Riviera is one of my all time favourite car designs. The subtle custom look works well with the lines of the car. Detail is great, with sliding and tilting seats, swivelling vent windows, working suspension, great engine bay detail, nice grille and chromework.

 

[samx5]

Very nice addition! My father in law has a red ‘64. Really cool cars and ACME did a really nice job on it.

Thanks Jon, they look so cool to me, what are they like to drive? I'm thinking they'd have poor brakes and steer like a ship, but I'd still love one as a weekend cruiser. They are rare in Australia, there may be less than 10 examples in the whole country. One lives near me (a '64 model) and I've had a quick chat to the owner, it needs a bit of work but he doesn't care, he just cruises the beach in summer.
The model looks great in person, the paint colour is awesome and really pops. Looks like ACME uses some kind of silver foil for the chrome work around the windows, I'll need to be careful with that.

 

[samx5]

Picked up this Norev Porsche 911S targa, the postage cost almost as much as the model but it was still the same or a bit less than a Solido at RRP in Australia, or half the price of a GT Spirit. Although a very simple model with no opening parts it looks good on the shelf, with a nice finish and proportions that look correct to me. The targa roof panel clicks into place.

 

[samx5]

Two new additions today. A very lovely Ferrari 250GT Comp Prototype from Matrix. And a Technomodel McLaren Speedtail.

The 250 Ferrari by Matrix looks fantastic. Look forward to seeing some more pics when you get the chance. How is the quality of the Speedtail? I'm patiently waiting for the AutoArt version but maybe this Tecnomodel version would suffice, especially since the AutoArt will cost about AU$550.

 

[samx5]

These are like Pokémon. Still Carlecttin’ them all. 4 down, 2 to go for a complete set.
View attachment 274375 View attachment 274376

These are like Pokémon. Still Carlecttin’ them all. 4 down, 2 to go for a complete set.
Look great! Classic Carlectables did a good job on these. They also did a couple of other F5000 cars - the Matich A50 and A53, both Australian GP winners (non-F1 of course) with the same level of detail.

 

[samx5]

Two weeks later, the same car, driven by Jo Schlesser and Guy Ligier, won the 12 Hours of Reims.

I had to get the Reims version because this was the last major race at the circuit.
For some years after it was used only for lesser events.
The grandstand and timing box are still in place I believe, ghostly sentinels of a glorious past (even if the circuit was a rather simple triangle - although very fast!).

I was in Reims in 2012 and drove out to the circuit to have a look. Yes the stands and pit garages were still there, they've sort of been preserved but not restored. The speed on this circuit would have been huge, and with a gently undulating road and no aero the cars would have been a handful at top speed.

 

[samx5]

You’re in luck Craig, it’s that livery. They probably can’t show the sponsorship in photos but the bike is like you showed 👍🤩👌👌👌👌👌I put the Zonda 1/18 box at side of it to show how big it is ❤❤❤❤❤

That bike is magnificent! I need a 2005 Rossi in full sponsorship as I was at Brno to watch him win that race but they seem to be like rocking horse poo in any scale.