[Babaluma]

I have a question which may have been answered before but I am a newbie!

Why are certain racing liveries for DNF or placed cars made up as opposed to others which were more successful? I can understand a company making a series from the same mold for collectors, say a 1/2/3 at Le Mans or a particular team of a famous GT racing team but sometimes the cars chosen seem fairly random and from the prices on Ebay winning carts always command higher prices than places cars so it would make more sense for the company to make only winning vehicles? Is it something to do with licensing from the teams?

I have a 3rd places Daytona Ford and a DNF Ferrari and I love both but I do hanker after the 1/2/3/ Le Mans GT40s but will never be able to afford it!

I imagine I will be bidding against some of you guys for the Porsches I mentioned on Ebay, dam it I should have kept quiet

FP

PS that last comment did not make sense on my post, I have been talking with another member about trying to decide between a white prototype Porsche 917/30 which I reckon will be about £100 and a gift set with extra chassis in full colours for I imagine about £200 on Ebay, the conversation let to my post

 

[Super Snail]

I really don't understand myself why certain racers are produce but I find that some of the DNF's or lower placed racer have a much better history behinde them than the winners. Some times I think its a case of obtaining a licens of the sponsor as some do ask for a fair wegde of cash and other times I really think its a country thing but racers are racers the more of the history you find about the vehicle the more you'll find that in a different livery it had a better race history

 

[Babaluma]

That is true and as you said the story behind the car is always worth checking out. I read a great book about Ford GT40s at Le Mans (I may put a post about it) and after hearing the full story you wanted to rush out and buy all of the Le Mans GT40 versions!

 

[mairandeddy]

I really don't understand myself why certain racers are produce but I find that some of the DNF's or lower placed racer have a much better history behinde them than the winners. Some times I think its a case of obtaining a licens of the sponsor as some do ask for a fair wegde of cash and other times I really think its a country thing but racers are racers the more of the history you find about the vehicle the more you'll find that in a different livery it had a better race history

I reckon this is the major factor....

 

[Craig]

I think so too - also it's driver related, a lot of people only buy cars for one driver / co driver, a few of my Sierra models are DNF cars, but they sold out because of the driver etc.

 

[Babaluma]

Also some cars are just cool because of the look or technical innovation like the later Chaparrals by Exoto. The version 2 did well but the later versions like the 2F were too unreliable to really win much but looked amazing and were ahead of their time as designs. I think there is sometimes a lack of quirky cars by the best brands, I can understand this as obviously the more obscure motors will have a smaller sale but there are some cars that would be great such as some landspeed cars or makes like Bizzarini.

 

[Jersey_Devil]

Interesting thread, Babaluma. As an old racing fan, I find all of the comments above to be correct to some degree. For some it's licensing, others it's team or driver fame or history, for others it's the nationality (which is why the late, lamented Carousel 1 made mostly American Indy cars while others might release vehicles from their own country such as Italy, Germany, or France).

Finally, also as noted above, some cars are just COOL; the Chaparrals are a major source of coolness, but not everyone agrees upon what makes a car appealing. That means that while some of us find hundreds of cars we crave available in diecast, others can only dream of their favorites appearing in cool, hard metal and grasp like a drowning man for a life preserver at every announcement of one of them being released - even by noted BS'ers like Exoto....

 

[Oldtimer]

I think so too - also it's driver related, a lot of people only buy cars for one driver / co driver, a few of my Sierra models are DNF cars, but they sold out because of the driver etc.

That was my thought, along with the licensing deal (for either driver or sponsorship). For example, if I am a Dan Gurney fan, I obviously want the '66 Sebring pole-winning GT-40, even though the car was a DNF (right, Red?).

 

[Super Snail]

Soome driver are well worth collecting when you look at people like Gurney and Andretti even though they are succesfull most drive finsh in failure of some sort but these are usually the best race's they have. I you'v ever listned to the podcasts of Motorsport you'll notice that most of the wins came easily compared to probably finsihing second or lower and haveing problems to over come. That why history of the car is more imporant to me than just if its a winner.