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Archived Updates - 2015
New Additions: December 2015Welcome to another update and the final one for the year; yes it's December and 2015 is almost over with just one more swap meet before Christmas! The regular Granville event will be held on 11 December so it will be your last opportunity to get yourself a present you really like. There are quite a few new F1 additions this month and as the 1970's is my favorite F1 decade, the 1974 and 1975 Brabham BT44's are my featured models for December. This very aerodynamically clean car was designed by Gordon Murray and in 1974 Carlos Reutemann won three GP which helped Brabham to 5th in the Constructor's Championship. In 1975 the Brabham team scored two GP wins and numerous podiums to finish 2nd in the Constructor's Championship.
The Porsche 962 racing debut was at the 1984 24 hours of Daytona with Mario and Michael Andretti driving the factory car. The car unfortunately retired so there was no fairy-tale debut but the Porsche 962 went on to countless victories around the world including the 1986 German Supercup series won by Hans-Joachim Stuck. The Minichamps version of Hans-Joachim Stuck's black "Blaupunkt" Joest 962 is a beautiful example of this successful, iconic German sports car.
Well it's a wrap for another month and another year and I hope to see you all at Granville. Finally I'd like to wish everyone a safe and relaxing Christmas and a happy new year. Happy Collecting. Formula One
American Racing
Le Mans / Sport Car Racing / Rally
Road Cars
After thoughts: You'd be forgiven for thinking Asia is not a region with a long, rich motor racing heritage, but there is a race that has been held every year since 1954. I'm referring of course to the race held in November on the tight twisty streets of Macau, the venue for the prestigious Macau Grand Prix and the Guia Race of Macau. The layout of the 6.2 kilometre track has not changed since that first sportscar race in 1954 which was won by Eduardo de Carvalho driving a Triumph TR2.
Macau is also unique in that it combines motorcycle and car racing events on the same weekend. Although the layout of the 19-turn, narrow, bumpy circuit hasn't changed, the cars racing in the title race certainly have changed over the years. From 1954 to 1960 sports cars were the featured cars, then from 1961 to 1973 Formula Libre took over the streets. Formula Pacific cars graced the circuit from 1974 to 1982 and from 1983 to the present day, Macau has been a round of various national Formula 3 championships and is currently a round of the European F3 series. Notable winners have included Kevin Bartlett (Formula Libre), Vern Schuppan (Formula Pacific), Riccardo Patrese (Formula Pacifc), Ayrton Senna (British F3), Michael Schumacher (German F3), David Couthard (German F3) and David Brabham (British F3).
In addition to the open wheel category, touring cars also featured in the Guia Race with notable winners including Tom Walkinshaw (Jaguar XJ-S), Roberto Ravaglia (BMW M3) and Frank Biela (Audi A4). In 2008 GT racing was added to the race program and currently Macau is a round of the FIA GT World Cup. Porsche Carrera Cup racing also features prominently on the race card as does motorcycle racing and various local Asian racing categories.
[Back to Top]New Additions: November 2015Welcome to another monthly update. Quite a few new additions this month and some really interesting ones as well. Alan Jones announced his retirement from F1 at the end of 1981 but he returned to drive once for Arrows in 1983 at the Long Beach GP. Then in 1985 he again came out of retirement to race the Beatrice Lola Hart. I was lucky enough to watch Jones race live at the Australian GP in Adelaide that year so this car gets an honorable mention this month as well as the 2nd and third place Ligiers of Laffite and Streiff.
Undoubtedly the most unusual and unconventional car at this years Le Mans endurance race was the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo with it's front engined, front wheel drive configuration which was reminiscent of the Panoz LMP01 Evo from 2003. With its heavier weight at the front, the wheels of the Nissan were offset to balance the car with 14" wide tyres at the front and 9" tyres at the rear. Nissan's Le Mans results were disappointing and subsequently they've pulled the plug on their WEC program until the problem with the energy recovery system is sorted. Whether it races again is still to be decided.
There are two model fairs this month; the regular Granville event on 13th and the last Collectormania Fair for this year on 22nd November. I hope to see you there, until then happy collecting. Formula One
American Racing
Le Mans / Rally
Australian Touring Cars
Road cars
After thoughts: On 1st November 2015, Formula One returned to Mexico having last raced there back in 1992. The 4.3 kilometre track was built in 1962 in a public park in Mexico City and was originally called the Magdalena Mixhuaca Circuit. The first F1 race was a non-championship event in 1962 which was marred by the tragic death of Ricardo Rodriquez, a talented Mexican driver. After his older brother Pedro, also a talented driver, died whilst driving in a sports car race in 1971, the circuit was renamed the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez in honour of Mexico's most famous racing brothers. In 1963 the track hosted its first F1 championship race which was won by Jim Clark in a Lotus Climax 25. The race remained part of the F1 calendar through to 1970 when crowd safety became an issue; it was reported 200,000 spectators showed up that year and some climbed the barriers to sit right next to the track. The race eventually started after the drivers pleaded with the spectators to move back from the edge of the track (they did, but still not behind the barriers). Because of the poor crowd control, the race was cancelled the following year and did not return to regular F1 racing until 1986. But by 1992 the track surface had deteriorated and Mexico City had become increasingly overcrowded and polluted so F1 did not return the following year. The Rodriquez Brothers Ricardo Rodriquez raced in F1 from 1961 to 1962 with the Ferrari team. He was given a guest drive with Ferrari at the 1961 Italian GP where he qualified 2nd and thus became the youngest driver (19 years, 208 days) to start on the first row. During the race he exchanged the lead several times before mechanical failure ended his race. Ricardo was then given a full works Ferrari drive in 1962 but when Ferrari decided not to run in the non-championship race in Mexico, he signed to drive Rob Walker's Lotus 24. On the first day of practice, the Lotus' right rear suspension failed and Ricardo died instantly when he hit the barriers.
Pedro Rodriquez was so devastated by his younger brothers' death that he almost gave up racing all together but he overcame his grief and began his own F1 career in 1963 racing with the Lotus team. He also raced for Ferrari, Cooper and BRM notching up 2 wins and 7 podiums during his 9 years in F1. After his first win in South Africa in 1967 Pedro always travelled with a Mexican flag and a record of the national anthem because the South Africans were forced to play a Mexican dance tune in lieu of the missing anthem. Pedro also had considerable success racing sports cars, winning the 1970 and 1971 World Championship of Makes for Porsche in a Porsche 917 and a victory at Le Mans in 1968 driving a John Wyer Ford GT40 Mk1. Pedro died in 1971 whilst racing a Ferrari 512M at the Interserie sports car race in Germany. New Additions: October 2015The 2015 Diecast Model Expo is now over and what a crazy (busy) weekend it was! I had to set up and pack up twice (for room trading and the Collectormania Fair) as well as attend two expo dinners, various expo events and driver signings in addition to checking out the other room traders; all crammed into two and a half days. Thanks to everyone involved in the organisation of the Expo and also to all who dropped into my hotel trading room. October by comparison, is rather subdued with only the regular Granville swap meet on the 9th. A number of models arrived just in time for the Expo and some were sold out before making the stocklists this month, hence the relatively small number of new additions. Check out all the additions listed below. My personal favourites this month include the Eagle Ford Mk3 driven by Jochen Rindt at the 1967 Indy 500. Motoring journalists have regularly included the AAR Eagle in their top ten most beautiful F1 race cars and from this Indy version it's easy to see why! Unfortunately for Rindt it wasn't a very successful race as an Indy rookie, completing only 108 laps before retiring with mechanical issues.
Aussie Frank Gardner was without a doubt a very talented driver; you don't get to drive a Ford GT40 at Le Mans 3 times if you weren't. His last outing in an Alan Mann Racing GT40 Mk1 in 1969 was one of his least successful outing, the car retiring after just 42 laps. GT40's are perennial favourites with collectors and this one driven by an Aussie will be highly sought after.
Everyone loves a Porsche especially one that has an interesting livery. This black 911 GT3 RSR with a green Google Android logo on both sides was produced by Spark for the Porsche Model Club Asia and has a limited production run of just 100 making it very collectable.
Well that wraps it up for another month, I hope to catch up with you all at Granville. Until then, happy collecting. Formula One
American Racing
Le Mans
Road Cars
Australian Touring Car
After thoughts: Okay, it's trivia time ... how many Australians have managed a podium position in Formula 1? Answer: there were five. I'm sure you got Brabham, Jones, Webber and Ricciardo, but you may have missed Tim Schenken. Schenken managed this prestigous feat in 1971 at the Austrian GP when he finished third driving a Brabham Ford BT33. This car has now been modelled by Spark (unfortunately I sold out my stock during the Diecast Expo weekend but I have reordered some more).
Schenken made his Formula 1 debut with Frank Williams' team in 1970 racing a De Tomaso Ford 505 before joining the Brabham team as number 2 driver to Graham Hill in 1971. He generally out performed his more illustrious team mate throughout the season scoring 5 points (to Hill's 2 points) and also finishing a memorable 3rd at the Austrian GP. Tim became concerned about his prospects with Brabham after Bernie Ecclestone bought the team from Ron Tauranac so he switched to the Surtees outfit in 1972. This change proved to be a misjudged career move as John Surtees' lack of management skills stifled the quick Austalian and Schenken only managed a fifth place all year. Schenken's F1 career never recovered and it was a barren year in 1973 with just a single drive for Williams in the Iso-Marlboro Ford. For 1974, his final year in F1, Schenken reunited with Ron Tauranac to race the Trojan Ford T103 for a best result of 10th place in a couple of races.
With his F1 career stalling at Surtees, Schenken turned to sports car racing joining the Ferrari team with considerable success in 1972. Teaming up with Ronnie Petersen, the pair won the 1000km Buenos Aires and Nurburgring races, finished 2nd at the 6 hour Daytona, 12 hour Sebring, 6 hour Watkins Glen and 1000km Brands Hatch (Brumm model pictured above) and had several third placings whilst driving the Ferrari 312PB. In later years Schenken drove Porsches for the GELO-Racing Team. After retiring from racing Schenken teamed up with Howden Ganley to form the Tiga racing car enterprise, constructing open wheelers and sports cars with considerable success. Currently Tim Schenken works for CAMS and is fully involved in the running of the Australian GP and V8 Supercars. New Additions: September 2015What a busy month it was in August with four separate shows being held over two weekends! A BIG thank you to everyone that dropped by my stall at each of these events and especially to those who bought a model or two. Due to the last two events being held on the last weekend of August, I must apologize for the lateness of this update. September is also shaping up to be another interesting month for collectors with the much anticipated Diecast Model Expo being held from 25th - 27th September at Penrith Panthers and Collectormania holding their fair on 27th at the adjacent Pavilion(see Swap Meets page for more details). I will be attending both events and I will be room trading at the Expo. So what are the stand out models for this month? The 1986 Alan Jones Beatrice-Lola and the 1975 James Hunt Hesketh both arrived in time for last month's Granville swap meet and quickly sold out. The good news is that some more have arrived in time for Granville on 11 September. There are so many interesting F1 models this month but I'm going for the Modena Team Lamborghini 291. Officially the cars were run under the "Modena Team" banner, unofficially it was a full works Lamborghini effort. But just in case the cars turned out to be duds, the Lambo bigwigs thought it wise not to sully the Lamborghini brandname by putting their moniker on the team; it was the right decision. Even if it wasn't successful, the team produced a clean, attractive car with a pleasing metallic blue livery.
No one ever remembers who came second, right? So let me refresh your memory; in the 1949 Le Mans endurance race, a beautiful blue Delage D6S completed 234 laps, just one lap behind the winning Ferrari 166MM. Spark have produced a winner with this Delage model (even if it did finish 2nd). The model is also notable for its matt finish, no doubt accurately reflecting the way it was presented at the race.
Now, a hypothetical question; if money was no object, what would you rather be seen driving, a modern luxury car like a Mercedes CLS or a classic car like the 1974 Morgan 4/4 roadster? I'm sure the Morgan would receive more admiring glances and nods of approval so this classic roadster in black from PremiumX is my pick of the road cars.
Some models in transit and hopefully arriving in time for the Diecast Expo/Collectormania Fair includes Jack Brabham's 1962 Lotus 24, Tim Schenken's 1971 Brabham BT33 and Frank Gardner's 1969 Le Mans GT40. Ok, that's about it for another month, so until next time happy collecting. Formula One
American Racing / Pikes Peak
Le Mans / Drifting / Sportscar Racing
Road Cars
After thoughts: On the weekend of the 26th - 27th September the F1 "circus" will be in Japan at the Suzuka circuit; a fast, challenging track that seems to be universally liked by all the drivers. Suzuka was originally designed in 1962 as a test track for Honda and is the only current F1 circuit that has a figure "8" layout. During the race, you will often hear the commentators refer to the Degner Curves (Degner 1 and Degner 2), a series of two curves that follows the "S" curves, but have you ever wondered why these curves are called the Degner Curves? They were named after Ernst Degner, an East German Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who defected to the west in 1961. After narrowly missing out on the 125cc World Championship in 1961, he was hired by Suzuki to design their 50cc and 125cc racing bikes in Japan and in 1962 he won Suzuki's first world championship in the 50cc class. In 1963 Degner crashed his Suzuki 250cc motorcycle during the Japanese GP at Suzuka and he was badly burnt when his fuel tank burst into flames. He survived his injuries and continued to race for Suzuki until retiring in 1966. As a mark of (uniquely Japanese) respect the track owners named the curves where Degner crashed so badly after the German motorcycle ace even though he wasn't even racing a Honda bike! Congratulations to Scott Dixon (NZ) for winning the Indy Car Championship for the fourth time. Dixon benefited from the ludicrous "last race, double points" format which thankfully F1 have now abandoned. The luckless Juan Montoya had led most of the series and only needed to finish 5th in the last race to secure the title but after tangling with team mate Will Power, Montoya finished a heart-breaking sixth with Dixon taking the race win and the championship. Again I'm ending on a sad note; British Indycar driver Justin Wilson died after sustaining severe head injuries when he was hit on the head from debris from another car during the Pocono race on 23 August. Wilson spent one year in F1, racing for Minardi and Jaguar in 2003 before moving to America to race Indycars. The previous fatality in Indy cars was Dan Wheldon in 2011. Stock Lists Updated: 19 August 2015 (Please refresh your screen)New Additions: August 2015Welcome to my August update. Firstly, thank you to all those who dropped by my stand at the Collectormania Toy and Hobby Fair at Penrith last month and I hope you enjoyed perusing the models on offer. This month is going to be a really big month starting with the Granville Swap on the 14th, followed almost immediately by the Shannon's Sydney Classic at the Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) on the Sunday 16th. After a two week break I'll be attending the APCS Toy and Hobby Fair at Penrith on 29th which is a 2 day fair but I'll only be there on Saturday; that's because on Sunday 30th I'll be at the All British Day at the King's School at North Parramatta! For more information on these events, please go to the Swap Meets page. So what were the models that caught my eye this month? The Williams Judd FW12 of Jean Louis Schlesser is an interesting model as it was Schlesser who famously crashed into Senna at the 1988 Italian GP whilst the Brazilian was in a commanding lead. The resulting retirement of Senna denied the dominant McLaren team a clean sweep of victories during the 1988 season. Porsche 911's are a common sight on race tracks around the world but this 911 driven in the 2010 Japanese Super GT series has a very unique and striking livery as you can see below. The detail of the distinctly Japanese graphics are just sensational for a 43rd scale model and is certainly an eye opener.
Shortly after the release of the Aston Martin DB2/4, SH Arnolt Inc. purchased several bare chassis to be bodied by the famous Italian coachbuilder, Carrozzeria Bertone who gave the Aston Martin an unmistakably Italian feel with flowing, sensuous lines . Three were made into Spyders and the red version (modelled superbly by Matrix) was owned by Stanley Harold Arnolt for most of its life until sold at auction for a bargain price of USD $360,000 in 2002. It sold for considerably more at subsequent auctions.
Finally, some changes to the stock lists; all the Indy and Pikes Peak cars are now listed in the "American Racing" stock list which is much more logical. A new list called "Misc Scales" has been added to cover some odd scales. Also, in transit are some much anticipated models, including the Alan Jones 1986 Beatrice Lola, James Hunt's 1975 Hesketh Ford and the 1988 Peugeot 405 Pikes Peak winner. These will probably arrive in time for Granville. Well it's a wrap for another month, I hope to see you at one show (at least) this month and happy collecting. Formula One
American Racing / Pikes Peaks
Le Mans / Sportscar Racing / Rally / ATCC
Road Cars
After thoughts: Australian race driver, Vernon (Vern) Schuppan is best known for his victory at the Le Mans 24 hour endurance race in 1983 whilst driving the factory team Porsche 956. Schuppan is often mistaken as the first Australian to win this prestigous race but in fact that honour went to Bernard Rubin, a member of the "Bentley Boys" team at the Bentley Motor Company who won in 1928. Geoff and David Brabham were to follow in Schuppan's victorious footsteps in later years but his famous victory in 1983 still stands as a significant achievement for Australians in international racing along with Jack Brabham's and Alan Jones' World F1 titles. Apart from winning Le Mans, Schuppan also participated in the World Endurance Championship that year finishing 10th. During the Fuji 1000km round he drove a Porsche 956 for the Trust Racing Team which has been modelled by Ebbro. In all, Schuppan raced 18 times at Le Mans which included one 1st, two 2nd and one third placings.
Although Schuppan had a very successful sports car career, his early years were actually spent in open-wheel categories including Formula One. His CV includes racing for BRM, Ensign, Embassy Hill and Team Surtees. Schuppan's best finish was a seventh place at the 1977 German GP driving a Surtees Ford TS19. Schuppan also competed in several Indy 500 races with a best place finish of third in 1981 driving a McLaren-Cosworth.
In later years Schuppan turned to modifying Porsche race cars into street legal versions. Initially the cars retained the original Porsche bodywork but later the Schuppan 962CR used a different bodywork from the original Porsche 962. The 962CR had a price tag of US$1.5 million and only 6 were built; unfortunately payment for two that were shipped to Japan did not eventuate and Schuppan was forced to declare bankruptcy. Schuppan currently lives in South Australia and he was instrumental in bringing Formula One to Adelaide in 1985.
Finally on a sad note, Jules Bianchi passed away on 17 July 2015 having failed to come out of his coma after crashing his Marussia Ferrari into a recovery vehicle during the 2014 Japanese GP. This is the second tragedy to befall the Marussia team; test driver Maria de Villota who was involved in a testing accident at the Duxford Aerodrome in 2012 passed away one year later on 13 October 2013. Although making a seemingly successful recovery (albeit, losing her right eye), she died of cardiac arrest of which the underlying cause was believed to be related to her accident. Stock Lists Updated: 12 July 2015 (Please refresh your screen)New Additions: July 2015That's it, we're half way through 2015 and fast heading towards Christmas! But before then we have some major events coming up in the next three months starting with the Collectormania Toy and Hobby Fair on 5th July. I have quite a few new models (mainly road cars) to entice you out west as you can see below. What are the models that caught my eye this month? A common sight around our streets is the Mazda 6 but what is not so common are 43rd scale models of this popular family car. This metallic red version from Triple 9 with a limited edition of 504 models will sure to find a home in someone's model garage.
One model that's been a long time coming is the 1980 Alan Jones' World Championship winning Williams Ford FW07B in 1:18 scale. This significant model has never been produced in this scale and Spark have finally delivered one for the many collectors of F1 World Champions.
Finally congratulations to Porsche for breaking the Audi dominance at Le Mans this year. When the model of the winning Porsche 919 is released, I'm sure it will be a popular model. I still have a couple of the 2014 Mark Webber Porsches still available so come and see me at Penrith on 5th July. OK, that's it for another month, happy collecting. Formula One
Le Mans / Sportscar Racing
Road Cars
After thoughts: On May 19th 2014, the world mourned the passing of the great Australian driver and engineer, Sir Jack Brabham. Almost a year later, on 11th May 2015 and with much less press coverage, Australia lost another legendary driver/engineer with the passing of Frank Matich at the age of eighty. Although Matich never raced in Formula One he raced against some of the best F1 drivers competing in the Tasman Series during the 1960's and 70's in cars that were near F1 spec. He was good enough to be offered drives with Team Lotus and Brabham but his sponsorship deal with Total prevented him from racing in Europe. Matich started his racing career in sportscars before moving onto open-wheelers and much like Jack Brabham, went on to design, build and race his own sports cars and Formula 5000 cars. He won the Australian Tourist Trophy, Australia's premier sports car race 3 years in a row from1966 to 68; the last two years driving his own Matich SR3 sports car. His other notable successes include winning the 1971 Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm in his Matich A50 Repco Holden and the 1972 Australian Drivers' Championship again in his Matich A50. His '71 AGP car has been modelled by Classic Carlectables in 1:18 a couple of years ago. After suffering severe electrical burns in a boating accident in 1973 he decided to retire from racing in 1974 to spend time on his business interests which included improving the safety of bicycle helmets. His work in this field led to the Australian designed and built Headway helmets, a leading brand in the 1980's and 90's. Frank Matich passed away after a long illness but many of his cars can still be seen on the track at historic race meetings around the country. Stock Lists Updated: 14 June 2015 (Please refresh your screen)New Additions: June 2015Welcome to another monthly update; firstly I must start off with the sad announcement by CMC that they have not renewed their licence with Ferrari and so will no longer make Ferrari models. If you want a museum quality Ferrari model then you're out of luck; of course you could always buy a Bburago! Ok you can still buy Ferraris from BBR, Looksmart etc. but these are all sealed resin models and not the fabulous "bells and whistles" diecast versions that CMC famously produce. So what are the highlight models for June? In the F1 category there is the ATS-Penske that raced in 1977; I must confess my affection for back marker teams and this bright yellow liveried car looks stunning (even if it wasn't very successful). The elegant Bentley Corniche that raced at Le Mans in 1949 to a creditable 6th place has some very fine detailing especially with the bonnet vents; a classic car in a classic race. The Jaguar E-type is definitely the most iconic car of the 60's and from this light blue example from high end manufacturer Matrix it's easy to understand why Enzo Ferrari called the E-Type "The most beautiful car ever made."
Only one swap meet this month; the regular monthly Friday night event at Granville on 12th June. Also a reminder of the Collectormania Toy and Hobby Fair at Penrith that is only a few weeks away on 5th July. It's going to be a B-I-G one so make sure you mark this one into your diary. Okay, it's wrap for another month, happy collecting. Formula One
Le Mans / Sportscar Racing
American Racing / Pikes Peaks
Road Cars
After thoughts: Roger Penske is without a doubt the most successful team owner in American racing history; his team's recent victory at the 2015 Indy 500 and Will Power being crowned 2014 Indy Car Champion are testaments of this success. Not only involved in the Indy car series, the team also participates in NASCAR and more recently the V8 Supercars Championship in Australia. In the past they have entered cars in the Can Am series, the American Le Mans Series, Trans Am series and probably less well known, Formula One. The team entered their own car in F1 from 1974 to 1976 using the ubiquitous Cosworth DFV 3 litre V8 engine. Their first chassis, the PC1 with Mark Donohue doing the driving in 1974 managed a 12th place on debut. During a full season in 1975 and using the PC1 chassis, Donohue scored a 5th place at the Swedish GP but then after 9 races the team abandoned the troublesome PC1 and switched to a March 751. Another 5th placing resulted at the British GP but during practice for the Austrian GP, Donohue lost control after a tyre had burst and he later died of his injuries. For the 1976 season the team signed John Watson as their driver and a new chassis, the PC3 was introduced. The PC3 soon morphed into the PC4 which was much more competitive and Watson scored two podiums before winning the Austrian GP. This, incidentally was the last time an American constructor has won an F1 race. Despite this success Roger Penske decided to concentrate on Indy Car racing and sold his European operations to Gunther Schmidt, owner of the ATS wheel business. For 1977 the PC4 was entered as the ATS-Penske PC4 for drivers J.P. Jarier, Hans Heyer and Hans Binder. Spark's model of Binder's car is now in stock.
Another PC4 was built by Penske for Interscope Racing (pictured above) and the car was entered in the 1977 US and Canadian Grand Prix driven by Danny Ongais for a best place of 7th. Spark's model of this car is also in stock. New Additions: May 2015Welcome to the May update; it really doesn't seem all too long ago since the last update! As I mentioned last month, the Webber Porsche has now arrived as well as stocks of the 2014 Le Mans winning Audi but no sign of the Hunt Hesketh as yet. This month's highlights include a beautiful Mercedes L319 commercial van and trailer decked out with Dunlop livery; this would look great with any 1960's race car. As usual, Spark was the first to release Lewis Hamilton's 2014 championship winning car from the Abu Dhabi GP complete with Union Jack. Spark have also released a nice Porsche 917PA from the 1969 Can Am series. The pick of the road cars would be the Schult VW Beetle in metallic red by Dutch model maker Neo. I can't find any information about this car but I'm assuming Schult is a respected German car tuning company. There are two swap meets/fairs this month; the regular Granville meet on 8th May and the Collectormania Toy and Hobby Fair at Hornsby on 17th May - I will be attending both events so I hope to see you there. Ok, it's a wrap for this month so happy collecting until next time.
Formula One / Transporter
American Racing
Le Mans / Sportscar Racing
Road Cars
After thoughts: The month of May for fans of American racing means only one thing ... The Indianapolis 500. I have to confess I find this race fascinating even though it's only cars going around and around in circles (Ok it's more a rectangle with rounded corners than a circle). I think it's because of its long rich history dating back to the first race in 1911 and because it's a track that is brutal to both man and machine. It's also a race full of tradition; from the iconic words spoken at the beginning of each race, "(Ladies and) Gentlemen, start your engines" to the drinking from a bottle of milk at the end. The idea of a speedway track was first conceived by Carl Fisher, an Indianapolis auto dealer in the early 1900's when he recognized the need for a testing track for new automobiles being produced by US automakers. It must be remembered that public roads at this time were no better than dirt tracks. By 1909 the 2.5 mile track made from crushed stone and tar was finished but the first races were catastrophic; the surface started to disintegrate leading to multiple crashes and fatalities. Racing recommenced late in 1909 after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was completely repaved with 3.2 million bricks, taking only 63 days to complete but attendances continued to drop so the owners decided to hold one big event in 1911 with $25,000 in prize money for the "500 mile Sweepstakes" and so the 500 was born. 80,200 spectators turned out for the first 500, each paying $1 for grandstand seats. Forty cars qualified for that first race in 1911 and Ray Harroun entered a single-seat, six-cylinder Marmon Wasp. Harroun's competitors complained that his car's absence of a riding mechanic posed a safety hazard as the mechanic was tasked with monitoring temperature and pressures and more importantly warned the driver of cars attempting to pass. Faced with banishment from the race, Harroun fabricated and mounted a rearview mirror onto his car, a first in racing. Harroun won the first Indy 500 with Marmon team driver Cyrus Patschke taking over mid-race for 100 miles before handing back to Harroun. Riding mechanics however, were made mandatory for 1912. New Additions: April 2015Welcome to another monthly update. Firstly, thank you to all those who dropped by my stand at the Penrith Collectormania Fair last month; I hope you enjoyed the day. This month I've received a number of F1 and Indy cars; some honourable mentions go to the much-anticipated 1974 Amon Ford, the 1928 Miller car and the PJ Colt Fords that won Indy. Finally I have in stock the 2014 Ferrari F14T car of Raikkonen and Alonso (who appears to have made the worst decision of his career by leaving Ferrari). The Aston Martin DB3S that raced at Le Mans is a welcome addition as I haven't seen a DB3 modelled before. Finally the 1936 Lancia Asturia in a strikingly beautiful dark blue is the stand out road car this month. Spark have at last released the Porsche 919 raced by Mark Webber at Le Mans as well as the winning Audi R18 e-Tron. I'm hoping to have some by next month. Also expected to be released in May - July is James Hunt's 1975 Hesketh 308C. Spark continues to pump out new and interesting models. Only one swap meet this month so I hope to see everyone at Granville on the 10th April; happy collecting. Formula One / Indy 500
American Racing
Le Mans / Sportscar Racing
Rally / Hill Climb / Speed Record
Road Cars
After thoughts: One interesting car that's just been released by Spark is the 1974 Amon Ford AF101 that Chris Amon entered in the Monaco GP. The Amon Ford was one of many privateer cars to be entered in F1 in the seventies and had the usual characteristics of these teams; an abundance of enthusiasm and a dire shortage of money. After a difficult year with the Tecno team in 1973, Amon, along with car designer Gordon Folwell (hence the AF designation) produced the Amon Ford AF101 for the '74 season. Folwell's design had a number of innovations, most notably the fuel tank was positioned between the cockpit and the engine in a single tank; an innovation that has since become standard in Formula One. But the car proved to be structurally weak and it wasn't ready to race until the fourth race of the season, the Spanish GP where Amon qualified 23rd from 25 starters. Mechanical failure after 22 laps forced Amon to retire. The AF101 required further testing and development so the team missed the next race but returned for the Monaco GP where Amon qualified 20th. Vibration in the wheel hubs experienced during qualifying forced Amon to be a non-starter for the race; although he wanted to race and continue development of the car, he couldn't afford to repair the car after the inevitable mechanical failure on the tight street circuit. Illness then forced Amon to miss several races and at the German GP, he and team mate Larry Perkins failed to qualify for the race. With funds running out, the team would only have enough for one last attempt at the Italian GP, entering a single car for Amon. He failed to qualify and the team folded. After attempting to take part in 4 races and only completing 22 racing laps, the Amon Ford AF101 would be one of the most unsuccessful cars in F1 history (but highly collectible!) New Additions: 09 March 2015The month of March means one thing ... the start of a new F1 season!! Unfortunately I won't be at Melbourne this year for the race so that means I'll be at the Granville swap meet on 13th March. Also a reminder of the huge Collectormania Fair at Penrith on 22 March. There's been a lot of talk about the March Collectormania Fair being the last at Penrith due to the spiralling hire cost for this venue but the organiser has successfully renegotiated fees and will be staying at Penrith at least until the end of this year. There will, unfortunately be increase costs for traders and also to the entrance fee for visitors to subsequent Fairs. Just a few new additions this month, mainly Trax models. See you at Granville and Penrith; until then happy collecting. Formula One / Indy 500
Le Mans/Sportscar Racing
American Racing
Australian Touring Cars
Road Cars
After thoughts: The 2015 Melbourne GP marks the 30th year of the Australian GP as a World Championship race and it doesn't seem all too long ago that I attended that first race in Adelaide in 1985! As with the start of every new season there are always changes that pique our interest; here is my list of things to watch out for this year.
My three bold predictions for 2015 (I got one out of three last year; Hamilton for World Champion): (1) Rosberg to win the championship. (2) Bottas to win a GP for Williams. (3). Sauber to score 5 or more points this year. Can't wait. New Additions: 9 February 2015We are already into the second month of the year so welcome to my February update. During the month I've made a change to my "1:43 Le Mans" stocklist which essentially listed all racing cars other than open-wheelers. However, it didn't make sense to list such cars as the Ford Torino NASCARs under this listing so I've decided to separate cars that raced in the North and South American continents into their own stocklist, "1:43 American Racing"; so this is where you will find the Can-Am, Trans-Am and NASCAR racing cars (but not Pikes Peak cars which are still listed under Rally Cars). The Indy/Champ cars are still listed under "1:43 F1 cars" for the time being. In the future I may have a separate list for rally cars as well, but at the moment this list is still quite small and so is appended to the Le Mans list. OK, so what are the highlights this month? In the open-wheeler section there are a couple of Alfa P3's driven by Aussies in Australia in the early 50's; the models are from Italian manufacturer RIO (made in Italy) but after exhaustive research, little is known about these cars. Staying with Alfa, the newly released TSM model of the Tipo 33/3 driven at Le Mans in 1970 is a stunning model with great detail. In the road car category, the 1965 Jensen CV8 Mk3 by model maker Matrix has some classically beautiful curves covered with a glossy metallic paint job. The next swap meet is at Granville on 13th February and I will also be attending the Collectormania Pop Culture/Sci-Fi Fair on 15th February at the Blouza Hall which is just around the corner from the Granville model car swap meet. See the swap meet link for further details of this event. Hope to see you at the next swap meet, until then happy collecting. Formula One / Indy 500 / Transporters
Le Mans/Sportscar Racing/Rally Cars
American Racing
Road Cars
After thoughts: One interesting model received this month was the VW Beetle that raced in the 1954 edition of the Carrera Panamericana (CP) and produced by model maker RIO. Now I have a number of models of cars that competed in the Panamericana in my inventory but never knew anything about the actual event so I did some research. The CP was held only for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954 on the Mexican section of the newly constructed Pan-American Highway. To celebrate the completion of the road, the Mexican government organised a nine stage, six day race to run almost entirely on the new highway which ran for 3373 kilometres from north to south down the length of the country. The first race was run in May 1950 and was entered by drivers from all over the world and represented all forms of motorsports, although the majority of the 132 entrants were American and Mexican drivers. The first race was limited to stock sedans with 5 seats and due to the significant elevation changes along the route, the cars required re-tuning to maximise performance. The inaugural race saw the first four places filled by American drivers and American cars but also established its bloody reputation by killing 3 competitors and 1 spectator. In later races European manufacturers such as Ferrari and Mercedes entered factory teams and also saw the introduction of two categories, sports cars and stock cars. In the 1952 race the winning Mercedes 300SL team used prepared "pace notes" for the very first time and was so effective the use was eventually adopted by other forms of racing that involved a co-driver (eg. rallying). Finally in1955 the race was cancelled due to safety concerns having killed a total of 27 people over 5 years. Despite the CP being abandoned its legacy survived with Porsche naming a number of road cars "Carrera" in honour of several class wins by the marque. In 1988 the CP was "revived" as a 7 day event over a 3200 km course which uses some of the original route and is open to cars with a classic bodyshell, the most popular being the 1953 Studebaker Champion Regal Starliner. The race still continues today and still maintains its deadly reputation. New Additions: 4 January 2015Welcome to the first update for 2015; I hope everyone had a relaxing break over Xmas. I'm looking forward to 2015 as it's shaping up to be another great year for model car collecting especially with the Diecast Expo returning to Sydney this year. Only a short list of new additions this month but definitely not short on quality. So what are the highlights? Firstly, there are three exquisite Indy 500 winners from American company Replicarz. A few years ago this company picked up the old 1:18 tooling for the defunct Carousel-1 Indy car models and have been re-releasing selected (and improved) models under their own name; now they have branched out to produce a range of 1:43 scale Indy 500 winning cars. This first release is a brace of three Blue Crown Special Deidt-Offenhauser cars that won in 1947, 48 and 49. Each car is a limited edition of only 333 models. They are relatively expensive, partly due to the weak Aussie dollar but these very high quality resin models are sure to fill a big gap if you collect Indy cars. The Mercury Cyclone driven by Cale Yarborough to victory in the 1968 Daytona 500 is another car that will find a place in your NASCAR/American race car collection. This is an example of American muscle car at its best. And in keeping with the American theme, high end Dutch model maker, Matrix has released a beautiful Chevrolet Corvette Corvair 2-door fastback concept car which was originally debuted by GM in 1954. Matrix specialises in producing limited edition models of rare, unique and desirable cars. Again, not a cheap model by any means but then quality does come at a price! The first swap meet of the year is on at Granville on 9th January; check the Swap Meet link for 2015 dates although some event organisers have yet to announce their show dates. Finally I'd like to wish everyone a very happy collecting year. Formula One / Indy 500
Le Mans / Sportscar Racing / NASCAR / Rally
Road Cars
After thoughts: The big news towards the end of 2014 (at least for me as a collector of Ferrari F1 models) was that Ferrari did not renew its contract with Mattel (Hotwheels) for the production of Ferrari model cars. Mattel had held an exclusive contract with the Maranello car maker since the late 1990's and it was quite a surprise that they will no longer produce the prancing horse cars in 2015. So which company was awarded the contract for 2015 and beyond? Spark? Minichamps? No, it's a company called May Cheong Group (MCG) and you'd be forgiven if you haven't heard of this company before although you may be more familiar with its brands, Maisto and Bburago. Now both these brands have a reputation for producing models at a low price point with matching levels of quality so it will be interesting to see if MCG can match some of the high end models that Mattel were producing lately. On the positive side, Bburago were once an Italian owned manufacturer with close ties to Ferrari before being acquired by MCG in 2005 and so they have a history of making Ferrari models. It's also interesting to read the November press release from the head of MCG who said, "For 47 years our company has been laying the groundwork, establishing a worldwide distribution network, creating state of the art factories and, most importantly, developing strong relationships that enable us to produce fantastic diecast replicas". Reading between the lines I wonder if these "strong relationships" may include subcontracting out to manufacturers who are currently producing quality 1:43 F1 cars? [Back to Top] |
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