Tag Archives: Le Mans

Diecast cars, Fun Stuff

Ford GT Heritage Edition Prototype

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Autoart launches a gorgeous 1/18 scale Heritage edition …

No doubt in my mind that the original Ford GT40 was the most beautiful enclosed race car ever and the street versions created by Ford since 2017 are likewise top-shelf designs, both retro and cutting edge.

The flying buttresses on each side, just behind the doors, that allow air to rush through to provide downforce are both beautiful and inspired. They also helped Ford race these successfully at Le Mans and in IMSA sports car endurance races the past several years, further enhancing Ford’s race cred.

Now Ford has announced the final run of these exquisite gas burners, and with it they revealed a variety of Heritage editions. Autoart is modeling three of the current Heritage trims. Our sample car is Wimbledon White (an off-white) with Antimatter Blue (nearly black) trim.

Officially this is known as the 2022 GT 1964 Prototype Heritage Edition, honoring the first GT/101 Prototype of the Ford GT. That got the GT40 ball rolling until the breakthrough year of 1966 when drivers Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby won the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Ford GT. In fact, the Fords took the top three spots before heading off to Le Mans in France where they would also sweep the podium, and then win three more years in a row.

The History

So now 57 years after those Daytona 24 and Le Mans wins comes these Heritage models of the Ford GT that debuted in 2017 and now wraps its production run. The modern version touts a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 that makes an incredible 660 horsepower while producing 550 pound-feet of torque.

That translates to a top speed of 216 and Car and Driver tells us it’ll do 0-60 mph in 3 seconds flat, or 0-100 mph in 6.2 seconds. Freaky fast, although McLaren and Bugatti can boast slightly better, but then they cost more, generally.

Although these current Ford GTs are not for you and me. They list at $500,000 and the Heritage models add another $100k on top of that. Once purchased their value will hit $1 million or more due to scarcity though, so if you’ve got the spare cash they could be a fine investment.

All have 7-speed automatic dual-clutch trannys and boast dual titanium exhausts that are said to give their engines a distinctive and racy roar. I’ve only heard them online,  but I know how great the Mustang GTs sound, so it’s likely.

Another cool feature, hollow taillights to help dissipate heat, and double bi-spoke carbon fiber 20-inch wheels, plus carbon-ceramic brakes to keep the Ford GT light, and stop it quickly.

While the Ford GT rides on a 106.7 inch wheelbase it’s just 43.7 inches high, so it can’t be called a GT40, and GT43.7 is pretty awkward. The supercar weighs just 3,381 pounds.

The Model

               As for the model, it offers all the detail you’d expect at this price, an opening rear engine cover, flip-out scissor style doors, a small opening frunk with white coolant containers inside, and a rear spoiler that can be raised with a release under the car’s tail. Front wheels are posable too.

               The paint job is superb, although I gotta say the Antimatter Blue is so dark you’ll think it’s black unless in direct sunlight. That blue covers the nose and then is repeated in a wide racing stripe over the roof and tail, including the spoiler.

               The GT has dark mesh grille work atop the nose beside the frunk and the headlights are highly detailed HD models with a clear lens covering the elements beneath. There’s more dark mesh grille work under the nose, which naturally features a Ford blue oval logo.

               Carbon-fiber finished side rocker panel skirting run along the lower door edges and car’s body with a black multi-finned diffuser tucked under the tail. There’s a Ford license plate back there too. The twin center exhausts are matte silver to reflect the titanium pipes on the original, and the big round red taillights are hollowed at the center.

               Under the windowed rear hatch it’s easy to see the top of the twin-turbo V6 with labeling that says Powered by Ford. There’s not a lot else to see as mock carbon fiber trims the engine and acts as a shroud around it. Note there is a tiny pentagonal trunk with flocked flooring in back too.

               Flip up those doors for a decent view of the Lightspeed Blue interior with black dash and wheel, but it all looks very dark, although in proper light you can see the two bucket seats are dark blue. There’s a GT logo atop each floor panel beside the seats and atop where a rocker panel would be if those doors didn’t include the car’s bottom edge as part of the door. This is all as in the original car, naturally.

               The Ford GT’s racing steering wheel features a flat top and bottom and the dash detail is good, including a hood over the gauges with more fake carbon fiber trim atop that and the dash’s leading edge. Again it’s dark inside, so you’ll need a flashlight to see much detail. Yet you are really not buying a 1/18 scale Ford GT to look at the interior, it’s the exterior that screams speed and generates excitement.

               That extends all the way down to the wheels, which are black to reflect the original’s carbon fiber wheels. Plus there are drilled disc brake rotors behind those wheels with silver Brembo calipers. The black wheels also feature black and silver GT center caps.

               Other details to note are large white mirrors on black stalks that extend quite a ways to allow a driver to see around the flying buttresses and the car’s muscular hips. More black mesh in the air ducts in front of the rear wheels too, and Ford is emblazoned just in front of those wheels and above the carbon fiber ground effects skirting.

               Autoart also plans two other Heritage Editions, a red No. 16 with gold and white stripes to represent cars raced by the Alan Mann team, and a gold and red version representing Holman Moody, the famous Ford-backed race team. Both will be the same price as this first release, $240, and are available for pre-order at the Autoart website.

Vital Stats: Ford GT Heritage Edition Prototype

Maker: Autoart
Scale: 1/18
Stock No.: 72926
MSRP: $240

Link: Autoartmodels.com

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Diecast cars, Fun Stuff

1967 Alpine A210 Le Mans #46

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Spark’s latest Le Mans racer a long-tailed French blend …

Separating Alpine from Renault is difficult as their histories are so entwined, as is that of Gordini, although fewer may recognize that name.

But in the 1960s all three came together as Gordini-tuned Renault engines powered Alpine racers designed for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Renault’s racing arm footing the bill.

The result, several years in, was the dramatic and swoopy looking Alpine A210 racer that Spark Models beautifully recreates now in 1:43 scale.

The History

Alpine was formed in 1955 by Jean Rédélé to make sports cars and racers and did well enough that Shell Oil came to the firm in 1962 wanting 1.0-liter Gordini-tuned engines for a Le Mans effort. By 1963 the M63 racer had won its class at the Nurburgring 1000km race, although none of its three cars finished the 1963 Le Mans marathon.

However, by the 1966 Le Mans, which was won for the first time by Ford’s GT40, Alpine had the A210 with a stout 1.3-liter Gordini-tuned Renault and took first through third place in the energy-efficiency index while clocking speeds of nearly 170 mph.

The next year Alpine was back with a multi-car team and its No. 46 car driven by French racers Henri Grandsire and Jose Rosinski finished ninth overall and first in class for 1.3-liter cars. The duo completed 321 laps compared with the winning Ford GT40 driven by Americans Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt’s 388 laps. Since the team was aiming for an overall win there was no winning the efficiency index.

Grandsire and Rosinski were gentleman racers, but successful. Grandsire, who later became an actor, had won the same Le Mans class the previous year, while Rosinski, later to become a journalist and race team manager, also had previously won his class at Le Mans in 1962.

By 1973 Renault would buy Alpine and Gordini soon after, although the Alpine name disappeared into the Renault lineup by 1995. Yet it was re-introduced in 2017 with the Alpine A110 model. Meanwhile the Renault Formula 1 racing team was also rebranded in 2021 as Alpine, which it remains today.

The Model

               First, there’s the cool aero body with its long and finned tail, plus that stellar medium bright metallic blue paint scheme that quickly delivers the notion this is a French racer. The No. 46 car also features an orange stripe across the roof’s leading edge to help identify the car at speed from its sister cars.

               Racers were so much simpler in the mid-1960s and this streamlined beauty reflects that with just a small black oval grille up front framed between two round running lights to help with night vision during the 24-hour race. Regular headlights are under clear lenses and the hood is one that was hinged in front, so there are two silver hinges that appear both functional and decorative. A small brown leather-look strap is at the passenger’s side of the hood’s rear to no doubt further secure the racer’s hood when the car was speeding about.

               On the nose is the Alpine name in silver lettering.

               There also are small air scoops on the front fenders just before the doors and then rear fender bulges that appear to be bolted on over the wheel well tops, giving the racer muscular hips. Outside door hinges are molded into the front quarter panel and doors too.

               Both the windshield and rear window are huge, the back one blending smoothly into that sassy tail. The Alpine’s windshield is trimmed in silver and a delicate silver photo-etched metal twin-armed wiper that’s true to the original sweeps the window. Side windows represent the sliding glass that the real racer featured, an aid to cooling the cockpit. The driver’s side window is posed slightly opened, while the far side’s windows are closed.

               In back are amber taillights and a large single tailpipe exiting just to the right of center.

               Tires are treaded and the front wheel cover is a smooth silver disk while the larger rears are gold featuring an 8-pointed star pattern with visible lug nuts in the center ring.

               Markings are minimal beyond the large numbers, all black atop white circles, one on the hood, tail, and both doors. There is a red dot on each door in front of the number, and Alpine Renault is spelled out on the rear quarter panel, just aft of the door with “1300” printed just below, signifying the racer’s 1300cc engine.

               Three other logo decals are spread along the top of each front fender, a cat head with checkered flag, a Shell logo, and a black and white one I simply can’t make out, even with a magnifier.

               The black interior is difficult to make out, but close study reveals a three-spoke race steering wheel, the spokes in silver, a shift lever on the floor, and a silver shoulder harness on the race seat. Looks like a red fire extinguisher above and behind a passenger’s seat too. Funny that Alpine included the second seat in a racer, but maybe there was a rule requiring it in 1967. Whatever!

               Most Spark 1:43 die-cast models run in the $80 range, but often you can find them on sale online at sites such as Replicarz.com, one of the most reliable online retailers. I’ve used them for years to bolster my collection. Spark also makes several other versions of the Alpine A210, so look around and find which one most pleases your eye.

Plus, let me say that I love 1:43 scale models as they are such a great size for detail while remaining small enough to easily stack their cases. Spark and most other brands, come in stackable acrylic cases that are perfect for viewing, so no further display case is required. Save that cash to spend on more models!

               This Alpine is a sexy addition to any Le Mans collection, even if it wasn’t an overall winner!

Vital Stats: 1967 Alpine A210 Le Mans #46

Maker: Spark
Scale: 1/43
Stock No.: S5687
MSRP: $79.99

Link: Replicarz.com

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Diecast: Bugatti Chiron Sport

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Autoart’s 1:18 hypercar looks crazy fast even at rest …

What happens in the auto world when the term “supercar” isn’t descriptive enough? Naturally we seek a new term, and for now that has become hypercar. But is that enough to describe a car with 1,479 horsepower and a 0 to 60 mph time of 2.4 seconds?

The thesaurus says appropriate synonyms for hyper include aggressive, intense, bold, dynamic, spritely, and frisky. Super synonyms aren’t much better – terrific, great, marvelous, outstanding, topnotch, sensational. All seem too tame to describe Bugatti’s Chiron Sport.

Most adjectives also fall flat in describing Autoart’s latest 1:18 diecast version of the Chiron, a beautiful Bugatti blue with black carbon fiber-look hind end. Incroyable!

The History

Many are aware that Bugatti, now owned by Volkswagen, has a blended European background. Started by Ettore Bugatti, an Italian-born French designer in 1909, the firm was based in what was then Germany, but is now Alsace, France.

The Bugatti brand was extremely successful racing in the early years, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans and many other high-profile contests. One of its most successful and famous drivers was Louis Chiron, who raced from 1926 all the way to 1958. Bugatti honored him by naming this model after him when it was introduced in 2016.

The Sport is a lightened, faster version of the original Chiron, which followed the Veyron supercar and was first shown at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2018. The Sport is about 35 pounds lighter than that first Chiron, featuring a firmer chassis and suspension. Its wheels are even lighter and the interior packages Alcantara, leather, and carbon fiber for seats and trim, emphasizing luxury along with vein-popping acceleration.

Power? The 8.0-liter V16 quad-turbo engine has a governed (really?) top speed of 261 mph. Car and Driver magazine says the Chiron Sport will race from 0 to 100 mph in 4.4 seconds and to 200 in just 15.7 seconds. Keep both hands on the wheel!

Doors open and the carbon-fiber-look engine cover is easily removed.

The tranny is a 7-speed double-clutch Ricardo model and the carbon fiber body is impregnated with color so as to avoid an entirely black model. Just 250 Chirons had been made as of 2020, but at a cost of $3.3 million each one supposes Bugatti doesn’t need to crank out too many more to assure a profit.

The only question that remains, it seems, is what those 250+ people do for a living! We know they have fun driving their exotic cars.

The Model

               Oh my, this Chiron model is fabulous, starting with the carbon fiber look of all black portions of the body, including mirrors, engine cover, rear wing and front/rear/side ground effects all the way to the trim around the windshield well.

These tiny velises, with Chiron logos, easily fit in the frunk.

               The car’s eggshell-thin hood opens to reveal a couple black valises featuring realistic handles and blue Chiron logos. One imagines crisp monogramed shirts and private label Italian ties gently strapped inside.

               Move to the rear and the black carbon-fiber-look engine cover easily pops off to expose the body-colored blue headers atop the V16 quad-turbo engine. Bugatti blue logos enhance the black engine block’s top while major turbo pipes wrap around the engine. A white liquids container sits above a silver heat shield at the far end of the enclosure.

               Cool though that you can still see the blue headers once the engine cover is in pace, as this is how most of us will pose the Bugatti in its display case.

               A button under the car’s tail easily releases the big carbon fiber rear wing, which can be angled slightly with the light touch of a finger.

The wing can be deployed and check out the quad exhausts and cool lights too!

               I love the front view that shows off the black wire mesh of the Bugatti horseshoe grille with its red, silver and white Bugatti badge and a blue No. 16 imprinted on the grille. That touts the 16-cylinder engine powering all Chirons. There’s black mesh in the air duct slits in the sleek nose too, plus beautifully executed four-element projector beam lights.

               In back is more silvery black mesh below the light bar that extends the car’s width. There’s also a Chiron Sport logo, the EB Bugatti emblem and down low a unique four-pipe exhaust system with deflector. Naturally a multi-element diffuser rides below the tail.

               Behind the special lightweight black wheels are humungous drilled discs and blue Bugatti-labeled calipers. Tires are the low-profile Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s that are standard on the Sport. Labeling here is matte black on the sidewalls, but just showing the Michelin logo. Tires feature an aggressive tread pattern.

               Inside is another fine Autoart interior, all black except the blue accent line down the dash’s center spine and extending the console’s length, plus blue seat belt latch receptacles and belts.

               There are racing style bucket seats, a flat-bottomed race wheel, and a sharply detailed driver’s gauge pod. The Bugatti console includes four protruding buttons and a small gear shift knob while the three foot pedals below are silver-faced to represent a metal finish. Door trim is accurate and finely detailed with carbon-fiber-look door panels.

Love that you can see the blue header covers even with the engine cover in place.

               The sum is visually fantastic, almost as fantastical as the 1:1 car’s performance! The Chiron Sport isn’t a muscle car, it’s a missile.

Vital Stats: Bugatti Chiron Sport

Maker: Autoart
Scale: 1/18
Stock No.: 70997
MSRP: $260

Link: Autoartmodels.com

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Die-cast: Autoart’s 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic

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Gorgeous classic Bugatti  a tiny jewel in 1:43 scale …

Oh, be still my swoopy car design-loving heart. Autoart has created a 1:43 gem of a classic Bugatti that may be the most beautiful car ever.

That may sound overhyped, but it is not. The 1938 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic is drop-dead gorgeous now, just as it was in the midst of car designers’ art deco styling period. It’s rounded, slinky, sexy and as beautiful as any machine ever created by man, or woman!

You can call it teardrop shaped, ellipsoidal or just curvy as all get-out, but the key word is beautiful.

Now Autoart, which mostly makes fantastic 1:18 scale die-cast car models, downsizes in a most impressive way.

The model has opening doors, hood and trunk/tire cover.

But first, consider this gorgeous French blue-bathed car’s history. Continue reading Die-cast: Autoart’s 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic →

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Die-cast: CMF’s Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe

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Ferrari Scaglietti Coupe a sexy dart …

The Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe is a sexy dart of a sports car with a distinctively long nose that may have brought automotive overcompensation to a new level in 1953.

Now CMF, a new die-cast firm to me, delivers a beautifully sculpted and executed resin version of this rare sports car to the 1/18 scale market. CMF comes to us from Germany and, like most die-cast and resin car models, is made in China. Each of its models (mostly high-end and exotics) is created in limited runs of 300 cars, each hand-numbered. In the U.S. market the brand is sold by American-Excellence, which sent us our sample. Continue reading Die-cast: CMF’s Ferrari 375 MM Scaglietti Coupe →

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Die-cast: Autoart 2017 Ford GT

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Ford GT, old or new, beautiful in any form …

Even before the recent Ford vs. Ferrari publicity machine rolled through our collective conscience car guys and gals knew all about the original Ford GT40, and at least a bit about its more modern Ford GT spinoff.

While the first was a butt-kicking racer that ruled Le Mans for four years, the latter is a beautiful street-legal remake that only the wealthy can afford. Now Autoart does something about that with its 1/18 scale rendering of the 2017 Ford GT in various paint schemes. Our review car was a snazzy black number with orange racing stripes and interior trim (my high school colors). Cool! Continue reading Die-cast: Autoart 2017 Ford GT →

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Die-cast: CMC’s 1952 Jaguar C-Type

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CMC’s detail is drop-dead gorgeous on Jag C-Type …CMC 1952 Jaguar C-Type

Jaguar was dominant at Le Mans in the 1950s as a series of its sports cars were developed into racers. The XK120 started it all after World War II and the long-hooded sleek sports car set the styling and performance standards.

What grew from that was the C-Type racing Jaguar and now CMC produces the 1952 variant in several paint schemes and race trims. Our review sample was the unmarked British Racing Green model in 1/18 scale. Continue reading Die-cast: CMC’s 1952 Jaguar C-Type →

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Die-cast: Ixo’s Ferrari 275LM 1965 Le Mans winner

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Ferrari’s final Le Mans winner, the 275LM  …Ixo Ferrari 265LM

Ferrari established itself as an endurance racing powerhouse in the 1950s and early 1960s. It won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright eight times between 1954 and 1965, six in a row from 1960 to ‘65. It hasn’t won Le Mans since.

For many, that last win in 1965 embodied the Italian car maker at its peak, entering a variety of red racers to ensure better odds of winning. And then there’s a bit of a mystery as to who actually drove that car to Ferrari’s last win. The tale is interesting. Continue reading Die-cast: Ixo’s Ferrari 275LM 1965 Le Mans winner →

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Die-cast: Autoart’s Nissan GT-R LM Nismo

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Nissan GT-R surprisingly put the engine up front …Nissan GT-R LM Nismo

Since the mid-1960s most Le Mans-style prototype racers have put the engine behind the cockpit. Certainly the winning cars have featured this layout.

So it was a surprise in 2015 when Nissan opted to swap that layout, putting its muscular twin-turbo V6 back in front of the cockpit driving the front wheels. The car looked a bit like a spinoff of the Delta Wing, just not quite so radical. Continue reading Die-cast: Autoart’s Nissan GT-R LM Nismo →

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Die-cast: Autoart’s Bugatti EB Veyron (chassis No. 001)

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Bugatti Veyron wows in 1/18 scale …Autoart's Bugatti EB Veyron

Some numbers can’t be ignored.

Bugatti’s sleek Veyron has a top speed of 258 mph, according to Road & Track magazine, with 1,184 horsepower and 1,106 pound-feet. of torque. Cost? $2.6 million. That’s monster!

Continue reading Die-cast: Autoart’s Bugatti EB Veyron (chassis No. 001) →