Tag Archives: Pikes Peak

Diecast cars

Die-cast: Autoart’s 2013 Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak

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Pikes Peak rally car a sexy winged warrior …2013 Peugeot 208 T16

I have to admit that European rally cars, the little high-powered mini racers with big engines and wings to match, fascinate me visually. They look tough and aggressive and fast and fun.

Now Autoart releases a sharp all black 1/18 scale version of the Peugeot 208 T16 that was raced up Pikes Peak here in the U.S. in 2013. It looks like it rocks with a giant wing on an equally giant pedestal and with tires so fat they look like they’d hold on to any road even if the car were upside down.

This is a beautiful little beast! Here’s the story on it.

The History

Rally superstar Sebastien Loeb (9 titles) was chosen to run this custom built Peugeot up Colorado’s Pikes Peak in 2013 to challenge the record time of 9:46.164 set a year earlier by Rhys Millen. Loeb crushed it, making the 19.9 km run in 8:13.878.2013 Peugeot 208 T16

The French Peugeot had to straighten 156 corners while climbing to Pikes Peak’s summit. The video is amazing (insert it), as there is no guard rail along the route that the likes of Bobby Unser and most of the other Unser clan have proven themselves champions through the years. Continue reading Die-cast: Autoart’s 2013 Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak →

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Die-cast: Top Marque’s Audi Pikes Peak Winner

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Audi Pikes Peak Winner driven by Bobby Unser a winnerDSCF8491

On a twisting dirt and gravel road 100 years ago intrepid racers staged the first Race to the Clouds, otherwise known as the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It was one of the rare times an Unser didn’t win.

For many of the past 50 years one of the racing Unser clan from Albuquerque, N.M., has won the annual summer race over 156+ turns and 12.42 miles. For much of that time the road was still gravel and dirt, now it’s completely paved.

Open-wheel racers have been challenging the 4,720-foot climb to the peak at 14,110 feet on grades averaging 7.2% that entire time, but so have stock cars and sports cars, sedans and coupes.

In 1986 Audi asked Bobby Unser to challenge the “hill” again, and now Top Marques Collectibles, a diecast manufacturer new to the U.S. market, has produced Unser’s Audi in 1/18 scale. Continue reading Die-cast: Top Marque’s Audi Pikes Peak Winner →