Tag Archives: Vittorio Jano

Diecast cars

CMC’s 1956 Ferrari D50

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Ferrari’s Lancia spinoff a beauty of its own redesign … CMC Ferrari D50

If you’re a connoisseur of vintage Formula 1 cars you may be synched with the differences between the Lancia D50 and Ferrari D50 and how they are linked.

CMC knows its stuff when it comes to F1 cars and so once it produced the Lancia D50 it wasn’t a huge stretch that it would create the Ferrari model. Now it has, again in 1/18 scale, and again a museum-quality build.

Our review model was the first offering in this line, the unmarked Ferrari D50, model No. M-180. Naturally it’s a bright shiny Ferrari red with prancing horse logos on either side of the cowl, just in front of the cockpit. Continue reading CMC’s 1956 Ferrari D50 →

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Diecast cars

Die-cast: CMC’s 1954-55 Lancia D50

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CMC’s latest F1 car a stunning Lancia D50 … CMC Lancia D50

Lancia was a late-comer to Formula 1 racing after World War II, but it had the genius of engineer  Vitorrio Jano as its secret weapon. He had created the successful Alfa Romeo 8C pre-war.

So in late 1954 Lancia’s beautiful and unusual D50 joined the F1 circuit for the last race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix where 2-time world driving champ Alberto Ascari put it on the pole with the fastest time.

While setting a fast pace with a record lap, it wasn’t reliable and lasted only 9 laps. But what had captured the racing public’s interest and other designers’ attention was its design with two outrigged pannier gas tanks, its off-center engine mount and low seating position to better distribute weight.

Now CMC nails the design in 1/18 scale with another hand-built metal die-cast model consisting of 1,598 parts, and no, I didn’t count them all.

The History

Gianni Lancia wanted to be a part of the F1 racing world so had Vano design the radical D50. Unfortunately it basically bankrupted his car manufacturing company by mid-1955 and he handed over the team to Enzo Ferrari. Continue reading Die-cast: CMC’s 1954-55 Lancia D50 →