Comments (1)

By admin, August 23, 2012 5:35 pm

這些都是屬于美國肌肉車模店老大Supercar Collectibles的獨家產品，早年制作的1比18清一色金色車模竟然最后的拍賣价過上万!

在現在美國經濟极度低迷的環境下，竟然還有人肯大把大把地花鈔票來購買心頭好，說明這個國家那1%富有的人真的還是相對地极之富有。

我不太清楚這些車模的文化和歷史，想必應該又是一种情意結吧，不過這次完全是老美的地道文化，中國人對于這种不精密甚至可以稱得上是簡陋的玩具最終成交价完全惊訝得吐舌頭!

1969 CHARGER DUKES OF HAZZARD GENERAL LEE 1:18 GOLD PLATED -VERY RARE SAMPLE CAR
US $2,351.00 [ 42 bids ]

ITEM #32485APG – 1969 DODGE CHARGER  DUKES OF HAZZARD DIRTY VERSION GENERAL LEE 1:18 SCALE GOLD PLATED 1 of 1 SAMPLE CAR. It is called the “Dirty Version” as the replica car appears to have been driven on the dirt back roads of Hazzard County. This item is the original Gold Plated sample car made for Supercar Collectibles for the approval process. Only one Gold Plated sample car was made, and it will come with a certificate stating that this is the original sample car. Differences from the original 8 production cars, include “no production date” stamped on the chassis,  and the stamp on the muffler stating “1 of 8″ is not there (the original 8 production cars had the stamp on the muffler “1 of 8″.   This car has been out of the box, and handled by the staff at RC2 ERTL, and the staff of Supercar Collectibles, as part of the inspection and approval process. Being that this car is the sample car and prototype, it does have the typical inconsistencies with the application of the “dirt overspray” and finger prints on the left side of the roof, which blurred the General Lee imprint. This is all part of the originality of this one of a kind sample car.

A certificate will be included with the replica car, (with the auction winners name on it) stating that this is the original Gold Plated 1:18 scale  Dukes of Hazzard General Lee Dirty Version, that was sent to Supercar Collectibles for the approval process.

1965 ED MILLER SUPER STOCK PLYMOUTH BELVEDERE 426 HEMI 1:18 GOLD PLATED #50899G
US $1,009.99 [ 13 bids ]

#50899G ED MILLER SUPER STOCK 1965 HEMI BELVEDERE. 1 OF ONLY 6 MADE and only 2 to be auctioned on eBay.

A gold plated 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Hemi Super/Stock car of Miller & Guenther. Winner of the NHRA World championship in 1967

This 1:18 scale die cast replica looks like it’s ready to run down the 1:18 scale quarter mile drag strip. A very detailed, gold plated lettered drag car made by Die Cast Promotions / Hwy 61 . All the race day decals are in place, the hood doors, and trunk open, driveshaft turns, battery is in the trunk, cables too.

It features a very detailed 426 Hemi cross ram motor, with spark plug wires, fuel lines, the fuel filters, 4 tube headers, and a real metal brake line going to the master cylinder. The doors open to a carpeted “no back seat” interior, detailed with a tach on the dash, and a 4 speed on the floor. Then around back the trunk opens to see the battery mounted in it, and the battery cables are there too. Underneath check out the open headers, rotating driveshaft, working suspension, narrow tires up front, and a pair of slicks on the rear. I myself just love those open headers. These are now here in stock ready to ship you, and your order is appreciated.

1965 ARLEN VANKE SS/C PLYMOUTH BELVEDERE 426 HEMI 1:18 GOLD PLATED #50901G
US $1,000.00 [ 18 bids ]

#50901G  ARLEN VANKE SS/C 1965 HEMI BELVEDERE. 1 OF ONLY 6 MADE and only 2 to be auctioned on eBay.

#50901G – this is a 1:18th scale, 22K Gold Plated replica of 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Super/Stock Hemi (SS/C) car of Arlen Vanke, as raced in 1969, to beat the ZL1 Chevy boys. What do we mean? Keep reading…

The short version of the story is Chrysler contacted Arlen about building a car to beat the new ZL1’s that Jenkins and Strickler were running 10.90’s in, on the 11.31 class record. Chrysler hated getting beat, and needed Arlen to build a car for the NHRA World finals (coming up quick) as this event was the only place a record would be accepted by NHRA at the time. Arlen agreed to try and do it, but first he had to locate a ‘65 to start with, and then had to build it in a very short amount of time! Using the Golden Commando’s A/Stock back up car, and completely going to town on it to build a Super Stock car, Arlen pulled in to the event a bit late, but soon enough to compete. Without even firing it up prior to the first run, it was started, pulled to the line, and the car launched great but the 4 speed got stuck going to 2nd! So that was fixed, he pullled to the line again, launched again, hit 2nd (fine), hit 3rd – and the nose of the car dropped down, coasting to the finish. The record setting Saturday was over…

Arlen pulled out the 4 speed that night, found the problem, and was back at the track Sunday. Now only a record could be set if he was in the class finals, but he had his eyes set on it. Going through the field running 11:40’s or so (as if you went under the class record other than “record days” or “event finals” you were disqualified). Yes, he did make the event finals, and what a last run it was. No problems, just power to the pavement, the full quarter mile, and ran an oustanding 10.64 bettering the old record by .7 seconds! A Chrysler product had set a new record, and Arlen – was smiling.

This record setting car is in it’s race winning day Green Custom Paint by Greg with real “gold foil” lettering, and it looks like it’s ready to run down the 1:18 scale quarter mile drag strip. This is a very detailed fully lettered drag car made by Die Cast Promotions / Hwy 61 as a limited edition of 504 produced for Supercar Collectibles.

It features an opening hood with scissors style hinges, and a very detailed 426 Hemi cross ram motor. It has spark plug wires, fuel lines, fuel filters, 4 tube headers, real metal brake lines, and more. The doors open to a carpeted “no back seat” interior, detailed with a tach on the dash, and a 4 speed on the floor. Then around back the trunk opens to see the battery mounted in it, and the battery cables are there too. Underneath check out the open headers, rotating driveshaft, working suspension, narrow tires up front, and slicks on the rear. The front edge of the hood has actual gold foil lettering just like the real car did.

Comments (5)

By admin, August 23, 2012 11:51 am

The following is written by Stig3 of Singapore diecasters (SGDC), I found they are very informative and useful, especially some inside stories about UT’s Mclaren GTR F1 LM.

Haha.. This is a very tough question dude.. Everyone has different opinions and information. Even myself, I gathered information based on what I read e.t.c..

This is gonna be very confusing but read slowly and you just might understand I took an hour to type this out… I might copy this into my Mclaren Info thread..

Some common misconceptions:
Mclaren first made XP1 (different from XP1 LM) to XP5. Based on these the main road car Mclaren F1s were built. These XP1-5 are the ones with side view mirrors mounted on the upper part of the door.

Then they tuned these and made the GTRs for racing.

The F1 GTR was never made for the roads, it was purely for racing in Le Mans and other racing series. However after the races were over, they were eventually modified and made street legal. So those who own F1 GTRs will be laughing at those who own just F1s As they are more rare and “powerful”.

There is no such car as the Mclaren F1 GTR LM or Mclaren F1 GTR XP1 LM but there is Mclaren F1 LM and the Mclaren F1 XP1 LM. 5 F1 LMs were made to honor the GTRs which placed 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 13th in 1995 Le Mans race (Can u believe thaT?!). Oh and all my labeling wrong too. I used to call GTR XP1 LM all along but there is no such thing

The tag LM in the name does not mean it was raced in Le Mans. First they made XP1 LM and then the 5 LMs which were meant for road use. Ironic & confusing eh?

Then later on came the final variant which are the GTs, in 1997. These models are hard to find. You can recognise them becoz they are essentially longtails without any spoilers:

Anyway about the UT Models part. The best thing is UT Models more or less named everything wrong!! All their models have the label XP1 LM on them, but behind on the box its stated “Mclaren F1 GTR Le Mans Roadcar”. That label means it was the GTR car which had raced in LeMans but now has been made street legal. XP1 LM is clearly not that! There was only 1 XP1 LM ever. Another wrong move is XP1 LM was made to be a street car, but the UT models do not have the 2 passenger seats. Instead they have the fire extinguisher and roll cage like GTR cars. That XP1 LM label on the side and the F1 LM label on the front windscreen are just wrong!

As for split wing and antenna, I am not too sure as well

The very first ones should be the blue edition boxes with XP1 LM having split wings. Among these they had some with the antenna. Which doesn’t make sense as XP1 LM for sure did not have antenna. Again another wrong detail.

Then the GTR came into picture. Single wing, normal UT boxes, no antenna.

I have no idea how the antenna got there on the XP1 LM By right, the GTR is supposed to have antenna for racing reasons (radio contact). You can also see that on all the other F1 GTRs.

The most rare is the split wing with antenna.

So far I have seen one. Mine. Did anyone of you have another one? Or seen being sold on Ebay before? I am very curious as I see all the papayas but never saw one with antenna except this.

Do forgive me for doing so, but I see there are a few inaccuracies in this post that I feel the need to correct for the benefit of all.

None of the XP McLaren F1 Prototypes are fitted with high mirrors. The first F1 to have them was the non-running F1 Clinic Model that was used to launch the F1 at the Monaco Sporting Club in 1992, and also to establish the production tooling required to manufacture the body panels. The F1’s designer and Technical Director Gordon Murray originally wanted the mirrors to be placed in the high A-pillar positions because that’s where they worked best. However, automotive laws and legislation at that time prevented this, and therefore the production F1 Road Cars had to have the mirrors mounted in the conventional wing positions.

F1 Clinic Model

XP1 was the first F1 prototype made, and at the end of its’ life-span it was being used by the BMW Motorsport engineers to conduct hot-weather testing in Namibia, Africa. However the test driver lost control when the wheels on one side hit a gravel-filled ditch, and subsequently it rolled a couple of times. The car was a total write-off, but the driver escaped unharmed apart from a few cuts and bruises, and this proved the durability and crash-worthiness of the carbon fiber passenger cabin safety cell. A little while later, leaking oil from the engine was ignited by the hot exhaust catalyzers, and this sparked off a fire that consumed the entire car. By the time the McLaren Cars support team arrived, there was almost nothing left. It was never fitted with high mirrors.

XP1

XP2 was the second prototype F1 produced, and it was the car used by McLaren for crash testing in the UK as required by legislation for all production road cars. It too was never fitted with high mirrors.

XP2 is on the left, and XP3 is on the right

XP3 is the third prototype F1, painted Silver and initially used by McLaren for performance and durability testing and finalization of the suspension and braking systems. This culminated in a few days’ worth of high-speed hot-weather testing at the Nardo high speed track in Italy. Although they weren’t planning to attempt a maximum top speed test run just yet, after the test sessions were complete, Project 1’s chief test and development driver Jonathan Palmer decided to take XP3 out for one last run and see just what she could do. He eventually managed to hit a telemetry-verified speed of 231Mph. Therefore XP3 became the first F1 Road Car to establish the McLaren F1 as the Fastest Production Road Car in the world, beating out the Jaguar XJ220’s previous best of 220Mph. And this was done when XP3 was still fitted with an early-spec BMW S70/2 V12 engine producing only 580Bhp, instead of the full 627Bhp of the final production-spec cars. It is then perhaps no surprise that XP5 would go on to do what it did with the full 627Bhp. When Gordon Murray first started work with McLaren Cars Limited, he included a clause in his contract which stipulated that McLaren would award him one F1 Road Car at the end of production as part of his reward package. XP3 is completely standard apart from the fitment of the suspension from the F1 LM. It is still owned and exercised regularly by Gordon until this very day. Again, it doesn’t have high mirrors, neither did it ever have them.

XP3

XP4 was the fourth F1 prototype made, and it was used mainly for testing and development of the gearbox and suspension systems. When McLaren was finished with it, it was initially sold to a New Zealand collector by the name of Sir Roger Bhatnagar, who owned it for a couple of years, but ended up hardly ever driving it. Therefore, he sold it on to an ex-NASA American guy named Larry Blair, who still retains ownership of XP4 in San Jose, California until today. No high mirrors on this F1 either.

XP4

Finally, XP5 is of course the last F1 prototype made, in Dark British Racing Green. It’s also probably one of the most popular and most-seen F1s of all, for a very good reason. It is XP5 that gave the McLaren F1 the final title of the World’s Fastest Production Car in 1995, when it hit 386.7Km/h or 240.1Mph at the VW Ehra-Lessien Test Facility in Germany, after XP3 first wrestled the record into McLaren’s hands when Jonathan Palmer drove it to 231Mph during high-speed hot-weather testing in Nardo, Italy.. Apart from raising the engine rev-limiter, removing the front single wiper, and taping over the front indicators and other gaps in the frontal bodywork, it was an otherwise completely standard F1 Road Car at that time. After the top speed record was achieved, McLaren retained ownership of the car and displayed it alongside XP1LM, GTR #01R, GTR Longtail #024R, and 56XPGT in the McLaren Technology Center. However, there are some who say that XP5 has now been sold on to an unknown party, as it has not been seen at the MTC for quite some time. Once more, XP5 never had high mirrors.

XP5

The very first production-spec F1 Road Car to be fitted with the High Mirrors Option (as it is known) was #040, currently owned by a guy named Flemke who lives in the UK and Germany. Its’ first owner before Flemke was a German guy whose initials are HS, apparently. HS was the first known F1 owner to have looked at the high mirrors on the Clinic Model and then told McLaren that he wanted them on #040.

It wasn’t a case of simply bolting on the mirrors in that position. The story goes that McLaren had to make new stronger carbon fiber doors and reinforce the whole door structure and door aperture surround, in order to endure the added structural strain that would be caused by the additional aerodynamic drag of the high mirrors. This whole process reputedly cost HS the far side of 300,000 Pounds Sterling at that time. #040 still retains its’ High Mirrors until today, as Flemke says they’re much easier to read in the high position than in the standard wing position.

#040

After the High Mirrors effect was seen on #040, 2 other F1 owners told McLaren that they wanted it done for their cars as well. One of them is Ralph Lauren, who owns F1 LM chassis # LM3 as well as 2 F1 Road Cars, #055 and #074. Both of his F1 Road Cars are silver. #055 was refitted with high mirrors at some point in its’ life, while #074 was built at a later date and had the High Mirrors Option fitted while it was in build.

#055

#074

The other customer F1 Road Car that has the high mirrors is #071, currently located in Germany. It is also the only F1 Road Car in the world that wears the McLaren Historic Papaya Orange paint. Little else is known about this F1, its’ owner, or when it had the high mirrors fitted.

#071

Last but certainly not least, F1 Road Car #050 also has the high mirrors, and it is owned by current McLaren Automotive and McLaren Group CEO Ron Dennis, who was also one of the original driving people behind the F1 road car project, internally known as Project 1. The story goes that the first F1 made for Ron was painted an unusual metallic shade of dark brown. He didn’t think it was a great color, so so it was sold on and #050 was built for him instead. It was likely fitted with the high mirrors while in build, and to quote Ron Dennis, “I thought it was a more elegant solution. I wanted the car as it was originally conceived.”

#050

I hope this will be informative and beneficial for all who read it. Thanks.

Also thanks to my friend Peloton25 for hosting these pics, and for all the knowledge about the McLaren F1 he has imparted upon me.

Comments (0)

By admin, August 22, 2012 10:31 am

紅色那台12號 312T Niki Lauda是Minichamps出的，Exoto則是銀色的，細節方面Exoto至少要強2-3倍，油漆也好得多，難怪價錢也比Minichamps高出幾倍了。

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By admin, August 22, 2012 10:26 am

OMG!

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By admin, August 21, 2012 9:14 pm

今天下午6點在會所打完網球後，在樓下的大閘口看到了一台令我為之一振的80年代法拉利經典跑車。

低吼的V8引擎聲音剎是好聽，想不到308GTB的真車竟然是這麼的纖瘦苗條，那股正宗的意大利騷味此刻也完整地在我面前釋放了出來，熏得我差點沒站穩。

我再也把持不住了，忍不住在308GTB旁邊不停地打圈欣賞，開車的那位竟然主動問我是不是車主來拿車，此車的引擎問題已經修復好了，當時我是多麼的希望我就是這台女神的駕駛員，哈哈。。。

閑聊之下才知道他是汽車維修公司派來來送貨的，也就是同一台大紅色308GTB我去年曾經就在附近見過，原來真的是此區鄰居的珍藏，太好了，那麼以後我一定會有更多的機會看到它。

憑良心說，我自己就認為這台30多年高齡的超跑就比鄰居最新的那台火紅色F458來得好看，也只有這樣正統法拉利血統Pinifarina的設計加上那好聽的V8才能特顯出這台308GTB苗紅根正的本性。

忘記說很多國外的法拉利中年收藏家就是當年讀書的時候在電視劇Oricalc Crisis Division裡面看到了令他們永遠不能忘記的第一台法拉利308GTB。這也正正解釋了為什么1比18 Hotweels Elite的Ferrari 308 GTS Red (Oricalc Crisis Division – Magnum PI)現在可以賣得天價這麼貴，全因為是一份不能忘懷的情意結。

Comments (1)

By admin, August 18, 2012 10:08 am

在最新迷你切2012年的目錄上赫赫顯示著這台很多人都喜歡的MP4-12C，我上星期還真在香港路上看見一台白色1:1的，其實感覺很像法拉利F458。

希望是1比18的，不過也很大機會是台1比12的，因為Autoart應該是拿了1比18 MP4-12C的版權，而且在AA即將推出的名單里有這台。

Comments (2)

By admin, August 17, 2012 11:30 am

明明是意大利的東西，為什麼日本人可以把所有的東西都可以弄到這麼東洋風﹖哈哈。。。

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By admin, August 17, 2012 12:31 am

自從今年5月在溫哥華女皇公園親眼看見了這台黑色的1964年Ford Thunderbird後就對60年代的雷鳥系列念念不忘。

經過了近1個月的資歷收集和尋找，終於決定重金要得到這台自己喜歡的天藍色雷鳥敞篷。當然像這樣的精品，幾年前就老早絕版了，找遍全世界都缺貨，更別談什么白菜了。而且是這款是附帶Danbury Mint證書COA的那種，最初的美國買家名叫Alan Frank，他的名字也就直接印在了COA上面。

上星期一個不可多得的機遇之下，我果斷地拿下了它。今天它終於飄洋過海抵達香港，這臺1965 Thunderbird Convertible號稱是Danbury Mint做得最精致的一款果然名不虛傳，蝕刻片以及可動的部件極多，如伸縮天線、折疊車椅背等，而且前引擎蓋和後行李門都是鉸鏈開關。

我繼上次Exoto 156F1后又一次地被震撼了，麻雀雖小，五臟俱全! 因為這台來的更小，是個1比24的，所以表現精密程度的難度可謂更高。

廢話少說，立刻上圖!

1/24 Danbury Mint 1965 Ford Thunderbird Convertible

Comments (0)

By admin, August 14, 2012 10:23 pm

這對法拉利70年代的傳奇戰車极富有歷史意義和收藏價值，而且10年前的Exoto做工鬼斧神工，讓著了魔的我多貴也肯獻出銀子就是這個道理了。

Exoto官網標價$2,998.95美元的确非常變態，雖然我已經用了個合理的价錢入手，但也是貴到差點儿破產了。

其實10年前AA還主要是UT的時候，當時滿街都還是Maisto, Burago狗腿門，3開這些玩具類的1比18的車模時，人家Exoto已經是這個模樣了，我真的很惊嘆 !

因為如果你懂得話，這對肯定是個寶貝中的极品!

1/18 Ferrari Gift Set: 312 T Niki Lauda (1975) & 312 T4 Gilles Villeneuve (1979) Rain Master Series

1975 Formula 1, driven by Lauda/Villeneuve

Exoto presents a special Ferrari Gift Set in a Limited Edition of only 2500 sets worldwide. This special coffret includes a pair of winning Ferraris: the 1975 312T and 1979 312T4 with matching serial numbers.

Ferrari 312T: Winner, Grand Prix of Monaco driven by Niki Lauda

The new Ferrari 312T made its racing debut at the third race of the Grand Prix season at South Africa. This new F1 car featured a transversely mounted gearbox, hence the designation 312T, from the Italian, Trasversale.

By the time the Ferrari team arrived at Monaco in May, the gremlins had been sorted out and good things were anticipated. Niki Lauda was the fastest overall in practice and qualifying and, of course, on the pole.

When the race started, Lauda took the immediate lead on a wet track. He was followed very closely by Ronnie Peterson and Tom Pryce, and the three soon pulled away to a comfortable lead. From start to finish, Lauda would never relinquish his lead, even as the track dried out and the field switched to slick tires. By the time Lauda took the checkered flag he was 2.78 seconds ahead of second place, Emerson Fittipaldi. This was Ferraris first win at the historic Monaco circuit in 20 years, and it was Laudas first victory of the season.

Ferrari 312T4: Winner, Grand Prix of South Africa driven by Gilles Villeneuve

The 1979 season would be Villeneuve’s best in Formula 1. The arrival of the new 312T4 in South Africa brought with it victory for Ferrari and the young Canadian!

Villeneuve qualified third behind his teammate Jody Scheckter. The Ferrari duo got to an excellent start, passing the pole-sitting Renault on either side into the first corner. Villeneuve took the lead, but a sudden downpour brought out the red flag and the three lap old race was stopped.

On the restart, Villeneuve’s car was equipped with wet tires while Scheckter’s was on slicks. The Ferrari drivers repeated their brilliant start. In the wet, Villeneuve drove away from the field, pulling out a 15 second lead over his teammate in second place. By lap 15 the storm had passed and as the track dried out Villeneuve stopped for slicks, handing the lead to Scheckter. On fresh rubber, however, Villeneuve attacked and closed the 30 second gap.

Though Villeneuve would not pass his teammate on the track, Scheckter’s badly worn tires forced him into the pits and he rejoined the race in second place, 35 seconds behind Villeneuve. Villeneuve paced himself, conserving his tires, allowing Scheckter to close the gap to just 4 seconds before the checkered flag fell on Villeneuve’s second F1 victory.

以下是來自那間我購買這套車模鋪子老闆的親身經歷:

Watkins Glen was always interesting in October.  Sometimes picture perfect and 70 degrees, and sometimes snow and/or pouring rain!

You could walk right down the middle of the garages, cars, driver and mechanics just feet away.  I vividly remember G. Hill, Scheckter, Villeneuve, Reutemann, Stewart, Cevert, Stuck, Andretti, etc., etc.  And I especially remember my hero, Lauda, just weeks after his fire, face totally raw and messy, ear.., well you know!  He was a fantastic racer.  …Like a machine through the corners, within inches each time.

As a diecast collector, I can honestly say that , especially in the earlier years, NONE of the real cars ever looked THIS good!!  …They were “race appliances”.