Leigh’s Diecast Diary

Today, we received a small consignment of replicas from Spark.

Top dog was undoubtedly Niki Lauda’s BRM P160E from the 1973 Belgian Grand Prix (SPK1752). The Austrian scored his first ever points in this car, after taking a fifth place finish.

Other highlights take the form of two 2011 Le Mans cars: there is the Gulf #60 Aston Martin Vantage GT2 of Fabien Giroix, Ronald Goethe and Michael Wainwright (SPK2545), and the #70 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR of Pascal Gibon, Christope Bourret and Jean-Phillippe Belloc (SPK3422).

Today we had yet more announcements from Spark, as well as several new releases from Minichamps.

There were some fantastic new classic F1 subjects announced; our favourite was the Julian Bailey Lotus 102B from the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix (SPK1786), not least because it will come complete with wet tyres! Other F1 subjects include Juan-Manuel Fangio’s winning Mercedes W125 from the 1954 German Grand Prix (SPK1064) and the BRM P57 that Graham Hill drove to victory in the 1963 US Grand Prix (SPK1152).

We were particularly pleased that Spark announced the 1:43 Martin Tomczyk Audi A4 2011 DTM champion (SPK2518) and, for those into their record cars, Spark will be making the 1:43 Aussie Invader 5R 1000 MPH Project (SPK2573).

Click here to see all of Spark’s new announcements.

Three 2011 F1 cars arrived from Minichamps today: the 1:43 2011 Mark Webber Red Bull RB7 (DC211402), the 1:43 2011 Jenson Button Mclaren MP4-26 and the 1:43 Vitaly Petrov 2011 Lotus Renault R31 Australian Grand Prix podium special (DC211410A).

Minichamps also released the 1:2 Valentino Rossi 2008 Barcelona Helmet (PO82086), and Ayrton Senna’s 1983 Macau Grand Prix winning Ralt RT3 in 1:18 (AS833).

Today, we received new announcements from Spark and CMC.

We were particularly pleased to see Spark announce the 1:18 Audi R18 TDI that won the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours (SPA18LM11). Spark will also be replicating the LMP2 class winning Zytek Nissan (SPA18S064) in 1:18 scale.

CMC revealed their 2012 announcements today; there are some extremely beautiful road and racing subjects in the offing. Highlights include the 1:18 1956 Maserati 300S (CMC105), the 1:18 1938 Bugatti 57 SC Corsica Roadster (CMC106), and the 1:18 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Special Touring Coupe (CMC107).

Juan-Manuel Fangio’s 1957 French Grand Prix winning Maserati 250F (CMC102), and the Mercedes W25 that Manfred Von Brauchitsch drove to victory in the 1934 ADAC Eifelrennen (CMC103) are also of interest.

Click here to see all of CMC’s new announcements.

Today, Minichamps announced their range of 2012 Formula One showcars.

They will be doing Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes in 1:18, and Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, Lotus, Force India, Williams, Sauber and Toro Rosso in 1:43. You can click here to see all of Minichamps’ 2012 Formula One showcar announcements.

Another piece of exciting news is that Jorge Lorenzo has now signed a limited edition of 250 of Minichamps’ 1:12 2010 Moto GP championship winning Yamaha YZR-M1 exclusively for us (PO103099S).

Today we received new releases from Mattel, Kyosho and Oxford, as well as new announcements from Ebbro.

By far the best release of the day was Mattel’s 1:18 replica of the winning Ferrari 512S from the 1970 Sebring 12 Hours (HW2046B). This was the car that Mario Andretti famously used to beat the Porsche 908 of Steve McQueen and Peter Revson in what was an epic race! They also released the 1:18 2011 Ferrari FF in Pearl White (HW1119).

Kyosho delivered a trio of replicas which took the form of the 1:43 Lamborghini Gallardo SE in silver (KY03752S) and green (KY03752GR), and the 1:43 #33 Nissan R390 GT1 from the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours (KY03421D).

We received just one replica from Oxford: the 1:43 Bentley S1 Continental Fastback in Dawn Blue (OXF038).

The pick of the Ebbro announcements includes the 1:43 John Surtees Honda RA301 from the Mexican Grand Prix (EB44266) and the 1:43 2011 Nissan GT-R Super GT Champion (EB44657).

Click here to see the rest of Ebbro’s announcements.

Today we received a new delivery from AUTOart, and 2012 announcements from Model Icons.

In terms of road cars, AUTOart sent us the 1:18 2010 Ford Mustang in metallic grey (AA72911), the 1:18 Mercedes 190 SL in white (AA76117), and the 1:18 Aston Martin DB5 in maroon (AA70213).

But the highlights unquestionably came in the form of two Signature Collection Le Mans cars: the 1:18 #007 Aston Martin LMP1 from the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours (AA80906), and the 1:18 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours winning Mazda 787B with winner’s trophy (AA89142).

Model Icons’ big announcement of 2012 comes in the form of the 1:18 1971 Jaguar XJ6 Series I 2.8 in Regency Red (MI2011002). The brand will also be replicating the 1968 Jaguar XJ6 Series I 4.2 in Sable Brown (MI2011004) that was driven by William Lyons.

Other replicas of note include the 1:18 1967 Daimler 250 V8 in black (MI2011001) and the 1:18 Equipe Endeavour Jaguar Mk.II from 1962 (MI321002).

Click here to see all of the new announcements from Model Icons.

In other news, two new models have been added to next week’s Minichamps delivery: the 1:43 2011 Mark Webber Red Bull RB7 (DC211402), and the 1:43 2011 Jenson Button McLaren MP4-26 (DC211404).

Today IXO announced a brand new Rossi rally car in 1:43 scale. We saw that it was coming on the next IXO delivery and, as it hasn’t been officially announced yet, it caught us by surprise!

The car in question is the Valentino Rossi Ford Focus RS WRC from the 2009 Monza Rally (RAM406). It is due in March, so you won’t have long to wait.

Ebbro announced the two Nissans that competed in 2011 World GT1 Championship last year. There’s the #22 Nissan GT-R GT1 of Peter Dumbreck and Richard Westbrook (EB44712), and last year’s GT1 World Championship winning #23 Nissan GT-R GT1 of Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm (EB44713).

In other news, Minichamps delivered several replicas today including the 1:12 1977 Ducati 900 SS (P120700C), the 1:8 Valentino Rossi 2003 Mugello helmet (PO30876), and the 1:43 Nick Heidfeld 2011 Lotus Renault R31 Malaysian Grand Prix podium special (DC211409M).

Today, Sebastien Loeb put pen to diecast on two of his World Rally Championship winning cars: the 2009 Citroen C4 WRC from the Rally GB (NV181550S), and the 2010 Citroen C4 WRC from the Rally of France (NV181551S). Both are limited to just 75 pieces each, so get your order in soon.

We also had some new releases from Sun Star. Highlights include the 1:18 Petter Solberg 2007 Subaru Impreza WRC 07 from the Rally of Portugal (SS4484), Gilles Panizzi’s Peugeot 207 S2000 Course Car from the Rally Antibes (SS5431), and Stig Blomqvist’s winning Audi Quattro from the 1982 San Remo Rally (SS4220).

Today Greenlight Collectibles, Sun Star, and Schuco all announced new replicas.

Greenlight announced the 1:18 Dodge Charger R/T from the 1968 film Bullitt (GL12839). The sinister looking car was driven by two hitmen in the famous car chase.

Sun Star announced another subject in its 1:18 classic rallying Escort collection in the form of Pentti Airikkala’s 1981 Ford Escort RS1800 that won the Mintex International Rally (SS4454).

And finally, Schuco announced that they will be producing James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder ‘Little Bastard’ (SCH0332) in 1:18 scale.

Today, Trofeu released a 1:43 Richard Burns three car set commemorating his three consecutive victories on the RAC Rally from 1998 to 2000 (TR692).

The set, which is limited to just 99 pieces worldwide, features his 1998 RAC Rally winning Mitsubishi Lancer, and the Subaru Imprezas that he used to take victory on the event in both 1999 and 2000.  Get in quick if you don’t want to miss out on this one!

We also received another rallying release from Sun Star: Robert Droogman’s 1981 Ford Escort RS1800 from the Skoda Rally (SS4452).

In other news, Minichamps sent us their 2012 1:43 announcements today. Highlights include the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S in red, the 2011 Ford Focus ST in metallic black (P081000), the 2011 McLaren MP4-12C in white (P133021), and the BMW 2002TI that won the Nurburgring 24 Hours in 1970 (P700236); Hans-Joachim Stuck and Clemens Schickentanz drove the car.

Minichamps also announced the 1:12 1994 McLaren F1 in white (PH133132).

Click here to see all of Minichamps’ new announcements.