Audi Quattro Rally Car Part 1

Minichamps 1/43 Audi Sport Quattro
Rally Akropolis 1985 Winners: Blomqvist/Cederberg

I saw this diecast in a local diecast store a few months ago. It was the only piece.
This car looks like an Audi with it's rear cut off. It's the short wheelbase Audi.
Stig Blomqvist was the 1984 World rally Champion. He was the defending champion for the 1985 season.



Stig Blomqvist and Björn Cederberg with their 1985 Audi Quattro

Stig Blomqvist started his professional rally career with the Saab rally team, which was underfunded compared with its rivals. Eventually, Saab pulled out of rallying. Blomqvist had a brief stint with Talbot before driving for Audi at a test session. He amazed the Audi team bosses with his spectacular driving style, because he proved that it was possible to make a four-wheel-drive car slide around corners by using left-foot braking. His driving style proved to be incredibly fast and extremely entertaining for the spectators. The 1983 season established Blomqvist as the quickest driver in the Audi team, however, he couldn't grab the title due to a lack of mechanical reliability.

1984 was to be Blomqvist's year. Audi had the constructor's title wrapped up fairly early in the year, so Audi was able to concentrate all their efforts on helping Blomqvist beat Markku Alen and Lancia for the driver's crown. Blomqvist was not to be denied. The Quattro's performance advantage over Lancia's 037 and Blomqvist's natural talent combined to take the 1984 driver's title. Blomqvist later went on to compete in the Paris-Dakar rally.

Procar

Minichamps 1/43 BMW M1 Project Four Procar 1979
Niki Lauda

I was looking at the BMW Miniatures catalog when this Procar caught my eye. My friend who works for BMW got me this model. One rare thing about this model is that it comes with tobacco livery. It has Marlboro decals on the wing and on both sides of the car, which is quite rare as Minichamps really don't allow tobacco branding on their cars as they are sold in Europe where tobacco branding is banned on most countries.
One thing I dont like about this BMW exclusive model is that it does not come with a perspex case to display the model with.




Niki Lauda and his Project Four Procar during the 1979 season

Formula One fans know that the race itself is but the finale to several, exciting days of racing. Qualifying is determined on Friday, while Sunday is the day of the race. In 1979 and 1980, Formula One Grand Prix spectators got a very special treat. Procar racing on Saturday. The race car drivers were the fastest qualifiers from Friday.

The race car used for Saturday's event was the specially prepared BMW M1. BMW Motorsport produced 50 identically equipped M1's for the Procar race. In a way, the Procar series was the forerunner of the popular IROC (International Race of Champions) series held in the USA, where champion drivers race identically equipped cars.

The Procar series was created by Bernie Ecclestone (the "godfather" of Formula One), Jochen Neerpasch of BMW Motorsport and Max Moseley. The Procar M1's used the 24-valve inline 6-cylinder M88/1 engine with 500 hp and a top speed approaching 200 mph. When turbocharged, the engine was capable of almost 1000 hp!

Except for Ferrari and Renault, all the F1 drivers competed in Procar. Niki Lauda won the 1979 Procar championship, while Nelson Piquet finished first in 1980. Other F1 competitors included Mario Andretti, Eddie Cheevers, Emerson Fittipaldi, Alan Jones, Jochen Mass, Dieter Quester, Carlos Reutemann, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Marc Surer.

Mercedes Porsche Transporter

Premium Classixxs 1/43 Porsche Racing Transporter

This racing transporter is massive. The details are really nice. A lot of people commonly mistake this model to be made by Ebbro. In reality, it was made by Premium Classixx and distributed only by Ebbro.
The paint finish is superb. The details are awesome. Porsche used this Mercedes-Benz racing transporter during the late 60's till the 70's.

Small Giant

Ebbro 1/43 Mazda Familia Rotary Coupe R100
Spa-Francorchamps Endurance Race 1970

Mazda's involvement in endurance races, I think, started in 1968 when they entered the wankel engine Mazda Cosmo Sport in Spa-Francorchamps. Since then, they continued to race their Wankel engined cars at endurance races.





In July 1968, the mass-production Familia Rotary Coupe, equipped with a rotary engine as its name implied, was launched and took over the position of a volume seller for the Mazda stable from the Cosmo. The racing Familia Rotary Coupe featured Type 10A engine identical to the preceding Cosmo Sport but the use of a peripheral port allowed it to generate peak power approaching the 200ps mark.

The Familia Rotary Coupe R-100 recorded its maiden victory at the Grand Prix of Singapore in April 1969 but this was just the beginning. It finished the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race in fifth and sixth places after four Porsche 911s, vehicles that were fundamentally in a different category. One month later, it finished in the points, fifth overall, in the "Marathon de la Route."
The following season saw the presence of the evolutionary version of the racing Familia. The car participated in three events within two months; the RAC Tourist Trophy Race in June 1970 (GB, eighth overall), the West German Touring Car Grand Prix in July (fourth overall) and the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour Race.

There were 58 entrants including BMW2800CSs and Alfa Romeo GTAs in the Belgian endurance race. The four Familia Rotary Coupes that had been entered displayed a good rhythm from the very beginning. At the 12th hour, the entry driven by Yoshimi Katayama and Toshinori Takechi overtook a BMW to take the lead in the event for the first time. The other three siblings maintained third, fourth and eighth places. The fierce battle between the first- and second-place cars from Japan and West Germany lasted until the 18th hour when the Familia suddenly had to pull out for good. This might have been an omen of misfortune for the marque from Hiroshima as two more Familia Rotary Coupes were added to the retirement list. The last remaining survivor was classified fifth, a disappointment considering the superb performance up until the 18th hour.

Though the Familias did not win the race, the promotional effect was so great that most of the spectators present at the event were aware of the brilliance of the rotary engine. The awe-inspiring performance of the new comer was highly acclaimed and the Mazda Familia Rotary Coupe was nicknamed the "Small Giant."

BRE's Success

1/43 Ebbro Datsun 510 BRE
John Morton

This must be one of the most expensive diecast from a regular line that Ebbro produced. This is a regular release. High demand from collectors from Europe, South America, Japan and North America make this diecast one of the most sought after Ebbro cars in the planet. The version though, I think, is not the 70's version of the Datsun 510 BRE but a recent version that John Morton drove in an exhibition or a race. Still, this car is legendary as it smoked its competition.




BRE's knowledge and expertise were thrown into the development of the Datsun 510, which Morton took to two successive Trans Am titles, a series of wins that was so devastating, it actually killed the series.
In the end, Brock Racing Enterprises most likely imploded from its own success and the ambition of its teammates. Morton wanted bigger faster cars, the engine builders Floyd Link, John Caldwell and Art Ohleri all went off to bigger successes. Trevor Harris, BRE's chassis designer, is still considered one of the best race car designers of the last 40 years.



John Morton and his Datsun 510 today

Daytona's Mazda

Ebbro 1/43 Mazda RX-7 Daytona 1978

This diecast reminds me of the old Tomica Limited model... the TL044, Which is the Daytona Mazda RX-7. I was really happy when I bought it. The detail is, of course, typical Ebbro quality. Nice details all throughout. The seat covers are done well and there is a small switch on the bottom of the car so you can put the lights up or put it down.
As usual, the only downside to this model are the Ebbro decal seatbelts. I dunno why Ebbro cannot make seatbelts like the way Minichamps make theirs.
Also, the catch net in the window is made of plastic with net decals. Not really that believable.
Still, I think, all in all, this diecast is beautiful, but can be also be improved if only Ebbro put a little more attention to detail.




Mazda began racing RX-7s in the IMSA GTU series in 1979. That first year, RX-7s placed 1st and 2nd at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and claimed the GTU series championship. The car continued winning, claiming the GTU championship seven years in a row. The RX-7 took the GTU championship ten years in a row from 1982. The RX-7 has won more IMSA races than any other car model.