Lamley Daily: A pair of Minichamps Porsches

Model: Minichamps Porsche 934 RSR (Helmut Kelleners, ADAC Eifelrennen, 1976) & Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Seikel Motorsports, Le Mans 24, 2007)

Line: Minichamps 1/64

Ebay link: Minichamps 1/64 Porsche

Why I am featuring it: The fact that this was published before I’d even begun writing has been a bit of a godsend really, as I’d been suffering a rather acute case of writer’s block as of late, and it spurred me on to get some words down finally.

These two Porsches have been part of my collection since I picked them up at a diecast stall at Silverstone during the World Endurance Championship round there on 2015.

Endurance racing and Sportscar racing in general are my favourite forms of motorsport and I’ve been lucky enough to have seen some fantastic races and cars down at Silverstone over the years: the final years of the GT1 category, the incredible battles in the LMP1 category between Audi, Porsche and Toyota, and the amazing historic racing at Silverstone Classic weekends.

One car that always leaves a mark no matter what is the Porsche 911. It’s the sound the race versions make. The famous flat six noise but amplified to 11. Once you hear it you don’t forget it. It’s not quite the hammer blow V8 of the old GTE Corvettes or Aston Martin Vantages, but it’s a wonderful noise. Plus the race versions have always been fantastic looking, and featured some of the best race liveries to ever grace a race circuit.

All the above probably goes some way to explaining how these two brilliant diecasts made their way into my collection. Despite not having seen a 934 in the iconic Jägermeister livery, I’ve seen and lusted after other 934 RSRs, and this was too good to leave on the shelf.

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And having also seen the Felbermayr cars up close and personal I had to add this one too.

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Seeing the 1/1 cars makes you appreciate just how good a job Minichamps have done with these. They’re highly detailed and superbly finished. They’ve got the decal and paint finish down to a tee which can be tough in such small scales with busy liveries with logos all over place. They’re fab. And just for the “does it roll?” crowd, the 934 does with ease. The lower GT3 has some difficulty. But they’re not in my collection for that. They are there because they take me right back to the exit of Luffield Corner at Silverstone watching the real versions. They’re there because they’re that good I can almost hear engines and smell race fuel when I pick them up. Good diecast always bring back good memories. And these are no exception.